Fahrenheit 451: West Bend Edition
One of the most enduring qualities of science fiction is that given
time, much of it comes true. That's not always a good thing, though.
While we have yet to achieve something resembling the BAMA sprawl that
is portrayed in William Gibson's Neuromancer, the dystopian future of burning books envisioned in Ray Bradbury's classic Fahrenheit 451
is trying to be realized in West Bend, Wisconsin. Four overly-zealous citizens are seething about and suing the city about a book
that they claim has caused them emotional strain simply by being in
the library and accessible to children.
The book in question is "Baby Be-Bop" by Francesca Lia Block, and the ostensibly traumatizing material in the book has to do with that most dreaded of things that should not be written about much less made available to teenagers who may be questioning their own identities -- homosexuality. According to an abstract about the book, the protagonist's "idyllic childhood... ends when he enters adolescence and recognizes homosexual feelings." To make matters worse, the similarly dreaded "N-word" appears somewhere in the book.
The four people in question have filed a lawsuit against the city, not only in hope of having the book banned from the West Bend library, but also seeking $120,000 in compensatory damages ($30K a piece), the resignation of West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss for allowing the book to enter the library, and have asked to be granted "the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the library's copy of Baby Be-Bop." [Emphasis added.]Perhaps what the would-be plaintiffs need instead is a nice box of Denham's Dentifrice, or Denham's Dandy Dental Detergent. Or perhaps they need a lifetime supply of ketchup, which is said to contain natural mellowing agents. It may be just what they need to help them through this trying time in their lives. After all, if one small book on a shelf in a library can so impact these people's lives, they're going to need a lot of ketchup.
Though this will doubtlessly cause the hounds to be loosed in pursuit of me or the firemen to pay a visit, I say that this suit should be thrown out. I'm not a lawyer, but I personally believe their lawsuit has a snowball's chance in Dubai. And though I'm not a lawyer, this sort of case is precisely what interests me in becoming one, just so that I can fight indignant radicals who seek to ban, censor, or do worse to books and other sorts of media.
Mpeterson has the backstory on this whole situation.
Actually I hope you're wrong about the case having a snowball's chance in Dubai. The real hope is that the city will not cave iin the face of the lawsuit, and will proceed to trial. I think you're right that the case will probably be won by the city.
June 6, 2009 4:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with your tentative disagreement with me. ;-) Similarly, I hope that if the suit does proceed, it is promptly dismissed with prejudice, which I am told means that it cannot be reintroduced with modifications to the complaint to make it more admissible. (I'm not a lawyer, BTW.)
June 6, 2009 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink