free speech and music essays

free speech and music essays Paging Mr. Zappa Where's Frank Zappa when you need him? The last time U.S. senators took to wagging their fingers at media executives and threatening legal restrictions if pop culture didn't get just a bit less ... well ... popular, Zappa shook his finger right back. He unleashed a torrent of righteous outrage at the assembled politicos and their busybody wives and he even looked cool doing it. One of the political wives to feel Zappa's wrath was Tipper Gore, whose hubby, Al, is currently laying into media executives as the Democratic candidate for president. Along with running-mate Sen. Joe Lieberman, Gore threatened restrictive legislation within six months if the entertainment industry didn't stop marketing violent films, recordings and videogames to America's youth. Lord knows, sixteen-year-old boys need powerful inducement to lure them away from chick flicks at the multiplex. Lieberman himself has been described by Wired as being "as strident as the most right-wing Republican" when it comes to calling for restrictions on sex and violence in music, TV, and videogames. As Wired implied, this isn't a pur...