Censorship ignores qualities of fantasy
by Brian Wainstein, Reporter

    Entertainment is big business. DVD sales are booming, and Hollywood's stars enjoy lifestyles we all envy.
     Musicians sell millions of CDs or have millions of copies of their songs downloaded.
     Movie and music stars became role models and heroes, and parents turn to television to teach their children.
    With all this focus on the entertainment industry, the question of censorship and free speech often arises.
     Some people wonder if we should we let our children be subjected to the whim of the entertainment industry. People might emulate the characters that entertain us.
     The same people espouse forbidding children to play video or role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons since they might emulate the games' violence
     People believe children will kill someone because that's what they do in a game.
     Do these people think they would be raising little Machiavellis if they let their children play Risk, or a Donald Trump if they let them play Monopoly?
    Do proponents of censorship think that children's mouths will be irreconcilably tainted if the "s-word," "f-word" or any of the other alphabet-words assault their ears via radio or television?
     Personally, I learned my repertoire of "naughty words" from other kids, not from television.
     I also see more real violence on a parent-sanctioned news or football broadcast than I'll ever see on a game of Quake. Sure in Quake electronic representations of humanoid creatures get blown up at regular intervals, but at least gamers know it isn't real.
     People can tell the difference between fantasy and reality, something many censors don't understand.
     Of course, I'm all for age restrictions; if people of any age could watch any movie, you would get a lot of annoying snickering throughout certain parts.
     It takes maturity to appreciate some movies, but face it-one can find people in old age homes who lack that maturity.
     Violent games, loud music and action-filled movies provide a way of letting off steam. For many people, after a bad day at the office, there's nothing so satisfying as watching people pretend to riddle others with bullets, caterwauling about the unfairness of society or fragging a n00b's avatar.
     It is much better to relieve frustration with furious mouse-clicking and pretty colors, window shaking music or just a good old American violent, action thriller than by going out on the town looking for fights.
     Let the world of leisure and fantasy thrive. Afterall, fantasy lives only in the mind.