The Oz magazine, Issue 28

A provocative piece of expression, the counterculture magazine Oz specifically No 28 'The school kids' issue, caused an obscenity trial in British history. The fact that a piece of work created by schoolkids caused such chaos and was received both negatively and humorous is interesting to see.

The ability to create a piece of work, that receives a range of reactions and even one from the establishment is one worth exploring to see what exactly caused this outrage.

Issue 26 held the ad that would lead the content of the magazine to go to court. "Some of us are feeling old and boring...We invite our readers who are under 18 to come and edit the April issue. (Shaar Murray, 2001)

Three issues before the schoolkid issue were released, the monthly magazine released a homosexual issue (this was right after the gay revolution in new york in 1968) with a controversial cover depicting a naked black man kissing a naked white man, were magazine advocated for gay rights. The magazine also stood for Vietnam, women's rights and ecological matters. (Jim Anderson & Oz magazine, 2012)

There were three co-editors of Oz, Richard Neville, Jim Anderson and Felix Dennis. Richard Neville came to London from Australia and had a similar controversial magazine in Australia.

Allowing schoolkids to obtain free reign of a magazine and empowering them to express what they want to say, sounds like an interesting concept with many forms of outcomes, depending on the personalities of the children.

The children communicated the teenage view on education, music, sexual freedom, hypocrisy, drug use and corporal punishment. (Oz magazin story, 2014) This magazine allowed children to express their thoughts and enable them to be creative and see how exactly a magazine was put together.

The issue itself had controversial images. Starting off with the front page images of nude women. Explicit sexual cartoons, such as Rupert the Bear doing an X-rated action.

I personally would not take the issue 28 of the magazine seriously as it was a schoolkid addition, but I would rather try to understand and look at the message the young adolescents are trying to convey to see their point of view.

The form of showing sexual matters to shock people or create humour could be seen as obscene. One outlook on the magazine was described as 'The schoolboy influence is especially strong in the cartoons, where the serious comment on the classroom environment is mixed with a brand of humour straight off the lavatory wall' (Oz magazin story, 2014) as you can see some people did see the issue as childish.

(Anderson, Jim, 1970, pp48, illus)

Two months after the obscene publications squad crashed into the Oz office and began taking away everything remotely connected to Oz 28.

A year later there was a trial, with charges of obscene, and they were found guilty. (Brown, Mick 2017)

One reason everyone knew about the magazine controversy was due to the high publicity and media coverage it received.

The trail created riots and a carnival. Some people did not want the magazine to end, as it gave a voice to the emerging counterculture in London.

(Anderson, Jim, 1970, pp48, illus)

The use of bright colours reflects the decade, where the hippy movement was occurring. The swinging sixties in London brought a new wave of culture and attitude into London. The bright colours give a slightly psychedelic feel.

I do not see an issue with provoking people, as creating a feeling in someone might be what you need to stir up, to give way to conversations and make people see other sides of things. Having the guts do something different and crazy is another thing. Without people who have something to say and act on it, how can we develop and have open conversations?

Creating something with freedom and having people enjoy the work to the point of creating riots to the ban on it, is somewhat amazing.

Striking, and provoking imagery will always grab someones attention as we as humans have opinions. As seen with the response of the issues 28. Some people found it humorous, while others were utterly disgusted.

Being able to create something to make someone feels a certain way, is that not in a way beautiful?

Bibliography

АДРО, Published on 30 May 2014, Oz magazin story, Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQJnFnWwjqM&t=29s

(Accessed: 9 Dec 2018)

(Oz magazin story, 2014)

Dhiraj Singh, Published on 6 Nov 2012, Jim Anderson & Oz magazine, Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV63nLBJQUc

(Accessed: 9 Dec 2018)

(Jim Anderson & Oz magazine, 2012)

Shaar Murray, Charles (2001), I was an Oz schoolkid, The Guardian, Thu 2 Aug 2001 Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/aug/02/pressandpublishing.g2

(Accessed: sun 9 Dec).

Brown, Mick. (2017) ‘Sex-crazed Rupert the Bear and other stories... The obscenity trial that brought down Oz magazine’, The telegraph, (28 July 2017)

Available at:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/sex-crazed-rupert-bear-stories-obscenity-trial-brought-oz-magazine/ (Accessed: 9 Dec 2018).

Anderson, Jim, (1970), OZ 28, OZ, London, Publications Ink Limited, 48p. https://ro.uow.edu.au/ozlondon/28 . (Accessed: 9 Dec 2018). (Anderson, Jim, 1970, pp48, illus)