The Pun Also Rises(as seen in the North Adams Transcript)
"The Naked Truth"A few years back, when John Ashcroft was appointed Attorney General, some people said, "Well, it's curtains for justice." You might have thought this was because any man who would lose an election to a dead man must have something wrong with him, and you'd be right. But as it turns out, after John Ashcroft took office it was literally curtains for justice, because he disliked having a classical (from the Latin words "class" meaning "clothes" and "ical" meaning "not providing full coverage") statue of justice behind him during press conferences. We can only presume that Ashcroft wanted to be the only boob the camera was focusing on. So, up went the curtain, and justice got a little more blindfolded so America could be a little more safe from the threat of art and statues and justice and that sort of thing. Anyway, if you've been keeping abreast of local news, then you probably know why this has come to mind. A man I will refer to only as "Bob Lava" (but whose actual name is Councilman Robert Moulton Jr.) recently decided that he didn't like some art that a man I'll call "Erik the Rudd" had put in a window. And rather than not purchasing the art, Bob Lava suggested that North Adams ought to have some sort of ordinance in place preventing the public display of art he deemed inappropriate. You've probably seen some of the articles that have appeared over the past week due to this issue, but frankly, I'm surprised we didn't see an article that looked like this:
Something like this could well have appeared, given the number of people (like myself) who think that censorship poses a much greater public danger than art. Granted, Erik did write a strong public letter to Bob Lava. But then again, Mr. Lava was quoted as saying, "I have nothing against art, nothing against free speech, but there are limits." And I couldn't help but be reminded of a time I had turned down an invitation to go camping by saying, "I have nothing against being attacked by bugs, crammed into a musty tent, and failing to sleep because the ground is covered in sticks and rocks, but there are limits." Honestly, even those who feel Mr. Lava is right in disliking the art in the window tend to agree that ordinance would be an overreaction - enough guns are already on the streets that we hardly need to add more ordinance to the pile. How will distributing small arms and pistols help improve our community standards, Mr. Lava? More ordinance is the last thing we need, I would think. Maybe I'm in the minority on that issue, though. From what I can tell, most people seem to be more okay with violence than nudity, especially when it comes to exposing minors to it. Shootings and beatings on television occur daily during prime time, but nudity is hidden away in later hours. And consider last Super Bowl, where after hours of men tackling each other violently, a small wardrobe malfunction seemed to have shocked the nation. The human body, in spite of the fact that we all own one, continues to terrify some people. Thankfully, the issue for North Adams has nothing to do with any member of the Jackson family. The only question is whether we should support blanket censorship of "inappropriate" things, thus leaving the gate open for people to put everything they dislike into the "inappropriate" category. (Hint: No.) Sometimes, a man comes along and says, "Censorship or Bust!" And to this man we must say that we do not appreciate censorship -- although we occasionally appreciate a bust.
____________________ Seth Brown is a local humor
writer who supports free speech but still wouldn't mind getting
paid occasionally. He appears frequently in the Washington Post's
Style Invitational, infrequently in various other publications,
and once in book form -- in his first book "Think You're The
Only One?", published by Barnes & Noble. His Web site is
www.RisingPun.com
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