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July 1996, Week 5

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Subject:
From:
Xyvind Staalen <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Xyvind Staalen <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 00:10:32 +0200
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On Tue, 30 Jul 1996, Molly Olsen wrote:
 
> Xyvind Staalen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >Define porn.
>
> Ulf Dalquist wrote:
> >Sorry, I'm not sure I can. But unless Norway has abandoned the censorship on
> >pornography, I reckon the censors can. Again: Do you still have a ban on
> "images
> >showing certain sexual elements"?
>
> Xyvind, it looks like the question is:  How does Norway define porn, or define
> what it doesn't want the public to see?  Or are there no restrictions at all?
 
I'm afraid part of this thread seems to have escalated into a debate on
porn. That was never my intention. Porn to me is images and texts designed
to get people sexually aroused, and nothing more. Many would claim that
porn is a bad thing, and others the opposite. Anyways, it's not my
intention to say *anything* about porn right now.
 
I have mentioned this before, but I feel an urge to repeat myself. It is
wrong, wrong, wrong to put sex next to violence. Some people find explicit
images of sex annoying, but do anyone really believe that the sight of a
breast or a penis could have consequences compared to what many of you
believe to be the case with violence?
 
In case anyone wonders: It's illegal to distribute pictures of an erect
penis in Norway. But that's just about it. In many movies, particularly in
the seventies and early eighties, nakedness is quite usual though. Still,
Norway has not turned into a giant sex club.
 
I believe that it's impossible to predict the influence of a movie in
advance. The human brain is to complicated to predict. It would take a
much bigger brain to figure out the one we have. I guess it's some kind of
a catch 22, right?
 
It would certainly be swell to be able to design movies that would make
criminals non-criminals, and lunatics sain. But let's agree that the most
important thing is to make *good* movies, movies that makes it worthwhile
to go visit the silver screen. After all, you can't do much wrong those
100 minutes you spend in the theatre!
 
 
Xyvind Staalen
University of Trondheim, Norway.
 
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