Just as the Netherlands feels its tradition of openness is under threat after the killing of Theo van Gogh, the controversial film-maker by a suspected Muslim extremist, the US is going into its own convulsions over censorship.
The decision by more than 20 TV stations has triggered what has been described as a controversy of "epic proportions". The affliates of the ABC television network decided not to show Saving Private Ryan amid fears that they would be rapped over the knuckles by the Federal Communications Commission, the US TV regulator. The networks feel under the cosh after an election in which George Bush triumphed, apparently by trumpeting moral values. Moreover, in March, the FCC censured NBC for showing the rock star Bono saying "fuck" during a live broadcast. How many other movies will face the chop on these grounds?
Even so, the decision not to show the film seems utterly craven. In the 1980s, Mark Hertsgaard, wrote about the supine press during the Reagan era. The title, On Bended Knee, seems applicable to these times too.
