It's Banned Books Week

[dragonhead]

no surprises there. every year, i see kids in my class reading banned books to see why they are banned. at least they are reading you know.

 

[megamania]

I worked in a bookstore for several years. Whenever some group would start advocating for removing a book from the shelves, a dozen people would come in and buy it..

This very thing occured in the 80's for... DnD.


I am a huge comicbook fan and censorship has always bothered me. Now as a parent I can see the other side but push comes to shove- it is up to the parent / child to decide. I have seen 7 year olds that could read and understand Watchmen by Alan Moore and 18 year olds that can't get past "He saids balls" referring to a sport and giggling the whole time.

 

[BOZ]

and now that you mention comic books, they came under fire in the 50s... and got stuck with the Comics Code for about 40 years. :\

 

[Jesus_marley]

and now that you mention comic books, they came under fire in the 50s... and got stuck with the Comics Code for about 40 years. :\

IIRC the comics code was a set of guidelines that were designed and adopted *voluntarily* by various publishing companies (Marvel, DC, Etc.). Comics that did not adhere to the rules were not barred from publishing, but rather were not allowed to display the Comics Code Seal.

 

[Psionicist]

That was surely a harmless list. If you want to get in real trouble, read Jihad by Imam Shaheed Hasan Al-Banna, on an airplane. For extra effect, don't read the translated version.

 

[Fieari]

IIRC the comics code was a set of guidelines that were designed and adopted *voluntarily* by various publishing companies (Marvel, DC, Etc.). Comics that did not adhere to the rules were not barred from publishing, but rather were not allowed to display the Comics Code Seal.

And combined with pressure for sellers of such comic books not to sell anything with the seal...

It was de-facto censorship for decades, bringing an art form that could have rapidly matured into literature into something that has been associated with little kids for a while now, and is only recently making any kind of headway into countering that.