((For those who didn't see, this is my rough draft of an April Fools Day Post))
President pushing for new legislation to stop spread of "Japanimation"Problem brought to awareness thanks to online petitionFriday, April 1st, 2005
Washington D.C. (CNN) President Bush announced earlier today that he would be pushing for more legislation regarding the importation and sale of "Animation from Japan"The President's statement was unexpected from both the right and the left, since it had not been mentioned in the slightest during the President's State of the Union Address. However, his strong move based on his strong moral imperatives has already moved most of his party and even some Democrats to support him in this movement.
"We're behind the President all the way on this. It's truly a mystery how such a problem had not come to our eyes before," comments Chuck Hagel (R, NB), "Thank God we caught it when we did. If that petition hadn't come to the President's eye, it might have gotten out of control."
The petition that the Senator refers to was found on www.petitionsonline.com by a Presidential aid. This petition, which never got delivered to the White House for reasons unknown, lays out in detail reasons why Japanese Animation, or "anime" as it is called by its cultish fans, is degenerating American society.
"It's very clear and well laid out," said the presidential aide who discovered the article (name withheld by request), "Once I saw it, I knew that the president needed to do something about it to stop it from further harming our country."
This problem is not a new arrival. For over a decade, this medium has been finding its way to America, though not as widely as in recent years. However, with the growth of anime dealers, the amount (and cumulative effects) have risen drastically. The increase has resulted in the growth of shady, back alley "manga shops" to distribute it to addicts.
"While researching the subject, I saw someone saying it was like a drug. This statement is frighteningly accurate, as it causes many problems within society," our unnamed White House aide continued.
With the petition (
http://www.petitiononline.com/cutiepie/petition.html ) and the problems brought to the White House's notice, action needed to be taken. President Bush is advocating stronger laws prohibiting "anime" shows that glorify violence and murder (such as current obsessions Naruto and Inu-Yasha) and ones that promote sexual intercourse (Of which two are cited in the petition) from being released in any form in the United States.
Existing measuresThis is not the first time a government agency has had to deal with anime. The FCC has had their problems with the commercial broadcast of anime in the past. Companies have wanted to show the full violence and graphic content of "anime" on afternoon television. Naturally, the FCC wouldn't allow this. Yet the companies persisted.
"They just wouldn't stop," says James Richardson, a censor for the FCC assigned to work on "anime." "They hired people to harass us and threatened our families if we said we wouldn't allow it onto the air. In the end, we had to settle for mild censorship. We had to leave in a lot of objectionable content to appease them. In the end, I feel that we failed the American people by letting it be broadcast."
One show that Mr. Richardson worked on was "One Piece," a show which promoted robbery and piracy. After editing and censoring, James said that there was much in there that he felt would be detrimental to the country, but when 4kids, the deceptively named company that licensed the series for distribution, began putting pressure on him, James had to relent.
"They'll go to any length to get what they want. I mean, they took pictures of my daughter changing when I commented about wanting to run it through the censors again and they threatened to distribute them to their friends and post them on the internet. I had to relent." Mr. Richardson says tearfully. The FBI is currently investigating the claims of coercion.
Furthermore, the President has created a taskforce to research ways that online distribution of this material can be halted. Online uncut distribution of "anime" materials is almost worse than the American Television broadcasts. These contain no editing and no censoring, doing far more damage than the moderately censored shows on television. DVDs of the same are now commonplace in American video stores. When the new laws take effect, these would have to be put in hidden areas similar to pornography.
The other sideBut what of the fans? Some argue that they have just as much of a right to watch what they want as anyone. They say that the new laws will be restrictive and prohibit them from enjoying themselves.
"1+'5 J|_|5+ 4|\|0+|-|3|2 f0|2|\/| 0f 3|\|+3|2+41|\||\/|3|\|+" messaged one fan, username 666_**AN1M3**_666 when I asked his opinion about the new laws. Many fans feel similarly, threatening to kill themselves if the laws are passed. This fan's message, once deciphered, read "It's just another form of entertainment." The way this fan was speaking is another sign of the degenerative effects of anime as it seems that the children touched by it forsake proper English in favor of "l33tsp43k (leetspeek, using numbers and symbols to replace letters) or internet shorthand, even when not talking to friends online.
On the other hand, people like Christopher Thomas, professor of mathematics at Boston State University, feel the laws do not go far enough. "There are so many areas that the government isn't focusing enough on. For example, amongst students, I hear a lot of talk about something called yaoi, which is "anime" promoting homosexuality. The President has always strongly supported family values and many of us here feel he isn't doing enough to stop the influence of "anime" into the minds and sexual preferences of our children."
Regardless, Washington seems ready and willing to press on with their legislation as written, hoping to help the country "restore morals to our entertainment as well as our government."
((Insert Link to "Aprils fools" pic by disguising it as a "full story" button))
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-CNN's Benjamin Levy contributed to this report
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