Hey guys, back again. My last post was way too controversial, but then that's what I get for choosing such a personal topic! I always want to apologize for what I write after I write it, but then I figure it's rather pointless. Even if you try to balance on the fence with your opinions, In a country as diverse as America, you're bound to offend someone by what you say no matter what.
Which serves as a nice segway into what I want to talk about today, which has to deal with censorship. I heard an astonishing story at my school today, and it begins with our Improv team. For those of you unaware with the term, Improv(ise) is a type of acting where you perform skits and scenes without lines or scripts, and you are often given a prompt to work with. (So someone says the word 'pig' and the team launches into a scene involving pigs somehow). The Improv team often comes up with hilarious results. I was on the Improv team during my freshmen year, but quit when I ran out of time to go to all the practices. Now, I enjoy watching every Improv show that comes about during lunchtime, and it is a good way to laugh until your sides ache.
Our Improv team also went to competitions with their spur-of-the-moment skits, and this is where the problem aroused. During the recent competition, one of the people in the audience took offense to something an Improv team member mentioned or acted upon during one of their improvised performances. This unknown person complained not to leader of the improv team about the 'offensive' material the team used in their performances. The improv leader in turn was forced to report this to the headmaster of my school. Upon returning from the competition, my improv team was informed that they must now censor their performances and omit talking about certain subjects or using certain words. Should they fail to do this and accidentally slip up, then there would be no choice but to shutdown the improv team.
But how can you censor a performance that's made up on the spot, with seconds to think before you say the words??? The improv performances tries (they were made to memorize the words and subjects they couldn't talk about) but even then, during their performances critics could find things to deem 'offensive'. And now I ask...why should it be censored??? I've always wanted to tell our unknown complainer to take a chill pill. I mean, I could take offense to a lot of things the improv team has said. But I don't. In fact, when it's all fun and laughs, I never even consider taking offense. Because that's all it is...fun and laughs. No one is supposed to take it seriously. And yet now the improv team is threatened to be shut down, simply because of one complainer.
I've always wondered if there are people in the world who sit down at their televisions, or go to performances, with a pencil and a magnifying glass so that they could scrutinize our work and deem it 'offensive'. Like a big red stamp on the play script. Or maybe they get a Play-by-Play for their television and watch news reports at a very slow pace so that they can find profanities on screen. It sure seems like that's what these people do when they manage to find offensive material.
Whatever happened to freedom of speech, anyways? If I'm allowed to post my opinions on a blog like this, free to the public, then it seems odd that improv team members can be red-taped and scolded for saying something 'offensive' to the public when it really isn't offensive at all. Does this mean that soon all blogs will be shut down?? *stares wide-eyed at the prospect and gulps*
So when do we go too far? That's the question I pose. When should something be censored or taken to be 'offensive'? Does freedom of speech even apply at all?
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A lot of blog sites are blocked in China.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
My Creative Writing
Excellent questions, m'dear. I think that because your Improv team is a school organization, the school does have some responsibility to maintain a relatively PC performances for its school sponsored events. However, I think it depends on what the "offensive content" of your show was. If, for example, it was a slipped "Damn!" or a minor comment about some political issue, I agree that the complainer would do well to just chill out. However, if it was something more major, like a racial slur of some sort, I think that the school does have a responsibility to make sure that that sort of hurtful "joke" does not happen again.
Anyway, good luck!
Hmm...I never found out the exact 'offensive' subject they did, but I remember hearing it was some comment about atheists. So I guess the topic would be religion.
Still, I just think that if it's all done for laughs with no scripts prepared, that people should see that the comment is not meant to be taken seriously. I've seen some stand-up comedians who say offensive things that are scripted, and yet they seem to get away with it because everyone laughs.
I agree it is especially hard to censor improv (as I am a member of my college troupe), but I can see this from both sides.
First off, humor is subjective, but certain things should be kept in mind for all improv performers. In general there is a common decency against "brown bagging" a performance. That would mean avoiding extreme curse words (the big dogs, not damn) and avoiding overly sexual lines (innuendo is different, but no humping on stage) and toilet humor. If a troupe has to fall back to these measures they are not quality because they can not be humorous in more intelligent ways.
Also, since this is a high school the other blogger has a point. Improv is great in high school, but often at that level there is greater risk for unnecessary lines that are not funny. I have witnessed many a troupe (also at the college level, sadly) that forces dirt, bad humor (that isn't really funny except to the immature), and negative thoughts.
Which is another rule in improv. Negativity is not typically a good idea. It is like denying. So if the comment was negative against atheists in such a way that suggests they are going to hell or the action was for one to get burned, then that is not appropriate at the high school level. It would be extremely questionable at the collegiate level. Just thoughts to keep in mine about that craft.
I am very much against censorship and do not believe they should be censored, but I also believe it is their responsibility to monitor themselves and purge members who do not respect the craft (not saying that happened). The audience that can't take a joke should just get out of the theatre because it is filled with reflections from society, and you can't report society.
Think about it...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tomorrowtoday
You shouldn't have to be censored, especially with performance or theatre in general. In high school there has to be certain rules so mommies and daddies don't freak out. In college, you have much more freedom and experience a lot more, with hardly any censorship.
I wish my high school had an Improv team! Last year, my senior year, i would take over the theatre class when our teacher was absent and we'd all play improv games from "Whose Line Is it Anyway?". That was really fun.
Oh, and aother note. If your last blog entry was controversial....GOOD! Just because someone takes offense or harrasses you about one of your blogs doesn't mean you should have to apologize. Of course, it depends on the entry and I didnt read it as of yet, so I can't give very accurate advice, now can I? Remember that you can't please everybody. Hey, I wrote an entry title "I Made a Mistake" because I wrote an entry that was inaccurate. I felt I needed a retraction not because my opinion was wrong, but because my facts were.