Danes work up head of steam over manga exhibition
Scribblesmut scorned by censorious Scandinavians
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A manga exhibition in a Danish museum is attracting protestors concerned that material on display depicts fictional children in a sexual manner.
The exhibition opened on Sunday in the Kunsthallen Brandts' media museum in the city of Odense, and is due to run through to late October.
According to museum curator Christian Hviid Mortensen, reported in The Copenhagen Post, there are no depictions of explicit sexual acts, and the point of the exhibition was to encourage debate and question the power of media.
In an interview with that newspaper, he said: "I have to admit that I myself was shocked at how extreme this genre is, and how deranged the imaginations are in this universe.
"But we’re not showing the works for the sake of displaying child pornography. We’re looking for a debate on the issue. So if people are offended by it then they should by all means speak out and say so."
A number of bodies have since taken him up on that offer, including the the Danish Psychological Association and members of the Social Democrats party who have voiced objections publicly.
The exhibition includes erotic manga such as Taro Shinonome's Swing Out Sisters, Kondom's Bondage Fairies, Tuna Empire's The Spirit of Capitalism, Kengo Yonekura's Pink Sniper, and Yumisuke Kotoyoshi's Juicy Fruits.
As part of the online publicity for this exhibition, the museum makes use of an image hosted on Wikimedia Commons that has already been the subject of some controversy: it was reportedly cited earlier this year by Wikipedia co-founder, Larry Sanger, as an example of alleged "child pornography" when he denounced the site to the FBI and other authorities. However, Mr Sanger has since contacted us to state that this is not the case.
For now, Denmark remains the only Scandinavian country where sexual depictions of fictional children is permissible. This may change, following a proposal to introduce a ban on such material by the Social Democrats in April.
If Denmark goes along with this, they will join a growing list of countries worldwide where the authorities have deliberately blurred the boundaries between real and fictional, and where the justification for pursuing pornography that features children – or child-like images – has shifted away from the original line drawn by the Internet Watch Foundation and others, that every such image is an image of a real child being abused.
Thus we have progressed slowly from the conviction in 2005 of Virginia citizen Dwight Whorley for downloading of manga on his workplace computer (upheld in 2008). Earlier this year, a second conviction in Australia saw an individual charged with possessing images of (Simpsons) cartoon smut. Meanwhile in the UK, our very own law banning the possession of underage cartoon porn went through in April of this year. ®
COMMENTS
No child was harmed
No harm, nothing actually bad happened except in someone's head.
These bans should be repealed. People think sick things, people think things that just wouldn't be acceptable in polite society. But to be honest, they're just thoughts. Put pen to paper and write them out or draw them, and it's just a bit of text or a drawing.
If these suggest that someone _could_ have committed an offence, say if the drawing resembled a rape scene and included details not released to the press, or if the text is "DIE, $recent_murder_victim" then the police should investigate it.
If they don't, then surely there's no reason to get worried about these things? No-one's been hurt to get that actual picture, there's no indication that anyone was hurt in the making of it, so it is a crime that is victimless.
A victimless crime should not exist on the law books- the concept of Justice cannot work without a defendant and an alleged victim whose testimony and rights/responsibilities are balanced with the evidence
Yes, you find it offensive. And yes, you worry. So don't socialise with the artists. Don't visit their exhibitions and don't invite them round to look after your kids if you're that worried.
I find protests like this offensive- the very idea that you could make something "safe" by banning it (otherwise known as pushing it underground, closing the group that partakes in this activity and so leading to a positive feedback loop that makes them more and more extreme until it does start bursting out of that group and into real life) is a dangerous one that smacks of simple animalistic fear and short-sightedness. And those are two things that I really find offensive.
Oh, and actual child raping paedos should be hung up by their testicles and get torn apart by rabid dogs.
Not posted anonymously (because I'm confident that not only am I right but I can prove it properly).
The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.
No victim. No crime.
Should be that simple.
Precrime....
It's great that these new pre-crime laws are coming in. Now law enforcement and society can tell you are going to commit a crime before you actually do based on what you are doing now. It's scientific approach with lots of studies to back it up
-So if you are looking at extreme p0rn they can tell that you are going to either engage in beastiality, non consensual sex involving S and M or messing sexually with a corpses.
-If you are looking at Manga you must be about to molest a child.
They should really expand this and I sure now they have this beachhead and public support they will.
Next to be introduced..
-People playing volent computer games to be charged since they are all people who will go on to commit murder and other violent crimes.
-People sitting motorcycle tests to be charged with speeding, cause they obviously like speeding and will break the speed limit.
-People taking martial arts classes to be charged with GBH as they obviously want to beat someone up in the future.
-People watching movies involing any of the previous activity's because they obviously will go on to commit crimes involving them.
BTW Since I was little, I have played games, watched movies, taken martial arts and watched anime. Oh and I have a sports motorbike, so you really aught to keep away from me as I am obviously the next Jack the Ripper or Dahmer or can't think of any famous Ped0's or Speed limit breakers...
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