Tip of the Day: Read a banned book this week.
Since all the cool kids are talking about banned books this week I thought I would to. To kick off this banned book week popular banned/challenged authors like Judy Blume, Lauren Myracle, and Lois Lowry all got together near me in Chicago for a Read Out in which they each read passages from their favorite banned books. I, of course, didn’t realize this until the day after or I so would have been there! I actually didn’t realize that so many books were challenged (List)! It’s really puzzling to me how people find things so offensive in books, like talking about puberty etc., but then don’t lead big campaigns to ban all TV shows and movies because really, the stuff we see on TV is far worse than what is read in books. John Green mentions a character having a botched sexual experience in one of his books and people go crazy. On the pilot of the new 90210 there is a guy having a similar experience (although, apparently not botched) in his car near the beginning of the episode. Why aren’t people up in arms over that?
Books seem to be held to a much higher standard. Why is this do you think?
In the mean time, Judy Blume talks about when/why books started getting banned and why we need to speak out against the banning of books in this TV interview here. Pretty interesting if you want to check it out!
Kristina, Miss Soon-to-Pub
4 comments:
I actually wonder the same things Tina. Good question. I don't know if it's because movies have ratings and TV shows now say "Parental Guidance" or "this is intended for a mature audience." I'm not sure if slapping that on a book would do any good, though. Many come with age levels and that doesn't seem to do a thing.
I think lots of people protest and complain about TV shows. But networks are huge, powerful corporations so it doesn't impact them much. They just shrug it off. But your local library can't afford to do that.
Plus with books, people can reach out to authors and complain to (or about) that one specific person. With TV, who do you blame? But that's one of the things that makes reading and being an author kick butt: the personal connection.
Oh- good point Kate! I hadn't thought of that.
I think Kate has it right. You can complain to Fox or the WB all you want, you can write letters, and even if you have a national "family rights" organization behind you, they can afford not to listen--they're still making big bucks with the TV show.
Your library, on the other hand, can't hide behind size and money and national audience. And if you have the national "family rights" organization backing you up and whipping up local frenzy, the library is overwhelmed. They're also aware that this will come up the next time they try to get a bond issue or millage increase passed.
Think globally, act locally works for the other side, too. :(
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