Think For Yourself: Why Book Banning Should Be Banned

I went to the local library in Utica, NY on Saturday to find something new to read. I’d been given a few suggestions on authors to check out and I was hoping I could find something to catch my interest. Oh, boy did I! My sister pointed to a small flyer in the bottom corner of the bulletin board and said, “Book banning? Really?” Out of utter disbelief, I stopped to read the flyer entitled, “Censorship? Banning Books? CAN A BOOK GO TOO FAR?” It went on to announce an open forum brought to you by the Utica Library in partnership with the Utica College to discuss banning American Psycho writtenby Bret Easton Ellis. “A literary classic or offensive trash? WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

Immediately I recalled a movie I’d seen starring Christian Bale called “American Psycho”. I had flashes of bloodstains, electric knives, and horrible 1980’s fashion. I had absolutely no idea this movie was a book! Then, in red and underlined I saw that those who signed up to attend would be given a FREE copy of the book. Whaaaat? Free? I love free! And it was a book to boot! So on the way out my sister signed up- who needs two copies?- and we immediately started discussing book banning.

Neither of us had read this book and my sister hadn’t even seen the movie but she immediately said, “No, it shouldn’t be banned! Learn to think for yourself, teach your kids the same and you wouldn’t need to call for banning books. Or movies or video games, for that matter.” Before sitting down to write this, I surfed around online trying to find some more information on this banning. I read somewhere that the movie was considered the next “FightClub.” Have you read that book by Chuck Palahniuk? Or any of his other books? He’s quite violent and freakish, but I’ve never heard of any of his books being banned. But I digress. (For the record, I’ve loved every single book by Chuck Palahniuk I’ve ever read.) 

American Psycho has been called, “… a how-to novel on the torture and dismemberment of women.” (Tammy Bruce, LA coordinator of the National Organization for Women.) Never mind the black homeless man he kills. Never mind the puppy. Never mind the other homeless man and his dog. Never mind the main character’s own white, male coworker. No, it’s nothing but a woman-hating book.

 This novel is the life and deteriorating psyche of a 1980’s Wall Street Yuppie. His life is nothing but surface. His life is money, designer clothes, women, drugs and expensive food and alcohol. The women are just as, if not more, superficial than the main character, Patrick Bateman and his “friends.” The author felt his life was empty and devoid of meaning and substance. He was angry at society and his life. Frustrated. So he wrote this book. He wrote a character that could do those horrible things we imagine in our blackest hearts (or imagine others are imagining)… Or could he? The book and the movie both leave you wondering if he really did all those horrible things or if he just imagined doing them, whiling away his time at the office.

 

Currently, I am more than halfway through reading the book. I’m so distracted by the descriptions of food, what everyone’s wearing and drinking that I can hardly keep interest in the gore that comes along. I am not more disgusted by the violence towards women than the violence toward everyone else. I’m equally horrified. I’m equally grossed-out by the blood whether it was spilled from a man, woman, child or animal.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I personally do not like the book, I think the movie as a horror/comedy flick is generally okay but I will most likely not be rereading or reviewing them any time soon. I still don’t think it should be banned. Banning a book is like killing someone because you don’t agree with their opinions. What happened to freedom of speech? Isn’t that the very First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States? Freedom of religion, speech, to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This book does not commit a crime and neither did the author. If you don’t like what it represents, then, by God, voice that opinion! You have that right! Teach your children the correct way to behave (“No, honey, we don’t slice open women’s vaginas and put rats in them. You be nice to the girls, okay?”) and when they come across such behavior in books or wherever, they will be dutifully shocked and horrified.

If you can teach your children that there is more to life than the price tag and a title, then they won’t end up like Patrick Bateman: barely holding onto their sanity and drowning in a life obsessed with what’s on the surface.

It is our job as parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, care-givers, and lovers of children to teach them to love, be kind, strive for happiness and fairness. They need us to teach them the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want others to treat you. If they learn nothing else, that will guide them through life wonderfully.

If you can do your job as someone who raises a child, you will feel no need to ban books. Books are a gateway to entertainment, education, excitement, imagination. On the religious side, if you can help instill a strength of faith in your kids, then you have no fear of evil entering your child through external stimuli. I know that my faith is strong enough.

It’s hard enough for me to find peers nearing the end of their 20’s who like to read. Do you really want the next generation to avoid it altogether? I spent a great deal of my childhood reading and thanks to that, I feel quite confident of my spelling, grammar and vocabulary. Between grade school and middle school I read Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, IT by Stephen King, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. In high school I read The Grapes of Wrath also by Steinbeck. In more recent years, I’ve read Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkein, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Did you know almost all of those books have been banned? At one time or another it was illegal to sell, buy or possess these books. The Color Purple is on that list as well. When I found the link I got more indignant as I went down the list. I’d already heard that in lieu of banning Huckleberry Finn, they just wanted to omit the “n-word” because it is a racial slur. It’s called vernacular. Look it up in the dictionary. That’s that giant book that tells you what every word in our language means. While you’re at it, please look up the words tolerant, peace, love and respect.

I am all for movie and TV show ratings. I am all about protecting children from things they are too young to be aware of. I am not, however, all about anyone telling me what I can and cannot read. Before you know it, you’ll be telling me what to watch, what to listen to, what to wear, what to eat and what to think.

 

If you have any doubts about overbearing censorship or book banning, I suggest you read one incredibly and insistently important book. Fahrenheit451 by Ray Bradbury gives us a glimpse into a world where books are not allowed. Where firemen do not put out fires, but start them in the homes of those found to possess books. It’s a short novel but timeless, thoughtful and slap-you-in-the-face honest.

Now I ask you: Do you agree that some books should be banned completely? Sold only to those over the age of 18? Do you think it starts a never ending crusade of socialism and communism? What do you think?