Tom Hiddleston, books, Marvel, cute animals, food, Pokémon, Sailor Moon, history, current events(politics, what's going on in the world, that kind of stuff), among other things…
An open letter to Tumblr @staff@support regarding fandom censorship
In lumping film and television media into the same category as p*rn you are essentially saying that any form of nudity (even non-sexual), sensuality, intimacy, or love-making is intrinsically *bad* and subject to possible censorship.
You’re saying that respected, and often award winning film makers; the actors and actresses involved; film crews and everyone else working on it; plus any TV station or film company who goes on to distribute this work is peddling p*rn and that we, as an audience, should be ashamed of watching it.
You’re saying that these same respected artists’ work is somehow dirty and should be hidden away.
You’re saying that any form of naked skin or show of affection is subject to possible censorship. That anyone under the age of 18 should never have access to this sort of material. That consensual, loving affection and the human body is something to be hidden away. Yet the vast majority of tv shows and films that I make gifs and edits from are rated PG or 12A here in the UK. Some are rated 15. NONE of my content is rated 18.
You’re basically saying that a 15, 16 and 17 year old should no longer have access to this material – material that actually offers a much more realistic view of relationships than any p*rn could.
**Newsflash** They CAN and they DO. Many of them actually post this content themselves!
It’s not Tumblr’s job to parent these young adults. Of course there should be safeguards in place, on any site. But it’s not fair to penalise an entire site because you can’t set up an effective safeguarding infrastructure for minors. Sort out your safe search and, or limit/tier the age of audiences.
Furthermore. You try to justify your decision by saying one of the reasons is to tackle the overwhelming amount of p*rn on the site. The problem with that, Tumblr staff, is that you allowed it! You made money from it. Your advertising revenues – and let’s be transparent here because that is the only thing you care about – profited from the footfall that came along with the p*rn blogs. You’ve ignored the much more troublesome and vile factions on this site, allowing them instead to flourish simply because either: a) you genuinely don’t care; or b) you haven’t invested in the technology and manpower needed to eradicate the threat.
Now I personally have no problem with any consenting adults doing whatever they want on this site, providing they stay in their lane.
Your decision to now turn this site into a highly censored space is nothing more than a cynical knee jerk reaction to Apple calling you out on the problems you’ve long since swept under the carpet. Things that your community have been begging you to fix for years. And yes, it boils down to money again.
But what about the innocent users you are punishing for your own ineptitude?
To be clear. I’m not here for p*rn. I’m here because I found a sanctuary from my debilitating illness. I found a like-minded community of amazing, creative people who just so happen to also enjoy a particular actor’s work and his positive attitude to life.
Many users on this site are house bound or isolated in one way or another. Many suffer from anxiety, depression and other illnesses. Many are marginalised in society and have no other way of communicating with people who ‘get them’. Tumblr has, historically, been a place for these people to come together as a community.
It has also been a place where many fandoms flourished. Tumblr is a haven for fans to create art, writing, images, videos and gifs in celebration of the things they are passionate about. These passions often have a positive impact on these fans lives. Of course, there can be dramas. That’s not isolated to this site. But ultimately Tumblr has been a safe space for many people to communicate with others around the world and make long-lasting friendships.
Your blanket censorship is going to seriously affect this. People are running scared. They’re leaving in droves.
Finally, if you think for one second that this puritanical purge will eradicate the spam p*rn bots, you’re deluded. How are you intending to achieve this when these bots don’t even post nsfw material? They simply reblog legitimate, sfw posts and delete captions only to insert their own insidious links? Your community guidelines state that explicit language will not be censored.
In short, there is literally NO rational argument for this ridiculous change, other than that you are putting revenue before the established communities on this site, and we will NOT go quietly into the night.
Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston has described the works of directing
greats like Alfred Hitchcock and Sir David Lean as part of Britain’s
“national heritage” at an event where the Prince of Wales revealed his
own cinematic tastes.
Hiddleston, the star of The Night Manager, made his comments during a
British Film Institute (BFI) event marking the 40th anniversary of
Charles’s patronage of the organisation.
Charles was joined at the celebration by actor David Oyelowo, famed
for his role as Dr Martin Luther King in Selma, who spoke out in favour
of the BFI’s work nurturing some of the next generation of filmmakers
under its academy scheme.
After being shown some of the BFI’s Peter Sellers collection
featuring photographs from the Pink Panther movies, the heir to the
throne confessed: “I have to say whenever I put one of these on it
always raises my spirits.”
Hiddleston chatted to Charles and said the prince told him he had enjoyed the BBC drama The Night Manager “very much”.
The star, famed for his role as Loki in the Marvel superhero films,
added: “The reason I believe in the BFI is because I believe in film as
an art form.
“It began as a physical art form, it’s a chemical process, it’s capturing life with light.”
The BFI has an important collection of Victorian films it has
restored and digitised and will make available free online next year,
and is home to archives of films, movie scripts, posters and other
material central to the history of British cinema.
Hiddleston added: “The prints of early film work that have enabled
the art form to become what it’s become, light, sound, movement, are
preserved by the BFI and without it we would lose it.
“So the silent Hitchcocks, the prints of Lawrence of Arabia, Brief
Encounter (by) David Lean, all British film is standing on the shoulders
of those titans so the preservation of that material is as important as
preserving the work of the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate, it’s
part of our national heritage.”
During the visit Charles indulged his passion for the Pink Panther films
starring Peter Sellers who was a member of the royal’s beloved Goons.
He was shown Sellers’ script from the Pink Panther Strikes Again with
handwritten notes by the comic actor, and promotional material from the
movies like photographs and lobby posters.
Charles told Nathalie Morris, who oversees the BFI’s collection of
filmmaker’s material, that he had been on the set of one of the Pink
Panther films and how the actors had to do “18 takes” as the crew broke
down in “hysterics” they “all just dissolved into hysteria”.
The prince also met young filmmakers who have trained with the BFI
Academy which has sent aspiring camera operators and directors on
apprenticeships with Lucasfilm which makes the latest instalments of the Star Wars movies.
After meeting Charles at the reception, Oyelowo said about the help
given to young people trying to break into the film industry: “You need
support, you need someone to say ‘you’re good enough’, you need someone
to say ‘go for it’ and you need someone to actually support you to do it
and those are all things I think the BFI recognise and are doing.”
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