Sex and Censorship at NYU

I just have a millisecond to blog today, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to link this story about the (gasp!) despicable censorship at NYU, that well-known bastion of conservative thought. Apparently they are refusing to let a film student film actual sex for her film project.

The article has segments that made me chuckle. The line “The student, Paula Carmicino, found two actor friends willing to have sex on camera in front of the class,” makes me wonder how good of a friend you need to be with someone before you can ask them to have sex with another actor for your film project. (“Uh, John, I’ve got a favor to ask you . . . “).

On the other hand, the subject of censorship is very serious, and I was a bit surprised by my own reaction to the story. I hate to be a fan of censorship, (and of course I really hate to say anything good about BYU). On the other hand, I just can’t imagine a film student at BYU (it’s just one letter different from NYU) asking to film her friends having sex for a class project. And, despite my qualms about censorship, I have the feeling that in this particular case the school did the right thing in preventing her from using a live-sex taping for her class project.

4 comments for “Sex and Censorship at NYU

  1. When I read the story, I really like the response of NYU’s spokesman:

    “Someone give me a list of universities that allow sex acts in the classroom,” Mr. Pierce said. “We’re not going to be the first.”

    That’s a brilliant PR statement.

  2. I’m fairly sure the NYU isn’t the first in this regard. Some of the universities and colleges around San Francisco have done some rather outrageous school projects. Some of them truly make you gasp. Since this is a family blog I’ll not repeat some of the news stories of just the last year and a half.

  3. The funny thing about the media is that they only print what they want to hear. The supposed “sex scene in front the of classroom” isn’t the case. The sex scene was to be filmed at a studio in front of those only need to film the shot. It was the final video, with the sex scene included, that was to be shown in front of the class. Gotta love the media and gotta love the people who are quick to react to it…

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