Minow Response-Ashley D.

I read that he thought the First Amendment should concern children without limiting the rights of adults. It says the childs first amendment has 2 main justifications being education and need for protection. Another justification has to do with protecting them from ideas that, because of children’s immaturity, may do them psychological harm. Some court cases were sited such as Ginsberg v. New York. this had to do with childrens exposure to dirty magazines. Another case had to do with indecent language and themes on the radio when children could hear it.

Culture Shock-ashley d

In the film Culture Shock, we hear David Denby talk about the moral issues and responsibility of films verses the complexity of showing how life really is in films. I personally think that there is nothing wrong with showing real life events in movies because it is what goes on in everyday life anyway. I think people should be exposed to different aspects of life and see how others struggle and what others have to do to make ends meet. Denby says that just showing what is right and wrong and good triumphs evil is a childish was to view things. I agree. The good don’t always prevail and sometimes people have to do bad things in order to survive. I don’t see a problem with movies depicting real life images of death, drugs, sex, profanity, or crime. This is because it happends everywhere, all the time. And me seeing these images doesn’t or hasn’t caused me to become an immoral adult. I think it has shaped me into a more understanding, educated person.

mutual decision-ashley d

This court case was decided in 1915 when the Court ruled that the free speech protection of the Ohio Constitution did not extend to movies. The Ohio Constitution free speech clause was similar to that of the First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States of America. It says the violation of the Ohio Constitution is allowing censors legislative powers. It talks about how much money the complainant is making by selling films in Ohio. It also states that the board is demanding the complainant submit its films to sensorship or will arrest those who do not comply. The complainant says (1) The statute in controversy imposes an unlawful burden on interstate commerce; ( 2) it violates the freedom of speech and publication guaranteed by 11, article 1, of the Constitution of the state of Ohio;1 and (3) it attempts to delegate legislative power to censors and to other boards to determine whether the statute offends in the particulars designated. Those are the main points I could gather from the article.

bill of rights/declaration

In Black, gangster movies upset a lot of citizen groups and movie critics. Father Daniel Lord thought that violent movies would teach youth how to commit crimes (Black 124). Another man named Elmer T. Peterson told Will Hays that violent movies such as Billy the Kid would promote disrespect for the law among children, and lead to an increase in juvenile delinquency (Black 107). The critics truly thought that crime would cause crime among the viewers. Moral guardians thought that gangsters should be banned from the big screen (Black 108). Critics and citizens felt that this kind of material should be banned from the big screen. Not for adults, but because of the children that could potentially watch it and become criminals in the long run.I do not think that the censorship such as seen in Scarface is consistent with democratic principles. This is because in the first amendment, it states that people have the freedom of speech. Movie scripts are a story that a writer makes. He should be able to write whatever he wants down. If a director likes it, he should be able to make a movie out of it. We have the freedom to do that in today’s society. Now a days we have a rating system. What children can and cannot see is completely up to the parent or legal guardian. In the bill of rights section 12 it also states that freedom of press is a strong support of liberty and shouldn’t be restrained by the government. It should be protected. Movie critics and citizen groups trying to censor others people form of art and writing should not be allowed.

Scarface Endings

In the original script ending, Tony is bombarded with tear gas and bullets to no effect by the police. The cops then set the building on fire. Tony finally come out with guns blazing and not begging for mercy like shown in the 2 film ending versions. He then comes face to face with Guarino, the cop who has been following him the whole movie. He pulls his gun to Guarino’s face and shoots. There are no more bullets left in his gun ( Black 126). In the first film film ending, Camonte and his sister are together in the room. She is about to pull a gun on him but then hears the sirens and begs her brother to get away. Camonte asks his sister why she didn’t shoot him. She then replies, ” Because you are me and I am you. It’s always been that way.” Camonte then goes into a sort of gun blazing craze out the window. He seems almost psychotic. Cesca is in the backround loading guns. Camonte then starts shutting the steel shuters on his windows and a bullet ricochets off the steel shutter into his sister. Camonte goes crazy yelling for her to not leave him. She then calls out for her dead husband that her brother killed and says that Camonte is afraid. She then dies. The police then bombard the room with tear gas and he comes out begging for mercy like a coward. He then tries to run and get shot down in the gutter. The 2nd film ending is shown on the dvd. In this ending, Cesca still come up the the room with her gun. She then hears the sirens and wamrs Tony to get out. He asks, ” Why didn’t you shoot me?” They then try to run down the stairs, but the cops are there. There is not as much excitement or craziness as in the first film ending. Cesca is loading guns and Tony starts to shut the steel shutters. A bullet ricochets and hits Cesca. Tony starts yelling for her not to leave. That he needs her. Cesca says she is cold but its okay. He keeps yelling for her to not leave. She can’t leave him. She tells Tony that Guino wasn’t afraid. She doesn’t want to stay because tony is. She then dies. The police bombard the building with the tear gas. He then goes downstairs and is greeted by the cops. They arrest him. He is tried nd found guilty in court for murder in the 1st degree. The judge then preceeds to say he desearves this. He is sentenced to be hung by noose. I think the original script ending did glorify Camonte. He wasnt a coward. He wasn’t afraid of anything. He met the cops in the eye without fear. When you think of a gangster you think of a big bad tough guy who isn’t afraid of anything. Who isn’t afraid of dying. This is exactly how Camonte was in the script ending. I don’t think the 2 film ending made a difference to the peoples view. This is because the violence from before in the movie is still with the audience. The first filmed ending is violent because he is shot to death. The second ending shows him getting tried for his crimes and hung which is still gruesome.

Response 1-1/24

The movie first started out with 3 slides talking about gang rule in America. Saying that it is not the film industries fault for gangsters and if the people wanted something done about it, they should go to the government and put them behind bars. Not blame films. They had to add these slides so the censors would release the movie. The main character Tony Camonte is a character based on Al Capone. At the beginning of the film, you get a feel for how Camonte’s character acts. A police officer comes in accusing him of a crime. Camonte acts very surprised and innocent. He is very disrespectful to the cop. He moves very slow when the officer is trying to get him to go downtown with him. He also lights his match on his police badge. Camonte is a very sarcastic character and knows how to keep his cool. Camonte works for a man names Johnny Lovo, but you can tell by Camonte’s faceial expressions that he wants to run the illegal alcohol business in town. Another scene shows Tony Camonte with his mother who disapproves of his gangster ways. In this scene Camonte catches his sister Casca kissing a guy. He became very overly protective and possesive of Cesca. He got very angry and grabbed her. It seemed a bit too protective for him to be just a brother. It seemed a bit incestuous. Afterwards he gives her money and the mother comes out yelling at her. She screams that she disapproves of what he is doing for money. She tells Cesca that Tony is no good. From what I have seen so far in the movie, I do not think it glorifies violence or gangsters. This is because these were real things happening in the world at the time. I don’t think it could be glorified if it was real world situations. But the ending of the movie could shape my decision on this question.  

Introduction- Ashley D.

Hey English 302!

 My name is Ashley. I am a sophomore. I’m a Government & International Politics major with a minor in legal studies. I do not know what I plan on career wise with my major yet. I live on campus. I am 20 years old. I am from Burke, Virginia. I love animals. I have a ferret. His name is S’mores. In my free time I love spending time with my friends. I love dancing, singing, clubbing, eating, sleeping, visiting new places, internet, and watching movies. I love all types of music. I like R&B, Hip-Hop, Latino, Trance, Reggae, Soca, and Rock. As far as dancing, I can freestyle, salsa, merengue, punta, and samba. I love meeting new people. I’m very easy to get along with. I do a little modeling in North Carolina, but I stopped due to school.  Hope to have a good semester with you all!!