Censorship. (A brief essay)

I buy music at Wal-Mart, because you can find good music for a low price. I bought Seether ’s album Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces for a fair price, and got home to listen to the exceptional music and lyrics of the previously mentioned band, only to find out that every word that is considered inappropriate was bleeped out. As I sung along in my room with my cousin, I felt foolish when I didn’t know the words, simply because they weren’t there. What are the effects of censorship?

Censorship can be looked at as a violation of our freedom of speech, but having no censorship can cause people to hear things they never meant to hear or see things they never wanted to see. Editing an author’s works can change the true meaning of what the artist wanted to say. Removing books and movies from shelves causes the people involved in the creation of the works to not get the money they would have had their work not been banned.

If we could focus on the consequences of censoring our media, perhaps we could better understand the artist’s need to be heard in his or her own words.