Posts Tagged 'Hyperbole'

Porn Hyperbole From Politician!

In response to the story a few days ago that Pirates II was being screened on college campuses, politicians flexed their muscles and threatened to cut funding if porn were shown on campus for entertainment purposes; in most states, I'm not sure that would even be legal for the government to threaten, but the university caved and cancelled the screening. No, the huge knee-jerk reaction gets worse: Maryland state senator Andy Harris opined that students can't smoke on campus, but could watch porn - an outrage he says, because "Occasional viewing of porn is more dangerous than occasionally lighting up a cigarette." Oh my flying fuck, this guy dresses himself in the morning? Hyperbole aside, here's just how crazy Harris' statement is - a campus member of the anti-pornography feminist group Feminism Without Borders had this to say: "Generally, I think it's a bad idea. I think it's exploitative and objectifies women. This film would not have had a huge effect on campus. It is not the state's job to dictate morality." When the Dworkinized feminists sound more sane and level-headed than you in regards to porn, State Senator Andy Harris, you begin to sound like a crackpot. Sure, let's say a college says, "no, this violates school rules, we had a meeting about it, and porn will not be shown," that would be a smart and prudent way for this to have been handled. For the college to go through regular channels, approve the film to be shown, and then cave to assholes from the community who threaten hurting educational programs just to stop the evils of porn, that's unbelievably stupid. You'd think college-educated administrators would be smarter than that.