What We Lose When We Eliminate Controversial Content

[UngainlyTitan]

Of course you can make an argument that in the modern era when most avenues of speech are, in practice, controlled by one company or another, its questionable what "free speech" even means. My own feeling is that it means what it always did, which is that whatever speech isn't socially acceptable is suppressed; all that's changed is how that's being done.

Sadly true, the real benefit of stuff like the first amendment is that you cannot be hung for saying something deeply unpopular. Which I guess is progress.

 

[Fenris-77]

The companies profiting handsomely from sales of My Neighbor Totoro and Sesame Street merchandise would beg to differ with this. So would any parent who's had to calm down a child waking up with screaming night terrors at 2 a.m. the third time running because Uncle Mike was babysitting and thought it would be cool to let the nibling watch a horror movie.

"Controversy" in gaming as code for "edgy and retrograde" is way overrated.

The fact that there are popular childrens IPs that arent scary has nothing to say about my post. Finding an example contra isn't at all the same as a refutation. Nor does the nonsensical index to edgelord whatnots help clear the waters.

The enduring popularity of ghost stories and spooky mysteries for kids is an undeniable fact.

 

[Blue Orange]

Sadly true, the real benefit of stuff like the first amendment is that you cannot be hung for saying something deeply unpopular. Which I guess is progress.

Lese-majeste (insulting the monarch) and blasphemy were actual crimes a few hundred years ago, and still are in some parts of the world (you can go to jail for insulting the king in Thailand for instance). Hate speech laws exist in most of Europe and some other countries--the US is the outlier here, at least in the West. (It was only recently made technically illegal in Japan, for instance, and there are no penalties.)

 

[MGibster]

Funny thing is, most people will complain about Halle Barry or Jodie Turner-Smith playing Anne Boleyn or Noma Dumezweni playing Hermione Granger FAR sooner than they'd complain about Adam Driver playing a Pharaoh or Russel Crowe playing Noah.

It's kind of weird how things can change and what people will complain about. In 1997, I don't remember a lot of people complaining about singer Brandy playing Cinderella with Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother. I'd like to attribute some of that to the lack of internet social media in our lives, but in 2015 I don't remember a lot of people complaining about the cast of Hamilton either.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's kind of weird how things can change and what people will complain about. In 1997, I don't remember a lot of people complaining about singer Brandy playing Cinderella with Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother. I'd like to attribute some of that to the lack of internet social media in our lives, but in 2015 I don't remember a lot of people complaining about the cast of Hamilton either.

Hamilton was explicitly making a point. Nobody expected or wanted it to be historically accurate in that respect.

 

[MGibster]

Hamilton was explicitly making a point. Nobody expected or wanted it to be historically accurate in that respect.

Nobody really expects The Little Mermaid to be historically accurate either.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Nobody really expects The Little Mermaid to be historically accurate either.

I didn't know Halle Berry was in the Little Mermaid. Who does she play?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Lese-majeste (insulting the monarch) and blasphemy were actual crimes a few hundred years ago, and still are in some parts of the world (you can go to jail for insulting the king in Thailand for instance). Hate speech laws exist in most of Europe and some other countries--the US is the outlier here, at least in the West. (It was only recently made technically illegal in Japan, for instance, and there are no penalties.)

Yes I am aware of that, often with a side order of torture before they executed you. Having the wrong sort of public opinions could also be bad for the health.

 

[MGibster]

I didn't know Halle Berry was in the Little Mermaid. Who does she play?

I don't know if you missed the news, but the recent live action The Little Mermaid had a black actress in the titular role and some people were angry about that.

 

[Irlo]

I didn't know Halle Berry was in the Little Mermaid. Who does she play?

Halle Bailey is in the Little Mermaid.