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George Orwell 1984 Censorship

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George Orwell’s novel, 1984, the first entry Winston makes in his journal describes a memory in which images of a child’s arm being blown off were being displayed in the cinema. Not only that, but—to Winston’s horror—everyone in the cinema seemed to be pleased with it. They enjoyed it. This passage is nothing less than alarming. It is even more so when one notices the relationships between modern entertainment and the frightening film in the book. Violence in the media is becoming more graphic and prevalent each year. However, while violence is being censored less by the day, minor nudity, sexual acts or themes, and profanity cause an outrage if not properly censored. To put it simply, more restrictions need to be enabled upon violence and …show more content…
The group most heavily affected is children. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology: “the typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including more than 16,000 murders before age 18”. This kind of exposure can result in children exhibiting behaviors such as becoming less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, being more fearful of the world, and being more likely to express anger in hostile ways (American Psychology Association). Of course, many of the studies revolving around such this subject discuss mainly television, but some video games are also a component. Video game franchises such as Call of Duty, Black Ops, and Grand Theft Auto are laden with violent acts. Not only do these games encourage hostile acts, but often offer little to no consequences for performing them. And when the characters committing violences are such “cool and enigmatic” characters, it is no wonder that children end up idealising what they observe in the …show more content…
In the same manner that one becomes acclimated to cold weather or high elevation, sustained viewing of violences in television, movies, and video games will cause the viewer to develop a tolerance. After seeing gruesome acts so frequently, they become less and less shocking, eventually leading to the reliance on more appalling things in order to experience the same fear or anger. This is not to say that most people desire to chase this thrill, but simply to propose a suggestion as to why violence may be becoming increasingly more grisly. However, while violence is widespread and becoming less-censored as the years go by, certain things are being censored far more heavily than necessary. For example, nudity is censored across most social media platforms, but images of gore often continue to circulate. The most ridiculous commonly-censored subject is female nipples. While male nipples are perfectly acceptable to the public, female nipples are often seen as being too

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