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The Censor Moron ApproachesDateline: 14th March, 2004The term censor moron isn't mine - DH Lawrence coined it - but I make no apologies for resurrecting it, for it is very apposite at the moment. We have would-be censors with us all the time, those who feel that the rest of us shouldn't read, see or hear the things that offend them, but they tend to be easily ignored for they are usually all too obvious fanatics. But when an august and respected publication advocates not just censorship but actual book-burning we have to feel worried, if not actually scared. The Catholic Herald, a long-established and generally respected newspaper, has suggested that Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, currently having a sold-out run in play form at the National Theatre, is "fit for the bonfire". Why is this? Because at the centre of Pullman's fantasy is a God who is not only evil but can be (and is) destroyed. This God has his church which is corrupt and repressive, a church which, far from attempting to alleviate the evils of society, is the cause of them. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the other hand, said, “What would the Church look like, what would it inevitably be, if it believed only in a God who could be rendered powerless and killed, and needed unceasing protection? It would be a desperate, repressive tyranny.” And last week, in a private meeting in Downing Street, the Archbishop is understood to have suggested that the trilogy should be part of schools' Relgious Education. The drive to censorship comes from a stange mixture: on the one hand, the absolute conviction of the would-be censor that what (s)he believes is the only truth and that any other belief is wrong and therefore evil, and, on the other, a fear that, if people are presented with opposing views, they will reject the censor's. Unfortunately, the desire to censor seems to be deeply ingrained in human nature and even our so-called liberal society has developed its own form of censorship, political correctness. This is now so all-pervasive in our society that it is becoming a positive obstacle to thought! An example: Clwyd Theatr Cymru is currently producing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and, on the Theatre in Wales forum, someone wrote that (s)he felt "sick to my stomach" at the fact that a Welshman played the Chief. The character is a Native American (another bit of PC-ness: American Indian, apparently, being unacceptable) and so should be played by a Native American. "If you can't cast it, don't do it," says the writer. How many professional actors in Wales are Native Americans? And if we do Henry V, should all the French characters be played by French actors? Why not go further? Actors should only play actors: if there's a vicar in a play, (s)he should be played by a vicar. If a character in a play is 22 years old, God forbid that (s)he should be played by a 25 year old. No more 30 year old Juliets, please. If you can't cast a 14 year old, don't do the play. Stupid? Of course it is. All censorship, whether it is book-burning or political correctness, is stupid. It is an attempt to prevent people thinking for themselves. Its aim is to make us conform to the beliefs of the censor. It comes from the fact that the censor knows better than you: (s)he is right and those of us who disagree are wrong and must be forced into "correct" belief. It arises from monumental arrogance. Theatre must fight censorship wherever it finds it, whether it's the fanatcism of the book-burner or the pathetic mewlings of the politically correct. All power, then, to the arm of men like Rowan Williams, and let's dismiss the censors with the contempt they deserve. Morons! Articles Indices:
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