I hate censorship. Granted, it is a necessary thing in certain circumstances (who wants to see a someone killed in real life on the 6 o’ clock news?), but in movies where it’s fantasy (not real), I would think that people would employ some judgement calls on their own. Alas, in our society we employ people with smaller minds than our own to tell us what we responsible, level-headed people, can and can’t watch.
A sure sign of the Apocalypse was sent our way today, where earlier in the week, a provision added to the Children’s Safety Act of 2005 would require any film, TV show or digital image that contains a sex scene to come under the same government filing requirements that adult films must meet. The bill, intended to track sex offenders and prevent children from being victimized by sex crimes, described those films with any filmed sexual activity requiring an affidavit that lists the names and ages of the actors who engage in the act. The film is required to have a video label that claims compliance with the law and lists where the custodian of the records can be found. The record-keeping requirement is known as Section 2257, for its citation in federal law. Violators could spend five years in jail.
Under the provision inserted into the Children’s Safety Act, the definition of sexual activity is expanded to include simulated sex acts like those that appear in many movies and TV shows. In other words, honest-to-goodness films and TV shows, , would fall into the same group reserved for hardcore porn. Obviously, studios like FOX and Paramount would be in an uproar (then again, FOX is already halfway there with the stuff they show on TV), as if the bill goes through, any sex scenes (simulated, by the way) would have to either be left on the cutting room floor or written out, else the film’s producers risk filling out a 2257, which essentially would mean
Anyways, before I get arrested, your thoughts on this matter, or chat about it in the forums. Let ’em know that we aren’t as stupid as they think.
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What’s Not Allowed