Should music videos be censored?
I believe music videos should not be censored because I believe an artist such as Eminem should be able to express himself freely without people criticising his work and trying to change him.
For an artist, music is a way for them to express their feelings, whether it be anger, love, or happiness, etc. So for Eminem, it is deemed as wrong to express his opinion in the video ‘just lose it’ for example but it is acceptable for someone like Pink to say the word ‘bitch’ in her song ‘like a pill’. This controversy comes because of the tone of the voice; Eminem shouts and comes across as aggressive and violent, and Pink is casual about it.
After a group debate we found 6 different arguers views on censorship which consisted of:
The artist; artists views would be:
• The government should not censor the music because the artist should be allowed to express themselves and it is the audience choice to what they listen to.
• Censorship ruins the music
• The song “the way I am” was censored on the music channel MTV and radio stations because of the content it included
• The parents should take responsibility of what their children listen to and only intervene when necessary.
A fans view:
• Eminem is an artist and not a star – he is real and talks about real life situations
• Swear words are a part of Eminem’s culture and by censoring the songs it will not reflect a true artist
• Swear words are only words; they do not harm people. They are a form of expression and it helps the fans to understand the artist in more detail, with more emotion
• Fans only listen to his music; they do not follow his lifestyle
• We all live in 2010 and swearing is part of the youth culture nowadays. Everyone is using it.
Record label:
• Eminem owns his own record label, which is called ‘Shady Records’
• As he owns his own label he is free to make his won decisions. He likes to make fun out of other celebrities in his songs.
• The video for the song “just lose it” was banned on music channels for the way it represented celebrities. It included the singer Michael Jackson and was banned for the way he was represented as a paedophile.
• There is a gap in the market for him as he is an individual
• His songs are a reflection of his life, culture and his upbringing and he enjoys joking about it too
• He was the first white male rapper
• His film 8 mile was a blockbuster because it showed a true reflection of who he was and it also helped him to build a relationship with his audience, as his fans were able to relate to him
• The film was aimed at a 15 age certificate due to the content that was included
• The fans understand the artist’s lifestyle, choices and music in more detail by listening to their lyrics and if this becomes censored the relationship between the artist and the fan will become lost.
Parents against:
• Children and teenagers get carried away with what they see in the media and then they try to copy and emulate the artist. This includes kids joining gangs and carrying weapons
• Children are getting a bad reputation for listening to the artist
• There is no control on the internet and children can access music that is not censored.
Parents for:
• It’s okay for children to listen to Eminem because he raps about his life and reality
• it is fair to say that very young children should not however, above the age of 11 they are eligible to decide the music they listen to for themselves
• Eminem can be considered to be a role model because of the way he raps about his life, family and drug taking and how he has over come his problems
• He is unique and individual
• He had a hard upbringing and should be given a chance to succeed in life
• He refers to his kids in most of his songs which shows that he cares about his family. This is a good message to be sending out to young people; family is important.
Radio stations (choice fm)
• Choice fm considers all their listeners and will not broadcast any music that is inappropriate before 9pm
• A lot of children listen to the radio on their way to school and Eminem’s songs are to explicit to be broadcast at that time unless there is a censored version, which the artist doesn’t like
• Other words should be used instead of swear/ rude words so that the song can be played during the day.
Music channels;
AKA:
• AKA is known for playing grime and rap music videos so music should not be censored here
• It is down to the parents to decide what they’re children watch and listen to
• Eminem is an artist, not a star, so he should be free to express himself in his music, it can almost be seen as a release for him
• The audience know what to expect from the channel as there are similar artists who feature on a regular basis.
MTV
• All of Eminem’s music and his videos need to be censored because it is t explicit to be broadcast to our target audience.
After analysing Shani’s lyrics, we found they’re are no explicit lyrics, words or phrases so censorship will not be an issue where this song and music video is concerned. However, it is quite a romantic song referencing to her making love with her boyfriend so the performance in the video would need to be clean cut e.g. no nudity.
Example of censored videos
all swear words have been silenced over.
Example of changed lyrics
the original word F*ck has been replaced with forget.
