You know, pjz99, I'm just happy that no one much cares if the House Mouse has clothing on or not.

If they had completely banned nudity from the galleries, I could see the need for intense arguments about artistic freedom.  But they didn't .... the closest I can come to an analogy to what they did is something from the film industry ... make the artist edit the preview for his or her "R" rated film so that it is suitable for all ages.  That's something that is done every day and I haven't heard much of an uproar about that.

So, the filmmaker can have nudity in his/her R rated film, just not in the preview because that preview is being shown to non-R rated types of audiences.  Not a big deal in my view of the world.

Is someone else's preference being shoved down the filmmaker's throat??  Well, yes and no.  He/she still gets to make an R (or heck, even an X) rated film, but the rest of us aren't forced to view the R or X rated bits when we go to the theater to see a G or PG film.  And, we get to make a choice, based on that preview, as to whether or not we want to go to see that film.

So, now back to the gallery here.  The thumbnails for me are all little previews of the art, and I can tell, both from the edited thumbnail and from the text tag, whether that image is something I want to see or not.  If not, then I don't bother to click on the image .... if yes, then I do.

Of course, the one obvious way that the analogy sort of falls apart is that filmmakers have to twist their artistic integrity all the time in order not to get X ratings for their films ... which is generally death at the box office.  But then again, maybe the analogy still holds in that there are certain depictions that, no matter how artistically they might be conveyed, are simply not allowed here (such as nude children).  

Which brings me to a question that I probably shouldn't ask .... but where was all the outrage about artistic integrity when that call was made?  No topless or nude childlike fairies??  No artwork depicting a bunch of nude children at the old swimming hole?  And .... I don't remember anyone making so much as a peep in protest.  

But then, maybe one was made and I just missed out on it.   That could certainly be the case.
 

Could be worse, could be raining.