Virgin Killer Whoopsie
Yesterday I reported on the UK Thought Police banning a Wikipedia page featuring the Scorpions' album cover for Virgin Killer (1976) which bears an image of a naked pubescent girl. I'm pleased to report that the Internet Watch Foundation has backed down and admits that its ban was counter-productive (CLICK). So here is the cover. Note that the imitation glass cracks across the image are original and were obviously intended to keep the image decent as well as to provide a symbolic meaning. The Wikipedia page has been unblocked and you can click the title link to see a larger graphic. Don't all rush at once!
posted by Unknown @ 10.12.08
2 comments
2 Comments:
Interesting that people have apparently gone to prison for images almost exactly the same as this (basically nude, but a small item covering up vital areas). And also that some members of the UK police have recently been keen to state in the press that even semi-clothed children, if engaged in certain "poses" (as the album cover model seems to be) can count as prosecutable child porn. Which is obviously ridiculous. Hopefully this silly album cover furore can now be cited in future court cases over such images of nudity and semi-nudity.
As this furore didn't get to court, I'm afraid it can't have set a legal precedent. And did you see the insane Australian judgement on the Simpsons "porn" I posted this week?
The problem is twofold:
1) We have an increasingly paranoid attitude toward images of children. (Parents have been arrested for taking an innocent photo of their child nude in the bath, and some UK schools have banned cameras at school sports days!)
2) The fruitcakes who are promoting this paranoia can't tell the difference between art and pornography. (Visit any good, traditional art gallery, such as the UK's National Gallery, and you will see loads of naked cherubs flitting around Heaven!)
At least the Internet Watch Foundation had the good sense to back down on this one and admit its ban had been counter-productive. Its job is protecting children, not being an arbitor of good taste and art appreciation.
There's no accounting for taste. Did you know that the Mormons banned Rodin's The Kiss from an exhibition in Salt Lake City some years ago? One of the world's great works of art, banned!
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