World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[Blu]

Trump is terrifying. Should he win the presidency, our stock with the world goes down. I can't even imagine. I think the GOP will coup him like the DNC did with Hubert Humphrey in 1968.

I don't think Hillary is much better.

I'm with Bernie on this one. I think he can truly win the nomination.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Right on. The UN is such a joke. Need I remind anyone that the head of the UN Council on Human Rights is Saudi Arabia?

We agree on something!

[ElkinFencer10]

I think in a lot of the ways, the UN is a joke, but I still support the organization as a whole because of its potential and what it represents. Then again, I'm one of those pro-world government loonies.

Free speech is an important thing, and banning those video games/manga/anime would infringe on that. By all means, give them ratings so severe that stores will refuse to sell them, but it seems wrong to me to ban that expression, no matter how distasteful it may be. I feel the same way about Germany's ban on the swastika, although there are much bigger cultural and historical concerns in play in that situation.

[MrPopo]

Also, the ban on the swastika and other Nazi iconography in Germany has a variety of exceptions involving artistic merit and historical contexts. The goal of the law was to prevent it from being an obvious symbol for a new Nazism movement; the problem being that games still aren't considered to have artistic merit in Germany, though that seems to be slowly shifting.

[ElkinFencer10]

the problem being that games still aren't considered to have artistic merit in Germany

That's my biggest problem, although truth be told, I still personally think that it's a free speech/expression issue. I'm not German, though, so my opinion doesn't really matter.

[Ack]

Free speech is an important thing, and banning those video games/manga/anime would infringe on that. By all means, give them ratings so severe that stores will refuse to sell them, but it seems wrong to me to ban that expression, no matter how distasteful it may be. I feel the same way about Germany's ban on the swastika, although there are much bigger cultural and historical concerns in play in that situation.

The other problem is that, by banning it without further explanation of what is meant, you're also eliminating a means by which people could explore it to show the world, try to help victims cope, show biographical truth, etc.

For instance, say a manga was created to raise awareness about rape rates in India, or a manga was created by a victim of sexual violence to recount her story of how it happened and show her struggles afterward to come to terms with it. Or say one was written as a biography of a famous woman who had been the victim of sexual violence. By issuing a blanket ban, you also ban all of these possibilities for the medium.

[jp1]

Free speech is an important thing, and banning those video games/manga/anime would infringe on that. By all means, give them ratings so severe that stores will refuse to sell them, but it seems wrong to me to ban that expression, no matter how distasteful it may be. I feel the same way about Germany's ban on the swastika, although there are much bigger cultural and historical concerns in play in that situation.

The other problem is that, by banning it without further explanation of what is meant, you're also eliminating a means by which people could explore it to show the world, try to help victims cope, show biographical truth, etc.

For instance, say a manga was created to raise awareness about rape rates in India, or a manga was created by a victim of sexual violence to recount her story of how it happened and show her struggles afterward to come to terms with it. Or say one was written as a biography of a famous woman who had been the victim of sexual violence. By issuing a blanket ban, you also ban all of these possibilities for the medium.

When I hear criticisms of manga they are generally geared more towards things like pedophilia or something similar. Is this general ignorance of the medium or are they valid concerns? I'm not familiar with manga so I can't really have an opinion, but if the pedo stuff is a valid concern than I certainly understand the idea of censoring it. There is no artistic or expressive outlet in presenting something like that in graphic detail.

I don't really "get" the idea of pornographic cartoons, but to each their own as long as the above preconception is false.

[Exhuminator]

I don't really "get" the idea of pornographic cartoons, but to each their own as long as the above preconception is false.

To be fair, not all "pornographic cartoons" portray minors though. But as someone who delves in manga and anime quite a lot, and has seen what's out there, yes the pedophilia is strong in Nippon. And the pervasive little sister complex is even creepier.

[MrPopo]

Well, that's a whole different can of worms; is a drawing of a 100% fictional underage character in a sexual situation a bad thing?

But going past that for a second, manga definitely doesn't have a problem with non-sexual nude depictions of underage characters. When young Goku/Gohan revered from Oozaru form they'd be naked (since they destroyed their clothes transforming) and if the shot was of the front there's be a drawn penis there. There's absolutely nothing sexual involved there, but to western sensibilities that would fall under pedo content.

[jp1]

Well, that's a whole different can of worms; is a drawing of a 100% fictional underage character in a sexual situation a bad thing?

But going past that for a second, manga definitely doesn't have a problem with non-sexual nude depictions of underage characters. When young Goku/Gohan revered from Oozaru form they'd be naked (since they destroyed their clothes transforming) and if the shot was of the front there's be a drawn penis there. There's absolutely nothing sexual involved there, but to western sensibilities that would fall under pedo content.

I'm not sure that's true, at least from a legal standpoint. I think there is some credit given to artistic merit of nudity and educational value as well. I just don't think you see it very often because of the fears and the general attitude towards it. It is definitely the sexual stuff I was talking about, like actual sexual situations not just nudity.

Hell, if you take naked pics of your baby in the bath you risk judgment these days. It used to be common. On the other hand there is probably some creepy fuck out there who would find them sexual. It's unfortunate that nudity has to be demonized because of that.

Personally I'm uncomfortable with both, but I don't think that someone who would live in a nudist colony with their children is necessarily a pervert. It is definitely a cultural thing. I don't even have a problem with films that explore the topic, such as "Lolita" as long as they walk the line between entertainment/art and exploitation very carefully.

In any case, I should have drawn that distinction between nudity and sexual activity. A little side note as well there was no judgmental undertone in "pornographic cartoons" I see how that can sound condescending, it wasn't meant as such.

EDIT: I wanted to address that first question as well. In my opinion, yes it is. It can be perpetuated into an obsession that might lead someone without such a previous disposition to go and commit the real act, or at the very least delve into the real content. I know it could be countered that it would provide a legal outlet for such an individual as well, but I think the risks outweigh the rewards in that scenario. That is just my opinion though.

Parallels could be drawn with murder and such, I'm aware. The problem here is that the fictional characters are underage and being depicted in a graphic manner. I would have a problem with a film which glorified the murder of children as well.