I've Been Called Vulga

It's the difference between saying, "I wish you would die," and saying, "I want to cut your throat."

It's the difference between telling someone, "I want you," and asking, "You got 20 minutes?"

These are questions of decency, morals and tact (of which I have very little). Similar distinctions are drawn in art. Pornography versus art. Class versus vulgarity. The line is drawn, blurred, erased and redrawn daily.

The latest redrafts have come as a result of films like "The Dreamers" and "A Home at the End of the World" in which full frontal male nudity has caused controversy.

Everyone has limits. Some shudder at the thought of full-frontal nudity being brought to the masses. For others, the sight of a writhing pile of disembodied, but still-digesting intestines is simply too much.

I was almost kicked out my house my freshman year when my mom saw a couple of the scenes toward the end of "Requiem for a Dream." Clearly, she and I did not see eye-to-eye on the matter of pornography vs. art. While I insisted it was art, she insisted it was unnecessary filth.

In her mind - and she is certainly not alone - the question of necessity plays a key role in whether an image or thought is acceptable or not.

"Why do they need to show it that way?" she would ask.

Perhaps it would be more acceptable if it were implied. Maybe it would have been acceptable if director Darren Aronofsky had, rather than show the needle entering the infected wound, shown the wound with the needle approaching, and then Jared Leto's contorted face.

This line between pornography and art, in my mind, lies in the intention of the creator. Pornography is made with the intent to turn on the viewer. Art is made with the intent to open the mind of the viewer. A person who is turned on by the content of any of Aronofsky's films is - to avoid being judgmental - in a bleak minority.

Halle Berry flashing her breasts in "Swordfish?" Porn.

Charlize Theron looking at herself nude in a hotel bathroom mirror in "Monster?" Art.

It's easy to make such distinctions with a definition in mind. Problems arise when those who attempt to protect the sanctity of our societal decency pass judgments without a reasonable definition in mind.

There is plenty of pornography in today's entertainment culture, much of which is not recognized as such. I would contend that any number of primetime drama television series fit the definition of pornography. Almost every music video made for an attractive female artist in the last 10 years has been porn. A person doesn't have to be naked from the waist down to produce a sexual response.

An entire generation of young men has vilified their collective palm in the eyes of God by watching MTV. Anyone remember those "Springer Break in (insert exotic location)" series? I didn't even have to decode the Parental Password to watch a scantily clad woman douse herself in honey and roll around on the stage, in an attempt to "tar and feather" herself.

My point is not that we should redefine the rating systems and add to the list of materials banned and censored; far from it. The point here is that while genuine artists are being misread and vilified, television producers and entertainment moguls skirt the accusations simply because they are more difficult to identify.

It's easy to call out a rap artist for writing a song that promotes promiscuous sex, but it's a bit harder to sound authoritarian when trying to shout-down cable television and teen movies as a whole. Songs are easier to pick out than scenes. They are individually named, and individually played separate from the album. It's not often that a single scene from a film is played separate from the rest.

It's nothing more than one person trying to decide what is right, ok, or ethical for one person to do or enjoy. It is, in principle, the same as proposing an amendment to the constitution that would take rights away from a segment of society. It's a pattern of thinking which dictates that what one person chooses must be good enough for everyone around him.

This is poor logic because art, and even porn, victimizes no one. Our nation will survive despite the omnipresence of T&A.

Maybe if people stopped making such a big deal out of sex, the mindless obsession would subside, and we could move on to more pressing matters.