God Damn !! - Maus banned in Tennnessee for curse words like "God damn!!"

[Concerned American]

but retained in the library?

I haven't been in a library for a while, but I don't ever remember seeing a comic book in the library. I agree with the school board--a profane comic book is inappropriate for middle school education and because of the subject matter, I don't think it is appropriate for younger kids either.

 

[Concerned American]

Can you honestly say anything you’ve seen of this book could be called “profane”?

Look at the OP title and answer your own question.

 

[braalian]

Look at the OP title and answer your own question.

You really think “god damn” is a sound reason to remove a book from a reading list?

Are you a spinster aunt from the 19th century?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Were those "skinhead" books part of your lesson plan?

Ha ha ha. Well we learned a lot about rough sweaty sex but no they werent on the curriculum. But the point remains. Kids have a lot more access to sex and violence these days. So the idea that they need protecting from a naked cartoon mouse is laughable.
My kids reading list from school was a bit dull in my opinion but I never dreamt of going in to complain. Teaching is a tough job and the teachers need support not being badgered by ******* cabbages
The right have made the schoolroom into a battlefield and I have to wonder why. They have obviously forgotten their own schooldays when they battled to keep the black kids out. Kids generally ignore their teachers and that is how it should be.

Are these youngsters the same folk who banned Maus ?

 

[Concerned American]

You really think “god damn” is a sound reason to remove a book from a reading list?

Are you a spinster aunt from the 19th century?

If believing middle school is a little old to be using profane comic books as educational materials is spinster aunt then yeah, guilty. I have a granddaughter in second grade that has advanced beyond comic books, dude. Maybe if you had read some real books in school, we wouldn't be having this conversation. The subject of the OP was the BANNING of the book. That is a flat out LIE. The school board did not BAN the book. They decided to use other materials. Do you own a piece of this book? Why are you not advocating for the myriad other choices of reading material covering the subject that are more appropriate for the age group? Also, what is your problem with parents having the voice to determine what and how their kids are educated. You haven't answered any of these questions. Your focus has been strictly on this book.

 

[Chillicothe]

“widely regarded” eh? By like minded…not impressiv

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Maus truly is a great book. It’s not left wing. It’s not pornographic. It’s not vulgar. It’s truly a shame, when kids are already so bad at reading, that a book that might appeal to them was removed.

To the good poster j-mac, you really don't hafta take poster 'braalian's word for it as being a pretty good book during the 30 years since first published.

Instead, take the Pulitzer committee's word:

• "Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992, it became the first (and to date only) graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize ....."

 

[Concerned American]

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To the good poster j-mac, you really don't hafta take poster 'braalian's word for it as being a pretty good book during the 30 years since first published.

Instead, take the Pulitzer committee's word:

• "Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992, it became the first (and to date only) graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize ....."

All of these books were awarded the Pulitzer Prize during just this century and NONE of them were selected either. I sense there is an ulterior motive for this thread as the title is a falsehood. The book was not banned--it was not selected for the curriculum. Much ado about nothing.

 

[braalian]

If believing middle school is a little old to be using profane comic books as educational materials is spinster aunt then yeah, guilty. I have a granddaughter in second grade that has advanced beyond comic books, dude. Maybe if you had read some real books in school, we wouldn't be having this conversation. The subject of the OP was the BANNING of the book. That is a flat out LIE. The school board did not BAN the book. They decided to use other materials. Do you own a piece of this book? Why are you not advocating for the myriad other choices of reading material covering the subject that are more appropriate for the age group? Also, what is your problem with parents having the voice to determine what and how their kids are educated. You haven't answered any of these questions. Your focus has been strictly on this book.

Well, not to go off on a tangent, but comic books are just as valid a medium as any other, like books or movies or tv shows. It’s just another method of presenting a story.

Again, Maus is not profane by any reasonable definition, unless you’re like, literally a time traveler from Victorian England or something.

Also again, saying there’s other books about the holocaust isn’t a valid justification for removing this one.

I don’t know if you remember what it’s like to be a kid, but I know I would’ve been *much* more interested in reading Maus than I would be the Diary of Anne Frank. No offense to Anne, but her diary kinda seems boring as **** to most 12 year old boys. Part of the point is getting kids engaged and interested.

And finally, I’m not denying the school boards right to choose curriculums. They just made a dumb ass decision in this case.

 

[Concerned American]

It’s just another method of presenting a story.

And you believe that the most heinous event in modern times should be relegated to comic books? I also think it is less than respectful to the survivors of that event to depict them as mice. For crying out loud, these were PEOPLE who were treated worse than animals and you want to minimize it to the level of a comic book. Re: the fact that it won a Pulitzer Prize, so what. All of these books won Pulitzer Prizes in the last 21 years and you aren't pushing any of them. WHY? Every Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winner of the 21st Century

 

[braalian]

And you believe that the most heinous event in modern times should be relegated to comic books? I also think it is less than respectful to the survivors of that event to depict them as mice. For crying out loud, these were PEOPLE who were treated worse than animals and you want to minimize it to the level of a comic book. Re: the fact that it won a Pulitzer Prize, so what. All of these books won Pulitzer Prizes in the last 21 years and you aren't pushing any of them. WHY? Every Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winner of the 21st Century

There’s nothing inherently less respectable about comics books than any other storytelling medium. It’s just telling a story through pictures and dialogue.

And why am I under any obligation to push any other book? Why aren’t you pushing them? Is there a good one you’ve read and like that you think would be engaging and interesting to kids? Who’s stopping you?

I read Maus. I liked it. I think kids would like it. I think kids should read more. I think it has a worthwhile message. It’s that simple.

 

[Concerned American]

There’s nothing inherently less respectable about comics books than any other storytelling medium. It’s just telling a story through pictures and dialogue.

And why am I under any obligation to push any other book? Why aren’t you pushing them? Is there a good one you’ve read and like that you think would be engaging and interesting to kids? Who’s stopping you?

I read Maus. I liked it. I think kids would like it. I think kids should read more. I think it has a worthwhile message. It’s that simple.

Apparently there are parents in TN that disagree. How many South Dakota school districts are using this book in their eighth grade curriculum?

 

[braalian]

Apparently there are parents in TN that disagree. How many South Dakota school districts are using this book in their eighth grade curriculum?

I don’t have kids, I have no idea.

again, I’m not getting how this could be a “left vs right” or “red state vs blue state” thing. There’s nothing political about this book, so I’m baffled at why so many here are staking ground as if Maus is some sort of liberal book.

 

[Concerned American]

I don’t have kids, I have no idea.

I am not saying it is political--I don't think I have posted anything that would lead you to think that. I do believe that parents should have the final say in how their children are educated and since you have no children, you really don't have that say.

 

[braalian]

Well, the over all slant of this thread has been that Maus is a liberal book and this is all somehow tit-for-tat conservative revenge for liberals getting classics like Huck Finn removed based on race.

Again, baffling, since nothing about Maus is “liberal” or “SJW” or anything like that.

I honestly think it just snowballs in threads like this. Someone up-thread suggests Maus is some sort of profane liberal-backed book being forced on kids, and other posters who’ve never read or even heard of the book sort of go along because they assume the parents on the school board are heroically defending the children.

People are too quick to believe others without actually viewing the material themselves.

 

[Concerned American]

they assume the parents on the school board are heroically defending the children.

Heroically? I haven't seen this in the thread at all. All schools have a curriculum--you being somewhat educated should know that. They change annually, usually as a result of the consensus of teaching professionals in the area. The recommendations are forwarded to duly elected school boards for their approval or disapproval. It is not some nefarious, anti Semitic challenge. Anne Frank has been the subject matter since before my time. Again, I think the uproar is much ado about nothing.

 

[playtime]

The book depicts the Jews as rodents, and the Nazi's as cats...This alone is a slam against Jews if you ask me...

really? the author wrote the story based on his parents experiences & who were ...

now understand this clearly....


JEWS who were sent to auschwitz.

you're welcome for now knowing the facts.

 

[playtime]

Depicting his people as rodents, I've already said....

depicting his people as the smaller, meek prey of a more powerful & cruel animal that tortures - & then ultimetly kills them.

seems really appropriate.

 

[playtime]

You’ve never read it. It was written by a Jewish cartoonist who wanted to record his Jewish father’s experience in Auschwitz.

He assigned an animal to all the nationalities. Most of them were indeed based on common perceptions or stereotypes. Germans were cats. Jews were mice. Americans were dogs. Frenchmen were Frogs. Swedes were Reindeer. Englishmen were fish. It was just a storytelling device.

i bet he'd have a stroke if he ever read any of aesop's fables.

 

[Couchpotato]

You really think “god damn” is a sound reason to remove a book from a reading list?

Are you a spinster aunt from the 19th century?

I'm still at a loss as to why it so important that THIS book be used? If it were the only book on the subject then you might have a point, but the holocaust might be the most written about subject in the 20th century. If these parents and the school board want to use a book that doesn't contain graphic images and curse words why is everyone getting their panties in a bunch over it? Is there some lesson or information about the holocaust that 8th graders need to have in 8th grade that isn't contained in another book on the subject?

And yes for some people God damn is very offensive far more offensive than most other curse words.

Also lets not get it twisted the "mouse nudity" is just human nudity with a mouse head. No one is upset about a "naked mouse" you can see those everywhere.

 

[playtime]

Not for that reason alone....And you know it...

because of 'bad language'.

ooooOOOoooo ...