More Politics
Cinema forced to cancel film screening
The comment was made that this was mob rule oppressing free speech. This made me think of the limits of free speech.
The fist amendment says:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Amendment I - The Bill of Rights
Congress cannot make a law that curtails or interrupts your freedom to speak your mind. Therefore, can you say anything you want? The answer is no. There are many instances when you cannot speak your mind. If you are saying something, just to provoke someone to hit you. This is incitement and is ageist the law according to the Supreme Court.
“Speech likely to provoke an average listener to retaliation, and thereby cause a breach of peace, falls outside the protection of the First Amendment because the words have no important role in the marketplace of ideas the freedom of speech is designed to promote.”
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
Because this form of speech has no value to the free flow of ideas it is not protected speech. This is why someone cannot yell “Asshat” to me everyday when I leave my house.
Now the question is would “Birth of a Nation” provoke an average viewer? What if the movie was “Fahrenheit 911” or “Gone with the Wind?”
Comments
I saw parts of this in a junior college American History Class in 1980. My most immediate memory was of the abduction of the rapist (who was an African-American Union Soldier). The words: "THE TRIAL" appeared on the screen. Then we saw the doomed man (with a noose already around his neck, if memory serves) surrounded by wierdly costumed klansmen, waving smoky torches and making bizarre gestures. The class exploded in laughter. Ms. Gianini took pains to remind us that Griffiths was totaly serious.
Evil has a tendency to become ridiculous to the descendents of those who've triumphed over it. Once such things become unthinkable, they're also suspect to becoming silly.
Witness the mass crucifixtion in "Life of Brian". or the witch trial in "Holy Grail", or "Springtime for Hitler" in "The Producers", or the "Camptown Ladies" scene in "Blazing Saddles".
And of course there's the wonderful send up of "The Wizard of Oz" during the klan lynching in "Brother Where Art Thou" (which can also be terrifying, thanks to the dubbing in of the song "Death! Oh Death!").
In his "That Hideous Strength", C.S. Lewis suggested that the best reaction to at least some manifestations of evil is a "good horse laugh". The antihero in that book saves himself when he blurts out: "I'll be damned if I do any such foolishness!".
I think some of us in each generation need to see "A Birth of a Nation" and other expressions of evil, to appreciate where we are now, and what we need to watch for. It's useful to realize that what seems ridiculous to even imagine now was something that some human once thought was proper and just...
Posted by: Anonymous | August 11, 2004 08:13 PM
I always thought ironic that censors would watch something and then tell me that I should not watch the same thing ....
You have the freedom to speak, but no one is obligated to listen. Unless you are married ... :P
One of my favorite quotes from Blue Collar Comedy Tour ...
"I had the right to remain silent ... but I was unable to do so ...."
Posted by: Steve | September 10, 2004 04:55 AM