The great institution that is called the University of Virginia has a not as great daily print publication called the Cavalier (Cav for short) Daily. I was reading through the site and I came across a few interesting articles.
Today, my gripe is with “Tear Down this Wall.“
The highlight of Christa’s overzealous attack regarding Charlottesville’s freedom monument:
The Freedom Wall’s medium is nothing more than a cheap, interactive platitude. I have visited the Freedom Wall many times and reflected on its message. But I eventually realized that the exercise of free speech through largely anonymous scribbles hardly amounts to a ‘tangible and enduring embodiment of the concept of free expression,’ as the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression called it…
…Certainly Americans are allowed, without fear of government penalty, to write things like, “I love my penis” (an actual inscription). But should the people of Charlottesville approve of a forum to enshrine that sentiment? Is the free-for-all Freedom Wall the most fitting medium to honor the right to free speech?
OH, PLEASE. What do you expect when you give a bunch of teenagers chalk and a chalkboard? What happens when you commercialize that action and hire famous actors to portray that cheap, interactive platitude? YOU GET THIS:
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/5EnxLm4oggk” height=”350″ width=”425″ /]
Or, did I forget that because you go to UVA, you’ve never laughed at anything slightly immature, or an enshrined sentiment of something improper. I guess in your case, the use of the word “penis” isn’t part of the humor books. I’m sure that you’ve also never enjoyed watching the likes of Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller or Steve Carell. Why would you? They use the word penis.
Lighten up, it’s only college.
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Tagged as: Cavalier Daily, Charlottesville, Downtown Mall, Gripes, Local Newspapers, University of Virginia, UVA
that editorial was too long and boring for me to finish, but i think i probably got her point.
i think the free speech wall is pretty stupid, and while i get a chuckle out of the things on it from time to time, it does seem sort of ridiculous. it’s one thing if you want to put up a giant chalkboard, but to try to pass it off as some sort of monument to free speech is laughable.
i think a much better monument is up in arlington, va. i forget where it is exactly (somewhere down wilson near rosslyn), but it has the names of hundreds of reporters who have been killed while covering news stories. that is one that actually makes you think about free speech/press.
so i guess what i am saying is that if you are trying to be serious about the whole thing, yea the chalkboard is a dumb idea. but if its just for fun (which it isn’t supposed to be) then it would be fine by me.
The author’s premise is that, when people speak, magical, wonderful things come out of their mouths that affirm the goodness that is the United States. Which is bullshit, of course. 99.9% of everything that you or I will ever utter is entirely uninteresting. The author’s column is a monument to the banality of expression. Complaining that free expression on the chalkboard resembles free expression in general is just starry-eyed foolishness.
What a post-modern diatribe. It’s like she was offended at the statement “I love my penis,” and therefore spent all day writing a 650 word essay to say so in the most verbose and roundabout way.
Here article on Man Law is a more entertaining read.
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVarticle.asp?ID=29392&pid=1551
I don’t think the article was meant to say that she took offense at the term penis (I did not read it that way). What it says is that the monument is largely useless, as those who made it and now are using it (like that fellow who wrote of his member), do not comprehend the true purpose of the first amendment, and, specifically, freedom of speech. Having such a “monument” and messages like “I love my penis” trivializes this right and the deaths of those brave men and women who fought for our right to use it.
I’m Christa, the author of the article discussed on this post. The person who maintains this blog- Thor, I believe- sent me the post earlier today. I read it with much interest and want to respond quickly.
First, thanks for reading the column! I am, however, disappointed that you did not engage the argument– namely the Freedom Wall is an insufficient way to honor free speech (something, by the way, that commands very high honor, in my opinion).
You also seemed to zero in on my mention of the penis chalking. I only used that as one example of the inane things that people chalked. And it certainly was not my reason for writing the article- as one of the other comments suggested. I personally don’t find it funny, but that is completely besides the point of the article.
Also, you recommended that I lighten up and realize that it’s “only college.” My being in college does not bar me from engaging in thoughtful journalism or publishing my opinion about a local attraction- one, indeed, that has garnered much attention. Excuse me for thinking about what I saw as the irony of the Freedom Wall. For my penance I’ll go get drunk and stop thinking, because, as you said, it is just college.
–Christa
1) Magic Rat: The Arlington monument isn’t really about free speech. Dying while covering the news is something different; noble, perhaps, but different. Many journalists take risks in their professional lives, but getting blown up by a roadside bomb isn’t exactly the same as laying one’s life down to protect or pursue an ideal.
2) The wall is actually a pretty cool forum for community members to interact, however indirectly, with one another. Some of the stuff (or much of it) is childish, but there’s a sort of call-and-response that goes on at the wall that can get pretty interesting at times. Aside from that, some folks just get really creative with their drawings.
3) The monument can fairly be called a monument to free speech regardless of the content displayed. I prefer my monuments to be a little less literal, but the point stands. Sure, there’s a lot of juvenile crap written on a daily basis, and I didn’t particularly enjoy the swastikas I saw yesterday morning, but shit…let people say what they want…that’s sort of the crux of the issue anyway. If anything’s a mockery, it’s the weepy-eyed bullshit patriotism hat that people are so quick to wear when free speech is invoked. Which brings me to point 4.
4) Really, Tom? Those brave men and women “fought for our right to use it?” I’m fucking sick and tired of hearing war and sacrifice glorified in this way. The 18-year-old private in Iraq didn’t die to protect your first ammendment rights, Tom. Read a history book.
Tom-
I hate to disparage your bleary-eyed patriotism, but can you honestly name a war in which “those brave young men and women” fought specifically to preserve our first amendment (and other) rights?
This is the kind of sentiment that makes war seem, well, noble. It’s dangerous, weak-minded, and has no bearing in truth. Read a fucking history book and then tell me why, exactly, we fight wars.
It may be pragmatism, national security, or something else; it sure as hell isn’t squeaky clean.
Christa,
Thanks for participating. As you can see we are very immature, but there are other more established journalists that agree with (copy
) us:
http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2007/08/29/cavdaily-scribe-tear-down-speech-wall/
You did say “tear down the wall” which incites controversy and illicits a non-rational response. So, in response, if we don’t agree with the Cav Daily being a sufficient way to honor free speech, should we tear it down?
I think the point is there are a myriad ways that our society represents and represses free speech. Yes, I agree the wall is a little cliche, but as for tearing it down because children don’t understand the responsibility that comes with free speach… isn’t it an absurd argument?
What is this “Freedom Wall&trade” you keep talking about, Christa? There is nothing with that name in Charlottesville. Nothing with a name even close to it.
It’s rather difficult to take seriously your demand that the “Freedom Wall” be torn down, since you clearly haven’t done enough research into it to even learn the name of the thing. It would be like advocating that the “Great Roundess at The End of The Big Grassy Strip” at UVa be burned down (again). Anybody saying that would just look like an ass.
The article itself says nothing about tearing down the wall. Likely the title came from an editor.
This sounds like rant of a naive college student. Freedom of speech was based on the premise of no censorship. While the immature musings of a middle-school student might not be what the community wants to hear, the student is part of the community and as a member has the inherent right to express himself. Whether or not we disagree is another story, but that is the responsibility we bear for granting our citizens this right…to take the good and the bad in.
I would argue that cVillain grants greater freedom of speech than the Cavalier Daily…a paper which most likely has editorial review and a possible political agenda.
Freedom of speech gives the power to the community, and not to a select few. The rise of digital media allows for this conversation between all members of a community, and judging by the interaction seen on this immature site, they seem to like it alot more. If someone says something that contrasts the populace, that voice will be heard…a voice that would not have been heard otherwise….say on an article titled “Tear Down This Wall”.
If anything, I’d take issue with the concept that the wall attempts to “enshrine” anything at all written in chalk. As the author points out, the wall is cleaned twice weekly. What the wall DOES enshrine are the words of the First Amendment, permanently carved into the monument. In truth, the wall celebrates freedom of expression and the ability we all have to engage in that activity. Those are the only two permanent things associated with the monument. In that sense, I think it to be a fitting memorial. Nothing may more truly be a more concrete example of what Voltaire meant when he said, “I may disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” Freedom of expression isn’t always pretty. That is why it requires protection.
In case anyone hasn’t seen cvillenews.com’s forum on the wall…
http://www.cvillenews.com/2007/08/16/chalkboard-video/#comments
Waldo, that video was a really cool find. I liked how “GOD BLESS” and “BONG HITS” go up one after the other!
Penis
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