Censored

The notion behind censorship may be to protect children and the general population from harmful content that may influence said persons' behavior negatively.
To this end, RTÜK censors language, blurs out cigarettes and alcohol (yet a pile of marijuana will remain uncensored), and they will cut out - in their entirety - scenes containing nude figures, or violent or sexual content. They also, occasionally, alter the lines in a movie or TV series in the subtitles, altering the very fabric of the works in the process.
Recently they cut out every scene where the Dude in the Cohen Brothers' masterpiece "The Big Lebowski" smokes "a j", a scene, crucial to the climax of the story, in a suspenseful thriller containing a kiss between two homosexual men, destroyed Tarantino's art by blurring out cigarettes and wine in a Parisian cafe...

 Imagine blurring every single breast in a classic painting, imagine chipping off the nude body parts of Greek statues: Art should not be tampered with.

When I was a child, I was exposed to a great share of violent content, I suffered through awkward moments when I'd be watching TV with my parents and a sex scene would come on, and I saw many scenes of drug abuse or the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol... I did not turn into a murderer, I did not turn into a sex offender, I did not turn into a junkie... This may stem from the fact that I am a fortunate person in family terms. I live - and have lived- in a (rather) relaxed family environment, consisting of educated people, who spared no love, guidance, or tolerance in my upbringing. I was also fortunate enough to travel, and receive a proper (proper enough) education, so I had good role models, and a certain mindset to distinguish between good and evil (subjectively of course).

So what about the masses who have not been as fortunate as I?
 I realize I'd be sailing into waters somewhat uncharted for me, however, I do believe a certain familiarity goes a long way when it comes to defending oneself against harmful agents that life may bring forth.
     -If a guy doesn't know how to react to the sight of a breast, how can said guy contain himself in     the sight of a bare ankle?
     -If a child doesn't know what an alcoholic beverage looks like, how can said child know what to avoid and what not?
     ... and so on.

Also, in terms of the censoring of cigarettes, alcohol, and foul language: Living in Turkey, a cognitive human being, no matter their age, will be exposed to this content (and in great magnitude) the minute they step outside their dwelling.

 Nowadays, when I watch something on TV, I'm faced with two situations more than I'd like to be faced with:
1)I've seen whatever I'm watching before, so I realize when and if a scene is completely removed from the work, or has been tampered with.
 2)I've not seen whatever I'm watching before, so I suspect every sudden cut in the work to be the work of RTÜK, preventing me from seeing something, someone spent considerable time on.
Both of which demolish my viewing pleasure, and those of many I know.

Do the people who control the censoring have no faith in the individual? Or have they been so terribly damaged by the horrors of TV in their past, that now they seek to protect the innocent masses of "harmful content" at any cost?

Why then, don't they simply air children's programming exclusively?

In my opinion, a person that has strong moral values, as such a person that Censorship would like to preserve, wouldn't be so drastically affected by a big fancy glowing screen anyway...


The censorship in Turkey is not a good deed, neither is it a necessary evil: It is overkill, committed by minds unable to cope with certain content, who then decide for every viewer what they can or cannot behold. "Harmful content" on TV may be a factor that influences a person's personality... but it is certainly not a standalone cause behind potential hordes of enemies against human decency.