‘Lights, Camera, Cut!’: The Impact of Censorship Upon Creativity in Films and Movies

Creativity is an essential form of representation of various thoughts, ideas and opinions and in modern democratic setups, it becomes increasingly important to express oneself freely. However, one's rights must never infringe upon those of others, due to which there is also a need for restrictions and regulations upon the freedom of creative representations. So, it becomes crucial to understand what role a censorship system can play with respect to creativity and whether, in the larger context, censorship is a way to ensure a regulated social order or an arbitrary curtailment of one's autonomy and personal freedoms. This paper shall seek to study the impact and effects of censorship upon creativity and creative representation and, through the medium of films and movies, would try to ascertain the role that censorship plays for creative freedoms and liberties as provided usually in democratic setups. This paper shall also look into the judicial understanding of the interplay of censorship and creativity and would be a socio-legal analysis of this topic. The methodical approach undertaken in this paper shall consist of the study of scholarly works and publications. Secondary sources such as research papers and theses shall be relied upon to describe the specific example chosen. Online databases and news articles shall also be utilised to lend credibility to the arguments and conclusively establish the objectives of this paper.