Dangerous Games Play, Pleasure and Panics

"in the 1940s comic book reading was seen as deviant and potentially dangerous behaviour, continuing to be pilloried into the 50s and 60s, with a National Union of Teachers campaign against the evils of American imported horror comics."

-This is an interesting quote because it shows how the public have changed their views on a panic over the years, today no one goes on about how comic books are dangerous for kids, instead they moan about video games instead, so is this possibly an example of whats going to happen over the video game panic?




"The representation of ‘ministers of religion’ could not be comic or villainous and ‘excessive and lustful’ kissing could not be shown."

-This is a quote about the film industry from the 30s til the 60s, this is interesting because when you compare that to films like saw, the amount we have 'progressed' since then is ridiculous. Films like saw dont generate much controversy anymore, but films like The Human Centipede 2 was refused a certificate classification (PG-18 etc) by the BBFC until 23 cuts where made removing some of the more extreme images of violence. So how long is it until films like the human centipede aren't frowned upon, and is this a good thing or bad thing? 




"The moral panic that grew around Presley identified a distinct ‘generation gap’"

- Moral panics around youths are usually due to their distinctly different 'surrogate' culture, when punk came around it was fuelled by anger, rebellion and anarchy, and this stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the day to day life of Britain




"Pop music has returned as a point of controversy many times over the years. Two infamous examples are the omission of The Sex Pistols from the singles chart in June 1977. This was the week of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and the week when God Save the Queen was the biggest selling single. The published chart listing simply left the No. 1 slot blank."

- This is a good example of a moral panic taking effect on the whole of Britain, it also shows how popular sub cultures can be, The Sex Pistols were the pioneers of the punk age and for an anti royalist song to be so popular during a time of patriotism and pride in royalty and Britishness would seem ridicules a few years prior