This week, as the conclusion to my 3 part series on a true Academy Award Winner that Should Have Been, I discuss a freedom which none of us should ever take for granted, and one that we should continue to fight for when others try to censor what we see, watch, and hear ... it's not just a war against the movies, but a war being waged about what we can read, listen to, and even surf to on the internet in the solitude of our own homes.
The First Amendment to our Constitution gives the American people the greatest right we have - the freedom of speech - the freedom to express ourselves in any way we'd like. What angers me lately in this country is the attempt to take this right away - people like Bob Dole get up and blame all of society's ills on Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers - basically saying the violence in movies and TV is the cause of all of our problems.
People complain that a young kid burned up a house because he saw Beavis do it and say "fire, fire, fire" on an MTV cartoon - where do we come up with this shit in this country?? Have we lost our mind? Are people honestly trying to tell me that someone goes out to kill someone just because they saw Rambo do it? Let me tell you something folks - the person who did that was screwed up to begin with - and the kid who lit the house on fire because of watching Beavis & Butthead was the result of poor parenting.
When I grew up, I watched tons of violence, profanity, and sex all over the movies and TV - and I never killed anyone, never lit a house on fire, never attacked anyone - because my parents taught me values - taught me right from wrong. This whole issue is one of parental responsibility - not the responsibility of the moviemaker, the Internet publisher, the writer, or the TV producer.
The Internet has become the latest place for the "holier-than-thou" to try to censor. The Internet is the last great place for free speech and expression - the ability to publish anything you want exactly the way you want it. For example, I could post a naked picture of someone if I felt like it. You have the choice to click on the link or not. I didn't just surprise you with the picture - you have a conscious choice. Now it is not my responsibility if someone sees the picture who shouldn't - I can't possibly control that - but since it's part of what I wanted to publish here, I made the choice to put it on the page.
