The biggest lesson I am still learning in regards to censorship is why I have, and have to remind myself to resist, the impulse to write-off stories from any media form that exist in what I would put as "sensational" framing.
For example: nonstop emotional whump with no narrative connection, torture porn common to christian horror media especially where the victim is a woman and SOMETIMES SIMULTANEOUSLY the protagonist, propaganda designed to engineer consent towards authoritarian policies ect
I have read stories that hurt. 13 reasons why is an example of a story that I can handle/understand, Where the Red fern grows, Hunger games, of mice and men. All of them hurt. But their point was that thing in life can hurt. Sometimes malicious, sometimes because of circumstances, and sometimes you/the character just landed on the cutting edge of the universe's apathy.
I don't like or want stories where the Authorial intent is to cause pain in the reader. There was a reading list encouraged by my school as a pizza party earner when I was younger that was filled with pain. Cancer was a popular topic. Romance through or because or in spite of inevitable loss. Not my cup of tea but I was more distressed by the flood of it. It was everywhere, you had to read at least half a dozen of books centered around the character(s) experiencing despair and a school system that dismisses/invalidates the emotions of the kids/teens. So many felt depressed/were actively struggling with depression and yet were encouraged/rewarded towards making them confront that over and over again without support.
I avoided those books knowing that I couldn't handle them at the time. I read the summaries/teasers and did my best to choose a book that I COULD handle on the list even knowing I wasn't going to read enough to earn anything. Only for the book that I had thought was safe for me at the time to unexpectedly contain Incest, institutionalization, and rape with a miscarriage. It HURT. It was another blow to my fragile mental balance during those years. So at the time, I would have WANTED some limits/restrictions on the publishing of those stories
I understand where this impulse comes from, but even at the time I was more pissed at the systemic lack of support and accomodations for readers. AO3 and the tagging system has been my savior from the pro-censorship mentality I was spiraling towards.
A better world in my view is where books, games, ect are not only published with the author's intended ratings/genre attempt but also peer-reviewed/public notes tags placed on the last page(s) of the book. On the back bottom half of video games and movie advertising. I hate playing a horror SURVIVAL game that ends in thematic tragedy. I go to those games for the feeling of endeavoring to live in spite of those circumstances. Only for all my work/player agency to be taken away in a final cutscene that SHOWS/ACTS AS PROOF that there was no point from the beginning. Just making it worse that something that I spent money and prescious time towards, hoping to make me feel that I/the character can have impact/change on the world especially right now, only for the developer to slam our faces into the screen with - you/your efforts/this character's story is worthless.
I want tagging as accomodations, so that it's there for those whom need it and can be avoided for those that appreciate the surprise/mystery. So that stories for the sake of experiencing/lessons, stories to explore perspectives/humanity, stories for the sake of questioning, and even stories for the sake of shock/rattle can stop being used as weapons against each other until one/more is inevitably set on fire.
I don't like or want stories like Lolita, like mouth washing, pretty little liars, euphoria. But I recognize their worth.
Lolita and mouth washing were made with good intentions to point out how humans rationalize the harms they commit through showing extreme examples. But imagine how it would have been for me and survivors of grooming/ sexual assault/molestation to stumble upon those stories with no idea we were being placed in an attacker's mindscape.... It HURTS it makes you DISGUSTED WITH YOURSELF ON TOP OF POTENTIAL FLASHBACKS/TRAUMA TRIGGERED EFFECTS! Relapsing into self harm in such cases isn't even a stretch. All because an author/producer thought it would reach more people if they refused to disclose. Like 14 year olds that just made their first fanfiction and threw in an unexpected trauma trigger thinking that it makes the story more interesting. Like a chef throwing in tree nuts as a secret ingredient of the day's spicy special knowing that several tables have a mild mouth reaction and deciding that the responsibility of major allergic reactions was on the customer for walking through a door that had been safe/anticipated low risk. Like walking onto an formerly OSHA compliment work site only for your manager to decide that you don't get water breaks that summer day. It's wrong. It pisses me off. I'm tired of it. It isn't fun. It isn't funny. It's just lazy and cruel. It's too easy for people, especially the wrong ones, to take advantage of.
Then you have PLLs and Euphoria. Shows written with the wrong intentions - normalization/romanticization of harm and advertised towards those at risk groups. They merit existence as well as much as I HATE THEM. They were intended to be used in challenging "common mortality" , but can be used as examples of manipulation. Like how conservatives test in policy how they can shift the Overton window and we teach how to spot the propaganda/dog whistles. BUT when we recognize the current harm in the CURRENT production of the shows/media I don't think the COMMUNITY EFFORT of being those concerns forward and potential CONSUMER CANCELLATION is wrong. IE - ICarly has messed with the mentality of viewers and actively harmed their actors mentality during production.
In books as I am in life - I'm Pro choice and Pro Social work!
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theartofmadeline
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