This past weekend was the 52nd anniversary of famed poet Allen Ginsberg’s first public reading of his poem, "Howl." City Lights Books, a San Francisco bookstore and small press run by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which would later come under fire for violating obscenity laws, gave the reading prior to the poem’s publication. City Lights and "Howl" were vindicated two years after the poem’s publication in a landmark court ruling that proclaimed the poem had redeemed social importance and was not obscene.
To celebrate both the poem itself and the 50th anniversary of the ruling on "Howl," Pacifica radio network was set to air a recording of Ginsberg (who passed away in 1997) reading his poem. Pacifica, however, opted against a broadcast on its member radio stations because, as found on its Web site, Pacifica wanted to avoid being subject to "draconian (Federal Communications Commission) fines for language infractions." So, Pacifica instead chose to offer a downloadable or streaming audio feed of Ginsberg’s reading on its Web site.
That a reading of "Howl," which became so well read because of the obscenity trial, would be kept from the airwaves simply because of fear of reprisal by the FCC, which has adopted a stern policy on indecency and obscenity since the 2004 Super Bowl when Janet Jackson’s breast was revealed on live television. This shows that the country has not changed in 50 years. While the FCC allows shows with rampant sex and violence to be broadcast on a nightly basis on television, and thereby able to be viewed by anyone merely screams out for an answer as to whom the FCC is protecting from what.
The poem discusses drug use and homosexuality, along with describing a generation of alienated young people. The words Ginsberg chose to employ in "Howl" are indicative of the language at his disposal for the time the poem was written and in step with how poets use the language of the day in their compositions. This is no different than Shakespeare’s 27th Sonnet starting out "Weary with toil, I haste to my bed"; or Walt Whitman asking "entering my lonesome slumber-chamber, why have you seiz’d me?" in the first part of his "Proud Music of the Storm."
English lyrical poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once said poetry is "the right words in the right order." No truer is such a sentiment noted than in Ginsberg’s "Howl." There would be no other way to convey the images and depictions found in "Howl" than to use what could be construed as obscene language. Though what is obscene to one person could be perfectly acceptable to another. The judge presiding over the "Howl" obscenity trial was certainly aware of such and this idea is evident in his ruling.
If one were to turn on the radio this past weekend and did hear Ginsberg reading his poem and such a person were to take offense with the language contained therein, then that person has every right to turn off the radio.
"Howl" might be no more than another poem in Ginsberg’s collection and he might have been as widely read were it not for the trial brought about because of the selling of his poem. But who knows, perhaps another outcry – and a renewed interest in Ginsberg’s poetry – would have been brought about with the broadcast of the poet’s reading. We will never know since Pacifica did not want to "bankrupt" itself, as stated on its Web site.
Goethe said, "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid." Ginsberg was bold and wrote "Howl," and in turn City Lights was bold for not only publishing but also selling the book.
By not broadcasting Ginsberg’s poem, Pacifica showed that it had no faith in the artistic integrity of "Howl," or that aid would once again find its way to defend the poem. While Internet and satellite broadcasts are not regulated by the FCC and the reading is available to anyone who wants to hear it online, all Pacifica did was bend to the whims of censorship.
Sure, a costly legal battle might have ensued over the broadcast and Pacifica’s pockets might not have been deep enough to handle the fracas, but a collection could have been taken up. There are plenty of people in this country who might have contributed to a cause as important as freedom of speech and expression, and an even greater number of people who feel that a work deemed to not obscene should be exempt from persecution by the FCC.
No one will ever know since the broadcast did not take place.
Lopez, an English senior, can be reached via [email protected]
