Banned Books

[shipperx]

From EW.com:

'The Hunger Games' ignites the ALA's list of most challenged books

The Hunger Games movie may not have had trouble earning a PG-13 rating, but many parents and educators are wondering whether the best-selling book trilogy belongs on library shelves. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom released its annual list of most frequently challenged books of 2011 yesterday, and the increased popularity of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian saga — in large part fueled by buzz surrounding the blockbuster film — drove the books higher on the list. In 2010, only the first novel cracked the top ten at number five. In 2011, all three books occupy the number three position, and the complaints have grown more varied: “anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence.”

The ALA keeps track of challenges filed and counted 326 reported attempts to restrict or remove books from schools and libraries in 2011. The association defines a challenge as “a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.”

Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told the Associated Press that many of the complaints leveled against The Hunger Games books focused on the film version directed by Gary Ross. “There was complaining about the choice of actors for the film,” she said. “You had people saying someone was dark-skinned in the book, but not in the film, or dark-skinned in the film and not in the book. In general, a lot more people were aware of the books and that led to more kinds of complaints.”

Lauren Myracle, a regular on these types of lists, came in at number one with her epistolary Internet Girl books. But the book that topped the list last year — And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins who raise a baby chick together — didn’t crack the top ten. Jones said she’d like to believe that people are becoming more tolerant of homosexuality, but it may just be that other books are attracting more attention.

The Hunger Games: Get the latest news, photos, and more

What do you think about the complaints against The Hunger Games books? “Violence,” I get, but can you see why anyone would call them “anti-family” or “anti-ethnic”?

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Anti-ethnic? Are these the folks complaining that Rue wasn't white? Whu?
Also... Satanic? Whu-whu?

And finally... what 'bad language' was used anywhere in the story?

Comments

[ms-scarletibis.livejournal.com]

I haven't read even half the books on this list, but then I saw this:

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit

Not sure these people have actually read the books, or if they did, they didn't comprehend them. Sexually explicit? Were they looking at Harold Robbins or something?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering what's up with being offended by non-graphic nudity in PRINT? I mean stating that someone removed their clothes isn't salacious!

And... insensitivty? Good grief, 99% of books could be that!

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Anti-ethnic?

I may be misremembering things, and "anti-ethnic" may mean something entirely different in this case, but just a thought - wasn't there a US state where they recently banned all discussion of ethnicity altogether from school curricula... which basically meant that all literature that wasn't about WASPs got thrown out?

[lk737.livejournal.com]

How are these books any more offensive than Lord of the Flies, which I was forced to read in high school? The furvor over getting these books banned will pass in a few years, after all the movies come out. I think these are all the same people who tried to get Harry Potter banned/removed for witchcraft. Bunch of busybodies who need a hobby.

[angela-o.livejournal.com]

Not that I agree with the challenges in any way, but perhaps Katniss stating that she doesn't ever want to have kids is perceived by someone (with way too much time on their hands) as promoting an "anti-family" agenda?

[binsoup.livejournal.com]

i'm a parent, but i don't get other parents who whine about so-called "dangerous books," and harangue the public to get behind their cause to ban said books. sure, there's violence in the Hunger Games trilogy, but it's violence that has a context. as for being anti-family, anti-ethnic (?) and satanic, i'm thinking that the people who say these about the trilogy have not read the books or they need to go re-learn reading comprehension. interestngly, my kids who bought the books with their savings found the trilogy "okay," which is not exactly rave review. having grown up on japanese manga and anime, the violence in the trilogy didn't faze them. they know it's a work of fiction, and they mock older people who think that kids who read the Hunger Games will turn homicidal. they think that the media attention on the trilogy is hyped up because of the film adaptatiion. according to them, the books are not even consistently written well as the writer tended to be lazy in certain parts. my daughter is studying to become a librarian and my son is an english lit major. there's been some wacky discussions about books in the house.

having read the trilogy, i agree with my kids on the authorial laziness bit. there are certain turns of phrases in the narrative that sounded stilted. but as a whole, i enjoyed the books. as world-building goes, the writer has a solid handle in this. mosty though, i could relate to the story both emotionally and intellectully. i grew up under an authoritarian government, and i've lost family and friends to the armed political conflicts that raged in my country in the 70s and 0s. i get the part of the trilogy about young people being sacrificed to keep the status quo going. my kids understand this part, but they don't really get it. the effect is not visceral for them, because their own experience of the world is different. frankly, i'm not sure what to think and how i feel about this.

i apologize for this long comment. i know you've been posting about the Hunger Games for quite a while now, and i've never said anything even though i found your postings well-considered and passionate. i guess, i'm trying to make up for my laziness.