With the popular success of "Fifty Shades of Grey,"
I would have thought the issues of banned books were a problem of the past. Not so.
Did you know Suzanne Collins's popular "Hunger Games" trilogy was
challenged last year? Why? Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family;
insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence. Though I haven't read it, yet, I've loaded
the book on my Kindle, and recently saw the movie. And, unless the book is hugely different from
the movie, I don't recall any occult or Satan worship taking place. Violence?
Yeah, okay, maybe.
In 2010 Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" was
challenged. Why? Reasons: religious viewpoint and violence. Well, the story does involve vampires, which
are fictional creatures of the night who, according to some legends, have been
abandoned by God, so perhaps some readers might take exception to the subject
matter. But why ban the book?
"A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed
with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of
content or appropriateness. It is an
attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person
or group. A banning is the removal of those materials."
"Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point
of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or
library, thereby restricting the access of others. As such, they are a threat
to freedom of speech and choice."
I fully support the need to protect the innocence of
children, which is admittedly difficult in today's culture where nothing is
considered "off limits" or "private." Not even the Duchess of Cambridge's attempt
to sunbathe privately. So, perhaps
certain books should only be made available to young, inquisitive minds with
their parents' permission. I'm not
certain how best to handle the problem, I just know that book banning to me
equates to the book burning that took place in the novel "Fahrenheit 451". An activity I consider criminally offensive.
I write sexy, spicy and erotic books, so I am not a proponent of
censorship in any form. Even so, I wouldn't
want anyone under 18 picking up and reading one of my books if their parents
didn't approve. If the person is
eighteen or older, I consider them old-enough to make their own decisions as to
what they like to read.
So, what I personally intend to do is read at least one of
the banned books in protest. And I
sincerely hope you do the same.
For more information on Banned Book Week, please visit:
