Beware. I'm about to be serious.
THIS.
I write ridiculous books full of zombies and vomit and superfluous hair. I'm okay with that. We need all kinds of books--the vomit-filled superfluous hair kind of books, books that make us cry, and books that make us look at the world differently. We need the kind of books that make us angry and books we reach for when we're sick on the couch and need something comforting. For anyone to restrict our access to any of those books is WRONG. For anyone to restrict our right to think and choose for ourselves is WRONG.
I stand up against censorship. Even if I'm wearing sparkly Richard Simmons shorts when I do it. Which is my right, even if it's oh-so-wrong.
See what I mean?
11 comments:
Lol! Yups, I get ya. I saw this earlier. Still loving it. Apart from the fact that it's an awesome batch of authors, it's such an amazing cause.
I'm still pissed that tv and movies get to have ratings, and books just get outright banned. If it's such an issue, make a rating system. Ugh!
Love it and totally agree!! It makes me so angry that books - well written, amazing books that deal with issues in thought provoking ways - get banned, so our kids are left to watch Jersey Shore and Teen Mom part 11. Yes, that's much better.
Claire: I get what you're saying, but I'm not sure I believe that ratings would stop book banning, and they're only going to restrict access to great books. My problem with rating systems is that it's hard to determine what goes in each rating. What's PG for me is going to be R for someone else. I don't think any rating system is going to take the place of being involved and engaged in what kids are reading. It's easy to do that with the resources out there today if you just put forth the effort. It DOES take time and effort, but much less time and effort than it does to get a book pulled off the shelf!
Vivi: I start to twitch every time I THINK about Jersey Shore. Point well taken. :)
Oh hell yes. Censorship is wrong. End of story.
And I love John Green.
First, a point of order - What in the hell schools are still banning Catcher in the Rye?! I'd heard it had been banned all over the place for many years and couldn't wait to read it. It was the weakest, lamest book I've ever read. Granted, I'm sure it had more punch back in the 50s, and I was probably 22 when I read it, not 13, but I just COULD not believe that that boring book raised so much ire.
I found a book in Barnes & Nobles once that was basically just one huge list of books that had been banned, a short synopsis of the books, and why they were banned. Every time I needed another book, I'd flip through that one and pick one that sounded interesting. Kinda like how the PMRC forcing record companies to put "Explicit Content" stickers on CDs (remember those?) boosted sales of stickered albums.
Censorship in just about every single form disgusts me. It reeks of personal weakness and an utterly shameful lack of maturity.
Pedophiles can write erotica involving children, and Fred Phelps can disgrace military funerals with his hate speech, and that's just them expressing their freedoms of speech and assembly. But apparently piss on all that when it comes to teens reading books that can help positively shape/change their lives at a time when they need it most.
If I hadn't have read Fahrenheit 451 so recently, I'd have to do so yet again. Good video.
This video is amazing. I am so glad I stopped by your blog today!
I can only hope CRACKED gets banned, because then I'll be in the company of some kick-ass writers ; )
Great video - I'll have to show it to my students next week.
In a society where personal freedoms like the freedom of speech is cherished and protected, I'm still amazed that there are people out there who want to ban books.
Thanks for sharing the video.
Carrie, thank you for posting this! I agree whole-heartedly that we need books of all sorts whether we like or agree with their content or not.
Thought of you today. Hope yall had a great Christmas!
You know it really is amazing that free speech is one of the rights that every American is aware of and yet it is always challenged by some group that thinks they know better than the rest.
Personally, I think the people apart of the censorship movements are parents that don't want to talk to their children about the issues that pop up in these books.
The real question isn't about whether these ideas should be published and read, it is should these parents be parents?
Completely agree. They ban books they might as well ban half the movies out there. "I'm sorry johnny you can't have an imagination any more." Bullshit! Reading these books are the framework of a lot of people's lives.(sometimes scary I know) It's also how some kids(as well as adults) can learn to enjoy reading.
I think D.T. said it best. If these parents don't want their children to read these books they speak of then keep a tighter leash on your kid. Otherwise back-off!! There's people that have stories to write.
P.S. I'm upset don't mind me.
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