Ain’t No Party Like a Gatsby Party

REPEAT OFFENDER: The Great Gatsby (2013)

THE REVIEW: My first introduction to Baz Luhrmann was when I was in middle school. I had a high fever and watched a little film called Moulin Rouge. It was one of the trippier experiences I’ve had. The mind behind Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet is not known for subtlety, restraint, or playing it safe. So when I discovered that Luhrmann would be making a big budget adaptation of The Great Gatsby, I was alternately baffled and intrigued.

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Rejection

Good evening, dear readers. This article came to my attention the other day. Given that many of these books were rejected for political or censorship related reasons, I thought I’d share. Also, I submitted a short story to Asimov’s Science Fiction today so, should they reject me, I will be taping this to my fridge next to my rejection letter.

http://io9.com/5668053/15-classic-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-that-publishers-rejected

Just imagine if Stephen King’s wife hadn’t fished that manuscript back out of the trash…

Woman In Red: slutshaming at Anime Boston

Recently, I was contacted by someone who had witnessed an incident of slutshaming involving a cosplayer at Anime Boston. Given that I have discussed sexual harassment and cosplay, as well as other gender and harassment issues within or directed at the geek/nerd communities, he asked if I would post his story anonymously. Here it is, unabridged:

Bookwyrms

Céad míle fáilte, my good readers. As you may have noticed, a new writer has joined the Bound and Gagged Books family. Since I have sworn never again to read The Great Gatsby (the battle fatigue of one too many literature courses), my friend and longtime writing buddy, C. Oberholtzer volunteered as tribute. Join me in welcoming them to our strange little corner of the internet. You can read their review of The Great Gatsby here and check out their bio on the About page.

The One and Only Gatsby with the One and Only Taste

We’re waaaatching you…

THE DEFENDANT: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

THE VERDICT: The Great Gatsby is currently the #1 Most Banned and Challenged Classic according to the American Library Association. It is most often challenged as part of the standard English Literature curriculum in public schools, but it has also been challenged as part of college literature courses.

THE CHARGES: The most famous charges against The Great Gatsby are from the Baptist College in Charleston, South Carolina, where it was challenged in 1987 for “language and sexual references in the book.”

No Capes

Outlawing superheroes is an idea used in everything from The Incredibles to Marvel’s commentary on the PATRIOT Act to anything with Lex Luthor in it. But one pre-school has proved life imitates art by banning superheroes from school. You can read about it on The Mary Sue here:

Die Another Day

In other news, William Faulkner’s banned classic As I Lay Dying is being made into a movie starring James Franco. Here’s the trailer. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWXI1M1dcck

Cover Story

Hello again, dear readers. I’ll be posting my review of The Lovely Bones movie adaptation ASAP and I’ll have a guest review of The Great Gatsby later this week. Yay for scathing but visually interesting indictments of the American dream. Anyway, as you may know, the role of gender in publishing and the media in general is a great interest of mine, as touched on in several previous posts. So, when I encountered Maureen Johnson’s call to arms, I felt obligated to share.

As much as we may say otherwise, people judge books by their covers. Thus, a cover affects whether a book is purchased or read and who purchases/reads it. This is a problem, as books by female authors tend to get the Vogue-esque fluff treatment when it comes to covers, relegating them to niche markets (“chick lit”) and keeping them from being taken seriously. So, Maureen Johnson called on people to gender flip famous covers and the results are both hilarious and depressing.

Le Petite Mort: Sex, Death, and Joseph Campbell

And while she looks so sad in photographs…

THE DEFENDANT: The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold

THE VERDICT: The Lovely Bones comes in at #74 on The ALA’s Most Frequently Challenged Books list for 2000-2009 and has been challenged in some US schools and libraries.

THE CHARGES: The challenges surrounding this book are centered on the “mature” content, sexual content, the “graphic” nature of the book, or religious viewpoint (as much of the book takes place in heaven). However, one crusade to ban the book in a Massachusetts school took issue with the book’s lack of clear-cut morality and ideal behavior on behalf of the protagonists. As the mother behind the challenge put it, “I read it cover to cover. They say this book is about healing and hope, which it’s not. The guy committing the crime doesn’t get punished. The mom runs away from her family” (qtd in “Parent wants book out of library“). The school in question kept the book but required a permission slip from students before getting access to it. This was still not enough for those upset by the book’s content who continued to lobby for its removal.

The Library We Need

Barbara Gordon laughs at your challenges to library materials.

Stumbled upon this article from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund today. It discusses the growing presence of (and demand for) comic books in libraries; how the medium is beginning to be taken more seriously; and why some libraries (especially school libraries) are hesitant, either out of a dismissal of the genre as vapid and pulpy or out of fear of frequent challenges to comic books and graphic novels.

http://cbldf.org/2013/05/how-comics-conquered-libraries/