The Journal of ValueInquiry 29:447--468 (December 1995) © 1995 KluwerAcademicPublishers. Printedin the Netherlands. The colorization controversy JULIE VAN CAMP Department of Philosophy, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-2408, USA The controversial practice of cotorization of films has attracted considerable philosophical interest in recent years. Philosophers have disagreed, not only about the acceptability or justifiability of the practice, but also about the rea- sons appropriate to support their positions on colorization. I do not wish to defend colorization nor to argue that it is wrong. I am con- cemed that recent philosophical attempts to either justify or reject colorization fail to adequately consider the practice ofcolorization in relation to other sorts of modifications of works of art. Not even the most vociferous critics of colorization have argued that all modifications of existing works of art are unacceptable under all circumstances. Yet critics of colorization have not ar- ticulated defensible principles that are at least consistent with principles and practices for modification of works of art in other art forms. Nor have defenders of colorization explained adequately whether or how the principles to which they appeal are consistent with principles for other art forms. I will analyze the variety of reasons offered to support and to reject colorization. I will then propose a different approach for analyzing colorization, as well as modifica- tions in other art forms. It could be argued that film is sui generis and that practices and principles from other art forms are irrelevant. I do not mean to claim that philosophical reasoning in film must be identical, in every regard, to reasoning developed for other art forms, nor that it necessarily must adopt the principles devel- oped for those art forms. However, philosophers specializing in film typically appeal extensively to reasoning developed in the context of other art forms (see, e.g., Carroll, 1988). Philosophers of art do (and should) pursue funda- mental principles which explain art forms which are similar in some aspects. The burden of proof is on the philosopher who would argue that film is sui generis and that philosophical insights from other art forms are irrelevant to understanding film. The recent philosophical debates on colorization have included no such argument.