Religious Motives in Cartoons and Motion Pictures - Research Proposal Example

It is therefore not surprising when the balance of freedom of speech has been toppled over with the recent publication of cartoons published by the Danish newspapers depicting the sacred image of Mohammed wearing a bomb as a turban. What has triggered such outrage and violence by Muslims across the world?

On the one side of the debate, proponents of free speech claim that in a free and democratic society, the foundation of free speech is the ability to express thoughts, publish writings and produce films without the fear of censorship, especially from the religious community (Appignanesi 2005). They have the right to free speech to convey their thoughts to others.

On the opposing side, pro-religious groups are of the view that if freedom of speech hurts the feelings of any religious community it should be banned (Beenfeldt and Ghate 2006).

In the United Kingdom especially, the media is governed by laws that counteract such malediction as the Danish cartoons. As a result, films like The Big Bang, Catacombs, Multiple Maniacs, and Visions of Ecstasy are banned from media channels. The rationale of the censorship authority is that these films have been subjected to censorship or ban because of the legitimate, ethical, and social concerns for viewers whose religious beliefs they might offend (Parliament 2003).

This debate calls for an inquiry raised by the question of whether there are boundaries within which artists, authors, and cartoonists must remain. Will there be absolute freedom of speech in our society?

Proposed Plan of Study

The research shall adopt the following plan of study:

1. Introduction to the issue of censorship in the media, and why there are laws that govern them.

- Thesis Statement/Hypothesis shall be to explore to what extent religious motives in films and cartoons can be portrayed without offending their respective religious communities.

- Purpose of the research is to evaluate the controversies which have triggered riots and violence among religious communities against the contradictory portrayals of religious figures, doctrines, and principles in the media, and resolve the problem of censorship.

- Scope of the Study is to enumerate the extent to which the media can exploit its right to freedom of speech, and what legal means can it avoid.

2. Literature Review shall explore the different theories available on the above topic such as the following topics:

- Problem of Censorship is an issue that has limited the scope of freedom of expression for the media, film, and television. On the other hand, the law states that freedom of expression is the responsibility of not offending viewers through obscenities or religious beliefs (Media Watch 2005). How can this be resolved?

- Religious Offense is a serious crime under the Religious Hatred Bill and other related laws yet it continues to wage on in our society (The Christian Institute 2010). This is characteristic of a diversified society with multiple ethnic groups living in it with different religious beliefs (Shah 2007). The question is how can one differentiate what constitutes free speech and free speech for whom?

- Laws of Blasphemy serve the purpose of limiting freedom of expression and art forms according to authors like West (2008) and Zucker (2008). Is this true?

- Films and Depictions of Religious Contents seem to be prevalent in the film industry with productions like A Price Above Rubies, The Passion of the Christ, The Da Vinci Code, and The Last Temptation of Christ. These movies and newspaper cartoons like the Danish ones demonstrate that the art forms have proliferated the boundaries of ethics and there must be an extent to which they do so without offending religious communities.

3. Methodology

- Choice of research and rationale for it

- Secondary and primary resources to be used for the evaluation

4. Evaluation of the theories and facts for analysis
5. Conclusions