Censorship and the National Endowment for the Arts

from CherishL (A.K.A. Cherish Ety) - Sunday, January 05, 2003
accessed 1844 times

'Uhhhhh....Bitch, Fuck that Shit, Eat a MotherF--king Dick.....'

These are the lyrics Marshal Matters, also known as Eminem/Slim Shady, raps to his mom on his new release "The Eminem Show" in response to her irresponsible parenting habits.

While I was enrolled in college I had the opportunity of seeing an exhibition of Chinese propaganda, made during the cultural revolution. This exhibit was purely didactic, censored, government propaganda, definitely not my idea of forwarding thinking work. I spent the first 17 years of my life sheltered and secluded from reality, during which time I was only afforded the cog's dogmatic redundant reading material which was full of lame and pedophile art. When I checked out the Chinese propaganda art exhibit, I realized that the Chinese government didn't even come close to treating their citizens the way that berg/zerby and the cog tried to control and brainwash my persona as a kid and teen! Unlike the Chinese government, the cog/family actually yanked me out of normal society and did not allow me to think for myself and subsequently I did not develop important cognitive skills such as problem solving, coping skills, sense of self esteem & self worth, etc., which I have since had to learn.

For one of the advanced Art History classes I took to earn my degree, I studied Russian Art History. The professor who taught the class was Russian herself, and she placed an important emphasis on the propaganda/art which was made by the Communist regime as a tool to 'teach' the Soviet population.


I'm a firm believer in freedom of speech and self expression. For those of you who follow the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), you may recall the scandal that ensued after the NYC exhibit with animal body parts a few years back. You may also recall the photographs by Andres Serano, most well known one being "Piss Christ", in which he photographed a statue of Christ submerged in Piss. The question that the two previously mentioned exhibits raised was whether or not these works constituted as art, and whether or not they should be censored. While I personally don't enjoy looking at a shark which has been hacked in pieces, or statue dunked in piss, I must say that I was pleased to hear that while some of the NEA funding was cut the artists were still allowed to exhibit their stuff. Ah! Yes! America at it's best: FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!!!!


It seems that there are a handful of people who read the stuff I write about my past and they conclude that I am angry and resentful, and that I harbor bitterness. If one is to analyze the stuff I write about the cog/family, solely, then I can see how they would arrive at that conclusion. I'm a HAPPY GIRL!!!!!! And I am happy because I art school taught me how to overcome life's difficulties by working them out in my art/writings.

So for those of you who are interested in music, and are interested in seeing my non-cog stuff, here are some links to some of my most recent reviews and interviews.


http://www.lunarmagazine.com/features/layo.html

http://www.lunarmagazine.com/reviews/e50_jsanchez.html

http://www.lunarmagazine.com/reviews/e50_felix.html

http://www.lunarmagazine.com/reviews/cd_detde1.html

http://www.lunarmagazine.com/reviews/cd_pkeat.html

Soon to come: interviews with "The Orb" & "Adam F". Add to that the upcoming Winter Music Conference in South Beach, FL.

Enjoy......