Posts tagged censorship

Posted 2 years ago

Left 4 Dead 2 Banned in Australia

Australia is a great country. Wide open spaces, a great coral reef, and a reputation for fun-loving, down-to-earth folk. And yet, in another shining example of myopia and undue censorship, the Australian ratings board has delivered the videogame industry another kick in the crotch.

Apparently, killing zombies is too much of a violent scenario to be allowed on the market. I guess all Australian gamers will be left with is the option to get a real gun and go shoot some dingoes.

Posted 2 years ago

Hulu pulls Family Guy episode. Was it Atheism or Star Trek?

This is not the first time Hulu has had to pull an episode of a show, but what’s interesting about this one is the reaction the action provoked.

The Family Guy episode in question deals with two sub-plots: Atheism, and Star Trek. Now, which of these two is likely to have caused the pull? My bet would be on simple copyright issues, as stated by Hulu themselves, but some suspect the foul hand of Christian Fundamentalism at work. 

This seemingly paranoid reaction may have something to do with past experience: the show South Park has often been the target of religion-based calls for episodes to be banned, both with regards to Islam as well as the cult of Scientology (and no, Scientology is not a religion no matter what you say).

It therefore should come as no surprise that, despite the availability of other perfectly reasonable explanations, people would choose to single out religion as the likely cause of this small act of censorship. Life, it would seem, is not without a sense of irony.