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The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, March 5, 19915 Child pornography By Doug Hatch Staff Writer A revision of a law requiring pro ducers of sexually explicit material to keep records of the ages of their models and actors has some First Amendment rights activists fighting a court battle with the U.S. Department of Justice. The revision, which was scheduled to go into effect last Wednesday, is designed to reduce illegal child por nography by forcing producers to keep open records of the ages of their em ployees. Some organizations feel the law is unnecessary and will hurt those who produce sexually explicit material eil Young N of intense, no-frills rock Neil Young and Crazy Horse played a show Thursday night at the Smith Center the way it should be played on a no frills stage with loud guitars and without unneeded and distracting instrumentation. However, the opening bands, So cial Distortion and Sonic Youth, left something to be desired. Social Distortion opened the evening with a rockabilly twang that left the less than capacity crowd less than impressed. Lead singerguitarist Mike Ness proudly introduced "Ball and Chain," their last song, as one "you've probably heard on the radio or seen on MTV," though it was ob viously foreign to most. The L.A. (not Raleigh) quartet left the crowd visibly unmoved. Sonic Youth then hit the stage with their imaginative brand of distortion, introducing their first song with a tape of The Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun," accompanied by raw feedback that at least got the crowd's attention. Bassist Kim Gordon played a steady set and impressed the crowd with her lead vocals on "Kool Thing," SY's breakthrough pop pleaser. At best, Sonic Youth's distortion was innova tive and its feedback had a purpose. But they probably crossed the point of no return for the largely mainstream crowd's approval when both guitarists (Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo) Pop culture explores interest in dark side The Associated Press Had any good nightmares lately? Try seeing a movie, reading a best seller, or turning on the TV. during prime time. Popular culture is unleashing a panoply of monsters, from serial killers to vampires to psychopaths, all playing to a bloodthirsty audience. But what does that say about us? The dark side has always held fascination; exploration of evil is as old as human ity. But horror also tends to be cyclical, flourishing at moments of acute anxiety. The current proliferation of dark themes in literature, television and film speaks volumes not only about who we are as consumers, but about the anxieties that - define our times. "Essentially, horror has little to do with fright," says James B. Twitchell of the University of Florida, who says . horror is to teen-agers what fairy tales . are to children: education in the guise of . entertainment. "Beneath the horror is a prescriptive text. From watching horror . movies, adolescents learn to avoid pit falls of dating and mating." To some extent, horror is perennial. , Each generation must learn its lessons of sexual initiation, as evidenced by . endless remakes of "Frankenstein" and "Dracula." Souvenir Press of London says the original 1 9th-century "Dracula" book has never been out of print and currently there are 17 editions by 17 publishers in print in English. But in an era of date rape and AIDS, " with many people staying single into J A II C Mfi SPRING COLORS OF BENETTON. Benetton South Square Mall Upper Level near Belk Durham Telephone: 489-1917 that is legally acceptable. The American Library Association, the lead plaintiff in the present case, has obtained a temporary restraining order because the regulations of the law have not yet been made available, as had been stipulated by Congress. The law may not go into effect until 60 days after the regulations are made public. The ALA is fighting the law on the grounds that it violates rights granted by the First Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional. They also contend that it might cause self-imposed censorship among distributors, including libraries, that are confused by the wording of the pounds out Allen Baddour Todd Moye Concert began playing their instruments with the edge of the stage, the drum set, a bass guitar and anything else they could find. Although there was almost no stage design for Neil Young and Crazy Horse, it took especially long to set up. But it was worth the wait. As the lights dimmed, a man who is apparently the twin brother of the World Wrestling Federation's Hillbilly Jim raised a giant microphone in a manner clearly remi niscent of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. As an electric guitar blared "The Star-Spangled Banner" he tied a yellow ribbon around the microphone stand. From the outset Neil Young, guitar ist Frank "Poncho" Sampredo, and bassist B illy Talbot complemented each other perfectly. Young and Crazy Horse hop-scotched decades in the first half of the set, exciting the crowd with his classic "Hey Hey, My My," "Crime in the City," and "Love to Burn." His cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," while politically timely, was not particularly impressive. Each song lasted more than 10 min their 30s and beyond, sexual and repro ductive worries aren't restricted to adolescents. "People are looking for partners in a world in which making those connections is becoming in creasingly difficult," says Harold Schechter, a professor at Queens Col lege. "There's a growing sense that you can't know anyone, that we're living in a world in which people wear masks." Given the buying power of Ameri can teen-agers, it's no surprise that NBC slotted gothic vampire soap opera "Dark Shadows" in prime time, there are no fewer than eight vampire movies in the works, and the novels of Stephen King and Anne Rice ("Interview With the Vampire", "The Vampire Lestat", "The Queen of the Damned") are best sellers. "The period in human maturation when exploring darkness is an important way to control anxiety is adolescence," Twitchell says. "If you look at who is driving the pop culture markets mass-market books, blockbuster movies, and fringe and prime-time TV you see that it is an audience of adolescents. "That' s why Stephen King has pushed aside other authors on the best-seller list. The levels of sophistication and subjects he addresses are levels of adolescent anxiety. It's what happens if you open that door, what will you see in that dark closet?" Not all pop culture monsters are make-believe. Adults' bogeymen are more flesh-and-blood, outwardly indistinguishable from the law raises law. "If we let that happen, then the gov ernment has been able to censor sexu ally explicit material protected under the First Amendment of the Constitu tion," said Judith Krug, spokesperson for the ALA. If a specific photograph or motion picture is not labeled, then under the bill the actor or model is assumed to be a minor, Krug said. The original law, designed to enhance the penalties for child pornography, came out of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography as part of the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988. heavy dose V roll utes, an aspect that highlighted Young's solo abilities but may have detracted from the individuality of some songs. However, this factor did lend itself well to "Mansion on the Hill" and "F!in' Up," off of his latest album, "Ragged Glory." Young's interaction with the crowd was limited to an apology for a technical difficulty. The unwanted feedback prompted at least one member of the crowd to shout, "Just play with a buzz, Neil!" His distance was more a result of intense concentration than a dislike of the crowd. The band ended the set with a truly electric version of "Rockin' in the Free World" that really moved the crowd to a fevered pitch. Their only encore was "Like a Hurricane," a song that high lighted the entire evening. The tune featured the world's only flying key board, played by Frank Sampedro, who accompanied Young's raw guitar and dream-like voice exceptionally well. Though the post-punk explosion we expected fell a bit short, no one could have been disappointed by the main attraction. Young, Sampedro and Talbot simply stood on a nearly bare stage and exuded power. When the band finished, they just waved and left the stage, ending a show that typified their simple attitude toward live music loud, straight-ahead rock. rest of us. Hannibal Lecter, the seem ingly urbane serial killer known as "Hannibal the Cannibal" in the movie 'The Silence of the Lambs,", is one such, and others are bound to follow. "Killers are a personification of the world outside hearth and home, in creasingly a place of peril," says Schechter, author of two books about serial killers, "Deviant" and "De ranged." "We sit in our family rooms watching vThe Simpsons' together, while just outside that little fortress lies an increasingly dark, threatening, cha otic world." Television being the magnifying glass of society that it is, prime time during a recent week was a sampler of twisted family relationships. They included fact based dramas about a father who drives his daughter to murder, a domineering mother and her serial-rapist son, and a remake of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", a gothic tale of aging sisters, one helpless, one deranged. Not exactly the Brady Bunch. In fact, they're wholesome family fare as re flected in a f unhouse mirror. It stands to reason that they coincide with renewed emphasis on family life and traditional values, Schechter says. "One of the functions of pop culture is to vent repressed, taboo fantasies. There's an incredible emphasis on nuclear families and the fantasies that produces killing wives, husbands, kids. These are incredibly taboo and therefore, very anxiety-provoking." Benetton Northgate Mall nearThalhimer's Durham Telephone: 286-5548 First Amendment It was struck down as unconstitu tional in the 1989 federal court case ALA vs. Richard Thornburg. The judge in the case said the law was too broad in what it defined as sexually explicit material for such a specialized purpose. It also held dis tributors and store owners accountable for material they might not have been involved in producing, according to an aide to Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C, one of the senators most instrumental in getting the revision passed through Congress. The revision only mandates that producers, directors, managers and others directly in contact with the actors and models be responsible for keeping records, according toThurmond's aide. Failure to keep the records is in itself a crime punishable by a jail term or fine or both, but the actual records cannot be used as evidence for prosecution. Some igh school By Birch DeVault Staff Writer The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education last week unanimously re jected a proposed scholarship plan that would give high school students who maintain a B average extra money to attend state universities in North Caro lina. The plan was designed by the UNC system Board of Governors. Sue Baker, an education board member, said eligible students would receive $600. But the state does not have enough money to implement the program, she said. "How could the allocation of new money not affect the already dwindling resources?" Baker said. The plan also would increase the 3 wcSS&i H IP sr 1 4 i jnqapnaada fnature- to party hop. 'ir Just remember, l "' the left side is Please rock S the right side. I THE BOAT. V jji f And after our - ' C r I ) 'V- -f Party Cruise, i V .1 J 1' I r f" you can windsurf, 1 :;f '"i f m I parasail, or dive. I Z 1 I ' Raise a racquet. jjf I J Or join a Jl )JL Mf t;. friend or three mmmm00 -jj g 3 nights 4 days Air Land inclusive. Call your travel agent or American Airlines Fly A Away Vacations at 1-800-32 1-2121. Travel is valid Mon.-Fri. thru March. Some restrictions apply. Travel is from Raleigh-Durham. Double occupancy. Taxes and gratuities additional. Packae available through whoiasalcro Haled abov. Prtco basad on round-trip pvrchaaa. waakand alriarea. through 33191 from New York. Prlcee tltghtly higher rroro other clrlaa. Prtcee allfhtly low Prtcee are per per ton. baaed on lour par room. Price very by wholaaaler and are ubect to change and availability. Taxea and gratultle additional. people actually view the revised ver sion of the law as tougher than the original, the aide said. But distributors of questionable ma terial are still liable if they disseminate material without labels, according to Krug. "The problem is, we don't know who the producers are," she said. The law doesn't have provisions for determining whether it is the photog rapher, publisher or another person who is the actual producer of explicit mate rial, according to Krug. The law also only pertains to "actual explicit sexual conduct," which is itself unclear, she said. "When you look at a picture, do you know if the act is actual or simulated? The only person who really knows are the actors themselves," Krug said. Another of the legislators who kept a high profile in pushing the law through scholarship number of applicants to UNC, she said. "A disproportionate amount of money would go to Chapel Hill because not many students with less than a B aver age get into the University," she said. But John Garwood, a BOG member from Appalachian State University, said he supported the new plan. "I took it before the Wilkes County School Board, and I expect an en dorsement in about a week," he said. 'The plan will help many students who wish to go to state schools and would not be able to without the extra money." Baker said education board members also were concerned about the number of students who were denied admission to UNC but still needed scholarship money to attend other state universities. After receiving the scholarship, a student would be more likely to think he or she j. i - h . . r On breaking with civility. Barbecues, BANDS AND LUNCH UNDER THE SUN. All compliments of the Bermuda Department of Tourism. Pink sand and turquoise water compliments of nature. A." AmericanAirlines Fly JsAway Vacations Bermuda College Weeks March331 Km FROM qpaestions Congress was Sen. Dennis Deconcini, D-Ariz. "They felt there was some need to make the people who are producing sexually explicit material responsible for not having minors in their work," an aide to Deconcini said. Yet amajor complaint of the proposed law is that it will be virtually ineffective against child pornographers, most of whom operate illegally. "The truth is that the laws ... have basically pushed this whole genre un derground, so it is not visible publicly at all," Krug said. Ed Jones, manager of Aphrodite's Videos for the Mature in Durham, said that the demand for child pornography probably would not decrease with this law. "People are going to get what they want, whether through the mail or through another state," he said. plan rejected could gain admission into UNC and not apply to other state universities, she said. The scholarship money would be al located from the BOG's budget, which comes from the taxpayer's pocket, Baker said. "We were concerned that the schol arship was not based on need and that it really didn't amount to much mon etarily," she said. Ruth Woods, a BOG member from Pembroke State University, said the scholarship was a way to give money to students who normally did not receive scholarships. "I am totally, in favor of the plan because it recognizes the ability of those students who do not make perfect av erages and may be able to graduate successfully," she said. 1 5. .- We only rent convertibles. They're the perfect way to party hop. Just remember, the left side is r lor weekday travel. 0
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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