Moral panics refer to an intense feeling expressed by a population in response to an issue which could threaten the social norm.
Media is often in the forefront of causing moral panics; many films, documentaries, music videos and even songs can cause large controversy and spark debate over whether they should even be allowed to be viewed by the general public because of their content.
There is a long history of satirical art raising eyebrows. Films in particular can cause great controversy, the Monty Python film "life of Brian" while being a critical success caused an uproar in the christian and catholic world, who accused the film of blasphemy and the Python troupe being deliberatley insensitive to peoples religious ideals. The Pythons replied with the simple answer that they were openly debating what it meant to follow a religion rather than thinking for yourself, but the film sparked a worldwide debate on what could be considered fair to exploit in a film and whether satirizing what people held so close to them should be allowed to be parodied in the first place.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers song Californication reflects a genuine moral panic about the ways in which American society is moving rapidly further towards a
shallow, commercial, artificial and ultimately unsatisfying life style. All
that Adorno (1991) predicted about the culture industries creating ‘false
needs’ is explored and satirized in Californication. Ironically, here we have
an example of a successful media production criticizing itself: far from Adorno's theory of blinding and passifying the consumers, the band
are in the forefront of those telling audiences to wake up and be aware of
their passive acceptance of what is false and unsatisfying.
The stereotype of California being a glorious and almost paradise place is so wide spread that revealing some of its more unpleasant sides could have potentially caused large controversy and certainly served as a wake up call for many people of what California is like in reality
There is a music genre associated with moral panics - Heavy Metal. This heavy music often features violent imagery, loud aggressive lyrics, controversial subject matter and overall loudness. This often breaks the fourth wall and often challenges peoples perception of what can be considered actual music and has historically caused considerable amounts of concern among the public.
For example the band Cannibal Corpse has been banned from performing in several countries due to the violent nature of their music and artwork and an American government official even accused them "of undermining the national character of the United States". Their artwork has also been banned in many countries due to it featuring very gory and horrific imagery
Similarly the metal band slipknot has come under fire several times for their apparent "indocrtination" of their fans specifically in a single case in 2003 involving a pair of young killers who blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime. Similarly a documentary made about their history was banned for showing images of fans carving their logo into their bodies with razors to make a "scar tattoo".
These are only a few examples of what kind of reaction controversial ideas and images can instigate in people, even if the concepts are only lightly hinted at.
Artistic freedom is something that is widely permitted in today's society and in my opinion there is a huge amount of flexibility that has allowed artists and musicians the freedom to express themselves in almost any fashion in the name of the art. I believe this to be a positive thing for any kind of creator or artist, as artistic and emotional freedom is a very important aspect in the accepting society we strive to create. However I do believe there is a limit to where something can be considered art especially when they are bordering on the very extreme, such as Polly Morgan whose art takes the form of animal taxidermy and can involve putting animals in almost grotesque situations such as this squirrel in a martini glass.
