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Just for clarity, I did not say if the Fischl statue was removed it was censorship. Only if it was forced to be destroyed or was stopped from being created. But if the owners of the Rockefeller center felt they wanted to put this piece on display in their lobby forever, it would be well within their rights to do so. And forcing them to remove it would be censorship.
Even if I choose to make a public statement, as long as I don't ask for public funding or support, it most definitley is censorship to stop me.
Now here is clearly a case were many feel offended or disturbed by a image that they feel disrespects the memory of those who died on September 11th. And I agree the right to object to its public display is as equally protected as the artist's right to create it. And in this case it may serve no greater good to disturb us but that is not always the case. And who is to decide?
There are many governments around the world who have been given the ability to censor words and ideas and the free expression of artists, and it is a much worse evil in my opinion. What if this was a piece of art to bring attention to a lynching of a black man in the southern US during segregation and it was allowed to be censored because the majority were too disturbed by its image, or wanted to deny the act it depicted ever happened?
Or if it was a piece of art to bring public attention to a act of genocide in Bosnia. By the way, there is a movement that is claiming all such acts never happened even though we have photos of mass graves. Now who is to make the distinction between a display of photos of mass graves in Bosnia that brings world attention to persecution of Bosnian Muslims, and a statue we feel is in bad taste?
Sometimes a majority can use censorship to oppress views, that if brought out, could have a positive outcome, even if the message used is a disturbing one. We often do not want to see the dark side of human nature but at times seeing it in all its horror can open one's eyes to what we would rather choose to ignore. I do not like Fischl's statue as a memorial, or even feel it truly represents the horror of that day, since without any caption, it would not have any meaning beyond a nude tumbling woman. But do I feel we should stop all art that is deemed disturbing? Or limit art only to subjects that depict the beauty in the world? No. That would be far worse then the disruption caused by Fischl's statue.
We all know the horror of Sept. 11th now because we were here to see it happen live on national TV or in person in NY. But what of people 100 years from now? Will they know people jumped to their deaths because the fire was so hot it drove them to the broken windows to leap? In the light of history will the events of Sept. 11th still loom as a huge tragedy? Yes. Even one life is precious and 3,000 lives is a tragedy but in comparison to the mass deaths in history, the death tolls in the major wars, it is not a huge number.
Of US Servicemen alone, it pales in comparison.
Civil War Battle deaths: Union army 140,414
Battle deaths (Conf.) 74,524
Other deaths in service (Union) 224,097
World War I 53,402 non-battle deaths: 63,114
World War II battle deaths: 291,557
Other deaths in service: 113,842
Vietnam War battle deaths: 47,410
Other deaths in service (theater): 10,788
America's Wars Total battle deaths since revolution: 650,954
And by comparison the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths has stayed between 16,000 and 17,000 annually since 1994. And In the past 10 years 250,000 people have died in alcohol-related accidents. Now that makes 3,000 seem pretty small. No disrespect intended, for I feel even one senseless or preventable death is one too many. But maybe this disturbing reminder is really needed so history will not forget those who leaped to their deaths on Sept. 11th? After all, how often do you think about how many have died because someone had one for the road? If we can forget 17,000 deaths a year when we decide to drive after maybe one too many, maybe history does need a reminder of the horror of 3,000 deaths like this statue? I don't know, but maybe once in a while we need to be disturbed and feel the horrors of life to appreciate the beauty when we see it.
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