There is a potency in music; it affects listeners deeply and has the potential to create both positive and negative change. This paper focuses on the question of artistic freedom in the context of the public sphere. This question becomes even more pertinent when art is augmented by the platform fame provides. What role does the famous musician have in society? Do they have a responsibility to be political through their music? Or do they have full license to do whatever they please? This paper argues that artists should have full artistic freedom. However, in a society rife with injustice, famous musicians must be aware of the powerful position provided to them by their platform of fame. The research in this paper demonstrates that music has a unique and transformative power on its listeners; this power means that musicians must wield their craft carefully. Music can heal and transform, but it can also be destructive. The musician must, therefore, practice awareness and ensure that their art does not perpetuate violence or injustice. When artists release music that does perpetuate these things, the music industry and music fans should respond accordingly. The music industry in particular holds a tremendous amount of power in shaping what the public hears. This paper proposes different ways for both the music industry and fans to guide artists towards more progressive values. While artistic freedom is important, there are times when the well-being of the public can legitimately override an individual’s artistic freedom. Musicians must be aware of their art’s political implications when they release it into the public.

Though graphic novels are slowly being accepted into the world of academic criticism, one fundamental aspect of the medium has been consistently ignored, dismissed, and ridiculed as a crude necessity: textualized sound. Visual onomatopoeias, most recognizably depicted as sound effects for gunshots, car chases, and the like, have a long history in the medium of comics. Though these textualized sounds may have originated as a device of necessity—a clumsy means of employing sound into a “mono-sensory medium” (to quote Scott McCloud)—the implementation of onomatopoeia in comics has become an integral device in defining an author’s style and heightening narrative impact. This creative, purposeful implementation of sound is epitomized in the work of renowned graphic novelist Frank Miller. This paper argues that, in his works Sin City and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Miller uses sound for several unique purposes: reflecting themes present in his work; heightening the sense of physical space within and beyond panel borders; contributing to plot; evoking texture; and embodying character. The sound effects Miller implements in these works redefine the possibilities of this integral component of most comics. Miller aligns himself with the tradition of sound effects in comics while simultaneously demonstrating the experimental possibilities of this device.

In this paper, I undertake the case study of the Jian Ghomeshi trial to understand how the criminal justice system responds to the problem of sexual violence against women. Specifically, I mobilize two criminological perspectives – conflict and feminist – to make sense of the trial and verdict. Drawing from the work of Richard Quinney, I argue that Ghomeshi’s social status enabled him to avoid discipline by his employer, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, in the wake of sexual harassment complaints and to hire a highly regarded lawyer. This case clearly illustrates that the criminal justice system is designed to preserve the status quo and favours the wealthy and powerful. In this particular instance the trial re-victimized the female complainants, putting their actions on trial instead of Ghomeshi's. Feminist theorists have critiqued the adversarial nature of the criminal justice system and the tendency for sexual assault cases to be reduced to a simple 'he said/she said' trial of believability. I argue that in order to restore fairness and equity to the criminal justice process a more empathetic framework must be employed which takes into account the existing power differential between men and women in society.