See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Explicit song lyrics and adult videos aren't the only targets of what many see as a nationwide attack on the arts. The government is threatening to withdraw National Education Association funding from writers who tackle ''obscene'' topics. A bill sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms would eliminate the ''safe harbor'' period in radio and TV, which now restricts ''indecent'' broadcasts to the hours of midnight to 6 a.m., when children would be unlikely to see or hear them (''obscene'' material is banned at any time). Helms, who argues that VCRs allow children to ''time-shift,'' wants to prohibit ''indecent'' broadcasts completely.

The movie industry, unlike other entertainment areas, rates itself voluntarily through the MPAA. However, according to an MPAA source, there has been an increase in legislative activity concerning ratings enforcement and limiting minors' access to violent movies, including a number of pending state bills that would make it a misdemeanor (with fines) to admit a minor to an R- or X-rated movie. Other bills would impose civil liability on filmmakers and theater owners in instances where a viewer commits a violent crime after watching a violent movie.

Taken as a whole, these and other measures indicate that factions in the government — on both a federal and state level — no longer seem to feel that citizens are capable of deciding what they should watch or hear. The next step is up to those citizens.

''Ultimately,'' Gold Castle Records President Danny Goldberg says, ''it's a question of who's going to decide what goes into our households — parents or the government.'' In a subtle way, that decision is already being made.