MovieChat Forums > Politics > Charlotte's Web is a banned book...

Charlotte's Web is a banned book...


"In a Kansas' school district. Charlotte's Web, that children's story of friendship, respect and devotion, published in 1952 and a favorite of waves of generations of children since then, was banned in 2006 in a school district – on religious grounds. Some parents felt that only humans should have the ability to speak."

Other banned books:

The Dictionary
"In 1976, schools in both Indiana and Alaska banned the American Heritage Dictionary because it contained inappropriate entries. One of these included the word bed, “due to its use as a verb in slang.”"

"More recently, prisons in Michigan have banned dictionaries in Spanish and Swahili. The spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections explains that if the prisoners learned a “very obscure language,” they could then speak freely with each other about prohibited activities."

A Wrinkle in Time
"It follows the adventures of 13-year-old Meg who travels through time and space to save her father from the evil “It.” Its first challenge came from a Florida parents’ group, who argued that the book “opposes Christian beliefs and teaches occult practices.”

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
"A children’s board book written to help toddlers make associations between objects and their meanings. On each page, the narrator asks an animal or person what they see. The Texas Board of Education accidentally mistook Bill Martin Jr., the author of over 300 innocent children’s books, for Bill Martin, the author of Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation. And thus, the book was banned for a brief time until they realized that Bill Martin Jr.’s only political agenda was “supporting children and giving them wonderful literature they love to read.”"

A Light in the Attic
Filled with eccentric illustrations and quirky, rhyming poetry that made readers of all ages giggle. But parents in Wisconsin weren’t laughing when they read one of the poems in A Light in the Attic: “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes.” Parents believed that this poem would make their kids break all their dishes so they wouldn’t have to dry them. The book also got some criticism in Indiana where parents expressed concerns that it promoted “anti-parent material.”

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
"Although concern over sexually explicit material is the reason usually cited, once in 1983 the Alabama State Textbook Committee tried to ban it because they thought the diary was “a real downer.”

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
This story of a donkey who wishes himself into a rock set off alarm bells with the Illinois Police Association. In 1977 they challenged the book because the police are depicted as pigs in the story. In the aftermath, it was banned in many parts of the U.S..

New Kid
"'New Kid' was written by author Jerry Craft about his own life experiences, then a Texas school district banned it for "Critical Race Theory and Marxism." When Jordan Banks starts at a new private school, he was one of the only students of color, and he discovers this new struggle of fitting in when there is very little diversity. New Kid is the winner of the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Kirkus Prize for Young Reader's Literature."

reply

Aren't they supposed to be saving souls from Satan? If I had these beliefs, I would think I would get greater satisfaction from keeping people out of eternal hellfire, than getting a book with talking farm animals out of libraries.

Maybe we can start a Gofundme account for these types for airplane tickets to North Korea or Saudi Arabia so they can share the Good News of the Risen Christ.

reply

You left wing Fascists prefer censoring books which is far worse than banning.

https://deadline.com/2023/02/james-bond-books-rewritten-to-avoid-offense-to-modern-audiences-1235271892/

reply

OOO huge slippery slope here...

Personally, I think burning books in the town square is more symbolic... The Nazis were burning transgender propaganda. They don't tell the kids that in Middle School...

That's the real reason the Big Lie that the nazis weren't left wing is necessary. They were just the wrong kind of socialists.

________________________
Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

reply

I don't get what you're getting at here. Who tries to pretend the Nazis didn't target transpeople?

What is your definition of "left-wing", exactly?

reply

I don't usually get what he means either and where he might be sarcastic or serious.

reply

I'm sorry my posts do not make sense to you. I don't have issues communicating with intelligent people on other forums... 🤔🤔🤔

________________________
Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

reply

Where in my post did I say anyone was "Pretending" to be anything? What does that even mean?

Left-wing = Collectivism, Marxism, Communism, Socialism, etc... It's Authoritarianism of the State

Libertarian Right-wing = Liberty, Freedom, Individuality, etc... It's Authoritarianism of the Self

Religious Right-Wing = Basically the "right-wing" version of the Left-Wing, but in the vein of Organized Religion.

This is why you always see "Unite the Right" propaganda. It's because politics falls into a Trichotomy. A Triangle with 1 point the left, and the other 2 points are the right. The problem is that the 2 side of the right are fundamentally opposed to each other, and therefore not united...probably never will be. The left is in full lock-step with each other already(vote blue no matter who).

________________________
Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

reply

Have you ever heard of Anarcho-Communism, Libertarian Socialism, Social Democracy?

>This is why you always see "Unite the Right" propaganda. It's because politics falls into a Trichotomy. A Triangle with 1 point the left, and the other 2 points are the right. The problem is that the 2 side of the right are fundamentally opposed to each other, and therefore not united...probably never will be. The left is in full lock-step with each other already(vote blue no matter who).

If you think the left is remotely united on anything, you don't know anything about the left

reply

The left are all marxists now...they've cancelled all the moderates.

Have you ever heard of Anarcho-Communism, Libertarian Socialism, Social Democracy?


No, and honestly it doesn't matter. 80% of the population doesn't even know what it is that we discuss here. People don't care about political subgenres, or even the root genres. They are too busy consuming terrible sitcoms, and stupid reality shows. The NEWS AT 11 tells them who the bad people are, and they nod, mouth agape going "uh huhhh they bad people, vote blue no matter who" or "uh huhhh they bad people, vote red cowboy yahoooo", and move on to the next terrible sitcom.

________________________
Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

reply

>The left are all marxists now...they've cancelled all the moderates.

I'm not a marxist.

>No, and honestly it doesn't matter. 80% of the population doesn't even know what it is that we discuss here. People don't care about political subgenres, or even the root genres. They are too busy consuming terrible sitcoms, and stupid reality shows. The NEWS AT 11 tells them who the bad people are, and they nod, mouth agape going "uh huhhh they bad people

Dude, anarcho-communism is easily as big as communism amongst leftists in the modern west.

People also don't really know the subtle differences between right-wing thought, but they still exist.

>vote blue no matter who" or "uh huhhh they bad people, vote red cowboy yahoooo", and move on to the next terrible sitcom.

You do realise the USA is a two-party system, right? Leftists have no choice but to vote for the Dems if they don't want to piss away their vote. That doesn't mean all leftists like the democrats.

Leftists in European countries, which have a multiparty system often vote for many different parties.

reply

A comment from the link you gave has it right.

So on the right we see people trying to ban books based on their potentially offensive content – meanwhile here on the left they’re just altering the original and *editing out* the potentially offensive content. Editing a book to make it less offensive is just as bad as outright banning it. Either way you’re removing access to the original.

reply

This⬆

reply

No comparison!

The Right are narrow-minded religious fanatics, bigots and prudes who want to ban every book which doesn't follow their extremist agenda. How do you defend banning a dictionary because it has the word "bed" in it?

Editing is done by businessmen and investors who own the rights and want to continue making a profit by appealing to as many consumers as possible. Personally, I'd rather see the original text remain and perhaps add an explanation in the forward. I know in some cases, both the original and edited are going to be published.

There are books like Huckleberry Finn which the Left may not assign in class. I believe it should stay in the school library, but I'd like to see a wider range of books assigned in class written by women, different races, ethnic groups, countries, LGBTQ, etc.. Every book I read in school was written by white Christian males with only one exception.

BTW, we wouldn't have any issue with updating books to meet modern standards if writers hadn't been so bigoted in the first place.

reply

"the company that owns the literary rights to Fleming’s work"

That's not the Left. Those are business people who want to continue making a profit by appealing to modern readers. Let's face facts, conservatives don't read books.

reply

It's not just about business. It is about catering excessively to the Wokies. These individuals have managed to infiltrate the publishing industry just as they have done with the entertainment industry, and are actively imposing their ideology on all forms of media. By enforcing their woke standards, books are being tailored to appease a small subset of society who subscribe to their beliefs. The issue with this is that their standards are not universally accepted, and a significant portion of the population does not agree with them.

When we hear calls for books to meet "modern standards," it's clear that what is actually meant is that they must meet woke standards. The problem is that woke standards are being set by a group of individuals who are blinded by their dogmatic adherence to their deranged ideology. It is unreasonable for a small group of people to dictate what is acceptable for the rest of society, particularly when many reject their ideas outright.

Woke standards do not represent the views of the majority, we reject them, and they should not be allowed to force them upon the rest of us.

reply

Both are about business. Old bigots are dying out. Younger people are more diverse, nicer, progressive and open-minded.

reply

No, that is just the portrayal of younger people by the media. In fact, I remember giving you an article where the acceptance for progressive ideas about gender and LGBTQ people is declining among young people while rising a bit among older people.

reply

You are a Fascist shit stain.

reply

You're projecting!
Your cult is upset by the word "bed" so you banned the dictionary, snowflake!

reply

Meh. Personally, I think Charlette's Web is provegetarian propaganda. I mean think about it. It's a story about a pig who doesn't want to be killed to be made into meat. It makes kids think killing pigs for meat is wrong. It would not surprise me if the author of it intended it just for that.

reply

Have you ever read it?
The farmer thought the pig was too small and was just going to kill it because it would not have been economically feasible to keep it.
I doubt they would have eaten it.
Though it still would have been cruel to kill it.

Being vegan I have no problem at all teaching how wrong cruelty to animals is.

reply

I have seen the old 80s animated movie of it. Also I think pigs, cows, and other animals were meant for us to kill and eat. I don't have kids but if I did I would probably teach them it's okay to eat meat. Frankly I can't find a woman that agrees with me politically and religiously so that's not gonna happen for a long while.

reply

I thought the book was about friendship between a pig and a spider.

reply

Well yes but it is stories like that which make kids think about animals getting killed for meat. Same thing with Bambi.

reply

I disagree and I'm a vegetarian. Charlotte's Web made me think about friendship. I only saw the movie.

I never watched Bambi because the hunter killed a little kid's mom and made him an orphan. Too depressing for me! When I was a very young kid, I though the worst thing that could happen would be the death of my mother. I'm glad my parents never took me to see that film or I would've been traumatized. LOL! Most people don't eat deer meat.

Animal characters allow the story to be more universal. You don't have to worry about which race or ethnic group to represent.

reply

Deer hunting is actually popular in my area. I have relatives who do it. If not for people hunting them for meat there would be an overpopulation of deer. Their main predator the wolf has been wiped out of most states in the U.S. So humans are the only thing keeping the population down.

reply

We're talking books. You appeared to support banning a book because a pig was a main character.

reply

Banning it might be going too far I admit. But I myself never really cared for it.

reply

Banning books is about limiting thoughts. Why should EVERYONE be denied reading a book because a few religious fanatics fear it?

reply

Sorry. You are right. I really don't like that they are trying to banned books in some places here in the U.S. Here in Illinois a lot of schools in my area haven't even allowed fantasy fiction books to be taught to kids. Kids are to read nothing but historical fiction books on minorities. There's nothing wrong with those specific books but a lot of kids aren't gonna want to get into reading if they are just exposed to historical things. Some kids are less interested in those things.
When I was in school as a kid I was read books by Roald Dahl. Now Roald Dahl books aren't even read to kids in schools anymore. It sucks.

reply

"historical fiction"
So you believe minorities don't have any history? Are you a racist and/or white supremacist?

"Roald Dahl books aren't even read to kids in schools anymore."
Roald Dahl books were already banned by GQP extremists.

You must live in a GQP stronghold where you're not allowed to read anything.

The difference between dems and reps.:
One is about acceptance (and also, let’s face it, an attempt to gain readership at a time when children would rather lose themselves to screens), the other unhinged bigotry.

Big difference!
I suggest you read this article. You may learn something:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2023/02/23/equating-the-roald-dahl-edits-to-book-banning-is-living-in-a-willy-wonka-fantasy-world.html

reply

Wait, I never said I didn't think kids shouldn't read about minorities. Just that classic fiction should be taught too. But it isn't being taught in my area cause it's mandated that the curriculum include only historical based books only based off minorities. I have nothing against being taught about minorities but it is good to learn about people who aren't a minority is all. But it's all been changed to soley focus just on minorities.

reply

They do this because they can cover "PoC History" in America in a Semester or 2. It takes a life time to learn all of "White History". They will have to learn that on their own.

________________________
Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people.

reply

Well I think that's stupid because some kids aren't going to want to learn about history outside of school.

reply

I know you're lying since all American school curricula emphasis a WASPs Christian straight male perspective, history and experinece. The fear of sharing the spotlight has everything to do with the attacks on women, LGBTQI, and BIPOC groups as well as complaints every time a film or series has a BIPOC or female in a prominent role.

What's the last book you read written by a woman, BIPOC or LGBTQI? Let's discuss!

reply

A Streetcar Named Desire?

The Importance of Being Ernest?

Forever - Judy Blume

reply

The first two books were written by closeted men who wrote from a straight perspective so I don't count them. And none are BIPOC.

The point is to learn about different people through their written experiences and history.

reply

"I only saw the movie."

It's a very good book. Did you see the cartoon version with Paul Lynde as the rat?

reply

Cartoon version many years ago. I didn't know Paul Lynde did the voice. He was one of my favorite actors. Always funny.

reply

You are being intentionally dishonest, just because it’s not allowed in an elementary school library doesn’t mean it isn’t banned. You are not allowed to show elementary school students Schindler’s List but that doesn’t mean Schindler’s List is a banned film, it’s just not appropriate for 8 year olds.

reply

A dictionary was banned! You're defending that? And what's wrong with Charlotte's Web and New Kid?

reply

Keeping a book out of an elementary school library isn’t banning it. Should elementary schools be allowed to show Schindler’s List? If they don’t does that mean they are banning the teaching of the Holocaust?

reply

Of course, it's banning. Read the reasons above for the books' removal from the school libraries. Only an extremist nut would believe there's something wrong with Charlotte's Web and the dictionary?

Anne Frank's book has been banned and it is stopping school children from learning about the Holocaust from another child who personally experienced it.

reply

So then therefore if a school keeps porno magazines out of a school is that mean society is banning porn? Since you are so against “banning books” would you be OK with pro-Trump books in school libraries?

reply

Why are you comparing Charlotte's Web and the dictionary to porno?

reply

Because keeping a book out of a school library doesn’t equate to banning it. You can still read Charlotte’s Web or watch porn outside of school. Some things are not appropriate for school.

reply

Why isn't a dictionary, Charlotte's Web or Anne Frank's Diary not appropriate in a school library? What will happen to a child if he/she reads Charlotte's Web or uses a dictionary?

Also, what is wrong with having a Spanish/English dictionary or Swahili/English dictionary in a prison? What are the bad consequences?

reply

I’m sure you’re not providing the full context as you often don’t do.

Would you be OK with a pro-Trump book being in a school library?

reply

Absolutely! I read a few which I borrowed from my public library.

reply

I’m talking about a school library, numb nuts.

reply

I know, dummy! I read the books unlike you. I'd have no problem with them in a school library.

For you: RIF.ORG
You're welcome!

reply

Bullshit, you know damn well you’d be calling for the principal to be fired and arrested for child abuse or something. You aren’t fooling anyone.

reply

You're projecting.

reply

Just calling it like it is.

reply

For yourself. I know.

reply

Nope for anyone with a rational, functioning brain (and in your case that means I’m probably wasting my time)

reply

Exactly! Removing a book from schools isn't "banning".

Liberals pushing it be removed from Amazon, THAT is banning.

reply

No, that isn't banning either. Boycotting Nestle products because they were pushing baby formula in Africa where babies were dying because all the water was filthy, wasn't "banning" either.

reply

Book bans have nothing to do with baby formula.

I read that poverty-stricken mothers were watering down the formula to make it last longer because it wasn't affordable for them. Babies weren't getting proper nutrition. Anyway, breast milk is better.

Nestle execs are a ghouls.

reply

I was informing CraigC of the difference between banned versus boycotted.

reply

I see. He would know the difference if he didn't fear opening a dictionary would turn him into a pillar of salt.

reply

Uh, no. I'm talking about banning, not boycotting. Jesus, it's like arguing with 5yr olds.

reply

I'm against classic literature being banned and sadly, its happening in Blue States too. Huckleberry Finn, The Cay, Of Mice and Men, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, and most egregious, To Call a Mocking Bird, have all been banned in the Burbank California School District.

reply

Big difference. Only 5 books. Far fewer than bans in red districts. And those books are still in the school library. The students don't have to read them for class which doesn't bother me. I'd like to see more diversity re: authors.

"The district says the five books are still available in schools, but they are not on the list of core books that all students must read."

reply

Wow! Burbank? Hollywood adjacent? Disney headquarters? I know Huck Finn has the N-word on every page, but the rest of those books, why? (I never heard of The Cay.)

My dad made a ruckus at the Catholic high school in the 1960's against Steinbeck's "The Pearl" because it was "communist." This happened before I was born.

reply

Those books are NOT banned. They're still in the school libraries.

They're just not REQUIRED reading in the classroom.

reply

The Cay is an excellent book. I remember really liking that one as a kid due to the survival aspect. I'm really not sure why they stopped teaching these books in that school district, but probably has to due with insanity. Thankfully, it seems these books being taken out of the curriculum is isolated to only Burbank.

reply

My son is reading To Kill A Mockingbird right now in school. We live in a Blue State. Due to some of the language, the book has to be approached in a sensitive manner.

reply

Completely understandable. Is your kid in middle school? If I remember correctly, we read that book in 8th grade and watched the movie afterwards.

reply