Controlling With Reason

When it comes to all kinds of art, anything goes. When one draws a picture, they can draw whatever they want. However, some of them might not be shown. That is just one way to say that others won’t be allowed to see something coming off as inappropriate or simply negative. That is the meaning of censorship.

People in control of studios and the media are the ones to decide whether something is open to all audiences or not. Who’s to say parents don’t censor things in their ways? One can play safe if they want, but there’s such a thing as playing too safe. Acting and drama teachers encourage their students to step out of their comfort zones. Trying something new is also encouraged, so one can evolve in their skills. If we don’t see what was meant to be shown, it wouldn’t influence the audiences.
Censorship in anime comes to mind. Quite a few anime shows have a bad way of censoring. A good example would be “Yu-Gi-Oh!”, the original and its spinoffs. The dubbed voices don’t hold up today, but that’s not the case. When the dubbing rights for an anime is given to 4Kids, you can expect a teen manga to become an idiotic kids’ show. First censorship is that guns were erased. Why do those guys point their fingers like guns? Because they have guns. The western audiences are sensitive about gun violence. So, those were literally taken out of the picture, and we got senseless pointing. Bandit Keith points a gun to Pegasus’s head when demanding the prize money. Originally, in the manga, Keith is treated with a “penalty game” by Pegasus, with Keith’s hand turning into a revolver and he’s given the illusion of it “shooting” him in the head. Also, physical violence is out as the punching sounds are cut.
That didn’t end there. The Shadow Realm was used as an excuse to cut out death, instead being an idea for Hell. When duelling Pandora (called Arkana in the dubbed version), what is originally power saws to cut their legs is changed to “dark energy disks” made to send the loser to the Shadow Realm. After that, Yugi and Kaiba are coerced into duelling a Ghoul duo, calling themselves Mask of Light and Mask of Darkness (Lumis and Umbra in the dubbed version). It was to be legitimate death as well as they’re on a glass roof that would be broken by a very real bomb and the losers would fall to their deaths. That was changed in the dubbed version to “shadow boxes”, which would somehow create portals to the Shadow Realm. That sounds even more far-fetched than the previous item mentioned.
However, there is one penalty duel in which death is acknowledged: when Yugi is forced to duel a mind-controlled Jonouchi, and each are shackled to an anchor with a support that would be destroyed by a bomb. If there’s to be any interference, a Ghoul awaits to trigger a crane to drop a crate over Anzu. In the manga, Yugi is coerced by Malik having her swallow a poison capsule.
Knives and blood are erased as well. In a flashback, they show Malik getting bitten by a cobra. Rishid stabs it dead; that was changed to him just kicking it. After scolded by Malik’s father, Rishid is shown with a knife out and hesitant to stab Malik. The carving on Malik’s back is really made by a very hot blade, a ritual performed by his father himself. Also cut in the dubbed version is Rishid with a knife out during that ritual. He may have considered suicide because Malik wanted him to stop it. Instead, he carves the symbols on his face, to show his loyalty to Malik. Also, in the flashback in explaining the family’s tragedy, Rishid is whipped as punishment, and Malik’s father says that he’d do the same to Malik and Ishizu for violating the rules, and Malik catches the whip. In the dubbed version, Rishid is just weakened by the Millennium Rod, which makes for a glaring continuity error in the case of shots. As for what Malik falling to his dark side does: he actually stabs his own father with the tine of the Rod, and then intends to do the same to Rishid; blood from the stabbing is erased in the dubbed version, and Malik just sent his father to the Shadow Realm.
In the third season, we are treated with a plot filler, but that will still be addressed. Noah says he was in accident and his body became useless. So, his mind became part of a supercomputer, so Gozaburo could still have his son. The sound in the original version is the perfect tip that he was hit by a car, and Seto watches a video showing a funeral, which says that Noah’s dead. It’s also mentioned that Gozaburo killed himself after Seto took over his step-father’s company. As for the real third season, after the duel against Malik, Jonouchi is too weak. The title of that episode originally, concluding that duel, is “Jonouchi Dies” or “Jonouchi is Dead”. Mokuba says, “He’s not breathing.” Though Jonouchi later is treated medically, he’s still in critical condition, but it’s the dark magic that tries to keep him down, and Ishizu’s thoughts are along the lines of, “All that can save this boy from the darkness is his willpower.” Much to follow that, regarding Malik’s conflict with his dark half, has talk of death. The real Malik is willing to face the facts that he can’t save himself anymore, and is willing to let his body die so his dark side would cease to exist.
The fourth season, possibly the weakest out of the plot fillers, has death as well. They tried being subtle about it with Amelda’s (called Allister in the dubbed version) backstory, as his brother was a casualty of war. For another sympathetic villain, Rafael’s backstory has the ship he and his family were on be sunken. He’s the only survivor of that accident. In the dubbed version, Dartz just says they’ve forgotten him. Making it that they all survived the disaster sinking the ship adds to the season’s plot holes. In the flashback of Rafael meeting him at a cemetery, the stones with his Rafael’s parents’ and siblings’ names are replaced with tablets with the Orichalcos symbol. When he digs in the ground with his hands, he sees two skulls, which are lifted by Eatos. Then, a Duel Disk is dropped toward him. In the dubbed version, it’s made that he sees just the Duel Disk. Valon’s backstory is most tragic. He was an orphan who lived at a church, that was bought out by troublesome men. As Valon watched it burn, he saw those men and heard them mention demolishing it. So, he beats them to a pulp himself. Then, he’s in jail. All that was cut out in the dubbed version and he’s made to have always been a juvenile delinquent. When Dartz explains how he caused the tragedies of his three “swordsmen”, it’s reduced to him just saying, “I framed him for his first crime when he was nine.” To add to the violence, another flashback to Atlantis shows Dartz killing his own wife, who turned into a monster. There is also him in the war of Atlantis, throwing his sword at Timaeus, which explains how Timaeus has one eye in his human form.
Season five shows Bakura coming off as insane, but he is a big villain. Sugoroku explains how he found the Millennium puzzle, which is the start of the manga making for the season. He is aided by two scavengers to show him the tomb. First is that Sugoroku’s a smoker, but his cigarette is replaced with a toothpick. One security measure that’s not replaced is sword-wielding statues that come to life. Also, it’s a long way down from the path to take. Instead of blackness, there’s an ominous violet for the portal to the Shadow Realm. In the manga, one scavenger dies when panicking and is stabbed by the statues from affront and behind. In the anime, he falls in the abyss. The second scavenger has a gun, with which he threatens Sugoroku and later shoots in the shoulder. In the dubbed version, it’s replaced with a slingshot. What created the Millennium Items is that an entire village was sacrificed, and blood is seen splashing in the shadows of the people. There are a few shots of him with blood around Bakura’s lips, blood that he spits, or blood that he wipes off with his hand. To finish that, to conclude Yugi’s duel with Bakura controlling Honda, after the blow that makes his life points zero, Bakura coughs blood. In the final duel of Yugi fighting the other Yugi, there’s a message mentioned in only the original Japanese version, of Yugi having Monster Reborn in the Gold Sarcophagus, which Ishizu thinks: “A dead soul should not linger.”

Many movies have been censored as well, not just when shown on TV. In fact, movies were forced to have changes for other countries, China being the most common blame. Because they came off as sensitive to stereotypical portrayals, much of Sao Feng’s screen time in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” was cut. Also, the role of the Mandarin in “Iron Man 3” answered to them, and as a result received backlash from furious comic-book fans about producers not being true to the source material. “The Simpsons Movie” probably spiked controversy as well, making things out of character. Early in the movie, Bart is skateboarding naked and there’s a shot of his penis, that shot being cut for TV standards. It may have been better that way. Later on, escaping from the mob consisting of all citizens of Springfield, Homer raises both middle fingers while stuck in the sinkhole, the fingers being erased in the shot in the TV version.
Not all animated movies are child-friendly, and there didn’t seem to be much of a restriction in the past. Though offscreen, grandparents probably haven’t forgotten their kids crying about Bambi’s mom getting killed. Many family or children’s animated movies feature at least one scary moment. Richard Adams made up his own masterpiece book that was his original story told to his daughters. Much of the violence and plot points are captured in “Watership Down”. It has good ratings online, but its a lesser-known movie. What makes it unsuitable for children among the modern Western audience is the blood. Along with violence resulting in the characters bleeding, it features a moment a la horror, capturing the feel of claustrophobia.
Another underrated animated movie is “Felidae”, based on a German book. What makes it underrated is its bad reputation for moments of horror and gore being sort of over-the-top. The plot involves murder, which is shown as being brutal given how the bodies are shown. The scary moments lie in nightmare sequences. Add a short sexual encounter and several uses of strong language and one would think that it’s meant for a mature audience.
Though there’s so much as one punch in an animated movie, one thing that animators refuse or are told not to do for children’s or family movies is show even a drop of blood. Children are likely to get scared from seeing just themselves bleed when getting a scrape from falling off their bikes, but one can’t determine which of those children would get scared from seeing a cartoon character bleed. Though visible fresh cuts from a blade would make a fight using blades more realistic, it still has a chance of traumatizing children. So, a choice has to be made.
“Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’ Hoole” has a big fight utilizing blades. One shot has Strix Struma about to behead a bat, the actual beheading switched to off-screen. In the climax, even the burning branch penetrating Metalbeak’s body is off-screen. The books on which the movie is based actually acknowledge disfigurations and decapitations. Those books sold at a Coles or Chapters are shelfed in the section “Fiction Series 9-12”.

Video games have been a subject of controversy as well. The first ever video game showing blood was the first “Mortal Kombat”, which was released in 1992, working for the SNES and the Sega Genesis. The blood is shown most in the finishing moves, along with organs and bones, the most infamous being Sub-Zero ripping the opponent’s head off with the spine still attached. This caused parents and congressmen to intervene and all blood was censored. However, there was a cheat to make the blood appear. As a joke, the button sequence was to spell “Abracadabra”. With that part of video games, the ESRB rating system was created. It’s also been made optional; in the first “Assassin’s Creed” game, whether to show blood from attacks or not is a gameplay option.
Something bothersome is a moment in “LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean”. Like other LEGO games, it’s friendly to children, or at least the older youth. It’s based on the movies, of course, while taking a few liberties. The moment to be a bother is that from the end of the first movie and that from the start of the third movie. Instead of Jack being hanged, he’s in a stockade and people throw fruits at him. It’s a gag, but it’s inaccurate to the movie. Animated movies taught the hard fact of death decades ago.
Other video games have been subject to controversy for their content, be they scripted events or gameplay.

Though it deserves to be cancelled in the opinion of many, an episode of “Family Guy” makes the point that real life can’t be censored. The FCC, having overreacted to a moment shown on TV, tests that by making everything in Quahog just like censored content. Everyone has an opinion on what children deserve to learn and what not to. A child can ask questions about important matters to their parents and how those questions are answered follow two sides of a coin: sugar coating, trying to explain but trying to keep it positive by cutting out what may be critical points; and giving the hard facts, leaving out no detail of the right answer.
One explained part of history is a teacher being fined for giving a speech on creationism, which would offend the many religious parents of that time. A computer video game makes the point of what should be allowed to be taught in school and what not to be. Expecting all schools to follow all standards borders upon brainwashing.
Even if children forget something minutes after learning a fact, they’ll still be curious. All children are curious. What to tell them is one of the many things considered black or white. They are told not to lie, which is a parents’ hypocrisy as parents have been the ones to tell about a creature picking up a broken tooth and leaving a coin, a rabbit leaving chocolate, and a fat man in a red suit leaving toys, over the past century.
Studios, developers, and politicians can omit or change something meant to be seen or read, but they can’t tell others what to think or feel. If one is ordered to change a personal painting, refusing is the better choice as it is not a part of the artist. It’s always about choices.