Eminem's music is, at the risk of classifying even further, harsh. But it touches millions of fans around the world. I might find "Gundam Wing" a vapid cavalcade of pre-pubescent fantasies, but it touches a sense of heroism in its audience (damn, I used an 'ism,'). Gloria Steinem might gape in horror at the demon-rape excesses pouring out of CPM, but they strike an extremely resonate chord in a probably larger-than-will-let-on sliver of the demographic pie.

My liberal brethren are just as guilty of sanitizing culture as the witch hunters we vilify. But instead of using the stale, moral arguments of the conservative regime, we use the sciences of sociology and human psychology to assess worth, protecting the population from the ravages of off-color ideas and off-putting images. I guess it all really comes down to nobody being right.

Discourse, though, is always healthy and has lead to Eri Izawa's observation in a piece he wrote for EX:

"Perhaps the biggest irony is that the 'big-chested women, mechs, and lots of gore' stereotype seems to be largely a product of the US market itself. The market drives most business decisions, and perhaps the fact that every anime in the US seems to have lots of large busts, mecha, and blood-n-guts may have something to do with the demand (or the perceived demand) on this side of the Pacific. Before anyone points a patronizing finger at Japan, perhaps a good look at ourselves is warranted."

I'm taking a good look at myself, taking careful notice of my system of beliefs and tastes, taking a moment to think about what is most important to me. I do all of this right before launching into a review of ADV's "Lost Universe." Oh well, so much for enlightened objectivity.

On a final note, no one can combat culture with litigation. As the expression goes, "the way to fight fire is with fire." Moves then, to limit the distribution of "morally detrimental" material, shielding children from "distasteful" images and "explicit" lyrics and badgering American values into submission accomplish nothing. On the flip side, angry, cynical railing against the establishment on anime message boards, though artfully expressive, has as much practical effect on changing the world as a child petulantly holding his breath until he passes out. Of course, I may have just exercised my liberal hypocrisy again.