Censorship is a situation or condition where by expressive materials are restricted or constrained from access by various groups in the society or even the public at large. This process may be imposed at various levels of a country’s leadership or by relevant agencies concerned with works that may be expressive in nature. The restrictions may be varied and diverse in the manner of the specific materials that are being referred to. Time, place and manner constraints are just but a few relevant restrictions that are evident in censorship.
Reasons for Censorship
State Requirements
Laws that govern the country may require censoring of expressive materials even the producers of such work may not want to. Rules and regulations are backed up by the operational constitution therefore provide punishments upon breaking them. State requirements are therefore adhered to and censorship that is controlled or observed by the law cannot be avoided. For example, in “A Doll’s House”, women’s rights are said to be brought into focus. However, in the same play, marriage norms are said to be violated hence the need for censorship arises. When such materials or aspects presented in the “A Doll’s House” play are likely to be harmful to the society, then publicizing such materials or play should be subject to the control that is based on some laws so as to safeguard the interests of the public or the society at large.
The Norms
The society is governed by morals besides the set laws. In this regard, there is what the society perceives to be right or wrong based on the society’s morals or norms. If a piece of material is subject or characteristic to violate the society’s morals, then such work should be subject to censorship in order to protect the interests of the people for whom these works are developed.
Industry Associations and the Ratings Systems
All the pieces of materials that may be subjected to censorship are developed under particular industry that observes certain ratings for each work developed like it is the case with “Howel”. These industries can as well be the source of censorship in a bid to safeguard their operations and business interests since they are profit making entities. In the case of “A Doll’s House” the play’s theme is presented as wanting to uphold women’s rights. However, in the view of censorship, this view is considered void. It is rather argued that the theme of self actualization is presented. That is, the need of a person to know what he or she is composed of, the character and personality. If such interests in the play can negatively affect the operation ability of the industry, then the industry can censor parts of the work that are relevant for censorship.
Effectiveness and Acceptability of Censorship
The effectiveness of censorship is dependent on all stakeholders in the industry. The state, the public and the industry are therefore the relevant agencies that can oversee censorship effectiveness. In this regard, laws, rules and regulations formulated and implemented to control the industry should be strictly followed to the latter. The industry should close the loophole gaps that are likely to leak expressive materials where censorship is highly recommended. The public on the other hand should observe copyright laws and avoid infringement of such laws. The internet and the wide world web has been a great challenge in the issues of copyright laws, but the countries can internationally unite to control and regulate copyright infringement.
The acceptability or unacceptability of whatever material that is in question depends on where the three major parties presented above achieves a balance. Where the interests of the state, society and the industry comes to a balance; that should be the baseline of what is acceptable or unacceptable because all parties’ interests will have been served. “A Doll’s House” case provides a good baseline for such an argument. The 19th Century marriage norms and the women’s rights provided for by the law could have been coincided to provide an acceptable line.
