https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87 Exploring themes of censorship in Indecent, The God Of Vengeance, society, and Taylor Swift en-us 2022-11-04 17:51:55 UTC 2025-05-28 13:42:41 UTC hello@padlet.com sophieb232 https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87/wish/2381326366 The moment that inspired me to write this post was Rabbi Silverman's denouncement of God Of Vengeance. When most people think of censorship, they picture governmental officials shutting down something that goes against whatever political agenda is in place, so most people are unaware of the societal censorship that takes place. Rabbi Silverman's sermon caused so much uproar in the Jewish and Broadway communities, leading the police to get involved and arrest the cast. This made me question whether we as the common people have any right to censor a subject like that, and the lines between freedom of expression, and hate speech, on both sides of the argument between the artist and the audience. So many people consider cancel culture to be a thing of the 21st century, this most recent decade primarily, but in reality, it's just been more well hidden. In cases like God Of Vengeance, many argued that it ruined the public image of Jewish people, and was filled with "offensive" content, on behalf of "the greater population." That logic was acceptable because they were looking out for a "wholesome family dynamic" as opposed to groups that were already oppressed and struggling for any type of human representation.]]> 2022-11-13 03:50:35 UTC https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87/wish/2381326366 sophieb232 https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87/wish/2381328574 A connection made to the overall point may seem superficial at first, but it links at its core values. Taylor Swift is a lot like Sholem Asch in a lot of ways. Both are/were globally renowned artists who produce(d) thought-provoking and at times controversial art, and recently, Taylor has been bullied by (primarily) social media into censoring one of her new music videos. For her new album, her most popular song is called "Anti-Hero," a song that was written to explore her own issues with self-doubt/loathing, image issues and being her own worst enemy. She has also publically brought up her past issues with an eating disorder, which was shown in the initial video. She steps on a scale, and the screen then shows the word "fat." This caused a lot of people to get angry and said she was being fatphobic, despite her merely expressing her own issues in a respectful, personal way. After the controversy, the video was edited and the scene was removed, much like God Of Vengeance with the English translation. This is another horrible example of society forcing censorship on artists for speaking/writing about a topic that they care about, and is personal to them. ]]> 2022-11-13 03:58:43 UTC https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87/wish/2381328574 sophieb232 https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87/wish/2386634645 This all matters because art is the most personal form of protest and has been a contested issue for centuries, and despite our culture's obsession with being "woke" and socially progressive, we are still lacking in our acceptance of messages that break down what we perceive as acceptable. People are unable to find a line between the freedom of expressing their opinions about a piece of art, and hate speech to the point of censorship. If people do not agree with a piece of artwork, there is always an option to not view it, but the mentality of "I don't like this so no one else can see it" is so harmful and leads to such a narrow-minded view of society. When artists are no longer allowed to talk about personal issues relative to them, and likely other people, it creates a mindset that it's not acceptable for anyone to discuss often difficult topics and normalizes stigmatizing topics that are uncomfortable, yet important.]]> 2022-11-16 14:02:36 UTC https://padlet.com/sophieb232/3b723xbwe64vho87/wish/2386634645