Censorship in Television and Why it's Not so Good

What makes television unique, and in some cases more enjoyable, than movies is that it is broadcasted on a global level and can be viewed from the comfort of one’s home. If you want to go see a movie, you have to go to the theater, pay an absurd amount of money, and then sit in a large cool room while watching what I generally feel is too long of a movie (i. e. two or so hours.) With TV, one has access to thousands of channels and programming of different kinds. Do you like sports? Why not try ESPN? Do you like foreign cultures? Then the Travel Channel is right for you. Love music? The best place to go is MTV, or at least it used to be. The point being; there are so many different channels on TV that you could spend hours upon hours watching shows. Just like different styles of clothes go in and out of style as time passes, new trends in TV arise and replace the old ones. However, with a new age come new sensibilities. What was okay to show in the early 90’s may not be as socially acceptable in the mid 2000’s. Whether it is due to parents trying to control what their kids see or our minds becoming more sensitive to what used to be fine, censorship in TV has changed from what it was back in the day, and not in a good way.

Burn marks probably hurt more than gaping holes. |Source|

These days, TV show producers think twice on the amount of violence shown in their shows. Blood is removed, gory scars are covered, and brutal scenes are either done off camera or taken out altogether. While some may feel that violence is not something that should be shown on TV and that brutal scenes are better when done off camera, they also need to understand that violence is very real and continues to happen, warranted or not. By trying to censor the violence in a show, viewers will be taken out of their immersion while they look at the pretty, unscathed face of a character that just got his nose bit off by a shark. If said character loses his nose to a shark, there is no reason to make it seem like he was born without a nose and didn’t tell anyone.

In the image above, we see a scene from the popular anime DragonBall Z and the re-aired DragonBall Z Kai. In this scene, Raditz and Goku have been shot with Piccolo’s Makankosappo (called Special Beam Cannon in the English dub.) In the original, Goku and Raditz’s stomachs are shown with an open wound pouring out blood. When the show aired on North American TV, the scene was naturally edited, as the Japanese seemingly have a different view on violence in animation. However, in the refresh broadcast known as DragonBall Z Kai, the blood is removed and the whole is now a simple burn mark and isn’t really a hole anymore. While it makes more sense for a burst of energy being shot from a demonic alien to burn when coming into contact with flesh, the fact of the matter is that the scene was altered in order to look less violent.

 

Which would you rather be: a tortured soul or a loser? |Source|

Religious content has also been the subject of censors. While not as prominent as before, religion was a subject that broadcasters and producers felt was best left alone, possibly in order to avoid controversy. Again, let’s take a look at DragonBall Z. After Goku is killed in the fight with Raditz, he travels to King Kai’s planet in order to receive training. However, on the way there, he trips and falls into hell. Yes, Goku went to hell for a little bit. Childhood ruined. If you watched the show on Cartoon Network back in the day, you will be confused, because the name of the place Goku falls into is not called “hell”, but is instead called “H. F. I. L” or “Home for Infinite Losers.” The writers of the English dub changed the name in order to remove any religious themes in the show. This could also be interpreted as an attempt at humor, as villains are generally losers. In recent times, and in the English dub of DragonBall Z Kai, the original name has been restored, at least on the uncut DVD.

Blue is not the new black. |Source|

 In my opinion, the saddest and most pathetic form of censorship is the censorship of racial stereotypes. While also the most “offensive” of the three types of censorship I’ve listed, I see it as a major misinterpretation of the artist’s intentions. Here, we are going to take a look at the character Mr. Popo from DragonBall Z. As you can see, his skin color is black in the original. However, in the public TV broadcast of DragonBall Z Kai that aired on CW4Kids recolored him to blue. This is the perfect example of a misunderstanding and a waste of a censor. It is very clear from the moment he first appears that Mr. Popo is not human. Much like Piccolo, he is of a different world. Therefore, he should not be the subject of race.

There are other examples of censors and “offensive” content, especially in DragonBall Z, such as Vegeta giving Gohan the finger. It’s clear to me that people’s views on offensive content have changed. Not only are there more censors, but because of the interest in foreign shows, people are becoming more aware of censorship in TV shows. People are becoming so aware of it, that even content creators have taken notice and joke about it. Personally, I think we should be a little looser with our censoring, especially with foreign content. If we continue to censor content, characterizations are lost and meanings within names and dialogue are changed. As a writer, the meanings behind characters and names and what they say are very important to me. If a creator had a point to prove in a character or their actions, we shouldn’t censor them, otherwise we miss the point.