Banning Shakespeare, AIBU to think

[FluffBalled]

it's about time isn't it?

All that transphobia, prejudice and antisemitic language - it is amazing schools have allowed this stuff to continue.

"It" does not call people anything. "It" is a work of fiction in which characters express opinions, some of them grotesque, for comedic purposely.

Arguably in bad taste.

How about the bible?

Well if we are banning other works of fiction, why not?

All that referring to God as He instead of Ze and assuming Mary's gender just because she had a baby. It's quite racist about Philistines and Sodomites. That's before we get into the deeply problematic letters by some bloke called Paul.

There is no serious proposal to ban Shakespeare

Poor old Sodomites may simply have been bi-curious.

There is no serious proposal to ban Shakespeare

I think that's the point. Is there an essential difference between the racist characters in Shakespeare and the racist character in Fawlty towers?

Why not ban Animal Farm?

When we start to ban things - who is in charge of curating the 'good' list

I think MyBabyIsAFurBaby covered it.

Why not ban Animal Farm?

Publishers reluctant to go ahead with it at the time because it was 'unfair to compare Communists to pigs.'

There are currently ZERO books banned in the UK

This is just a goady thread

Yes, of course we should. As an Indian I find offence in the almost all of his racist language in almost all his plays - the worst being Henry V, and his vitriolic mocking of the French Dauphin. :)

What an utter idiotic idea - the gift of the English language is an unparalleled benefit to millions. Shakespeare should be revered until the end of time for his astonishing gifts of language and his insights into the human condition.

I was thinking this, re the curating.

I saw that Labour councils were going to draw up lists of which statues should be removed. But who is to make those decisions? Knowing what I do of local councillors (of all persuasions) I would not be happy for them to decide on my behalf who stays, who goes and, even worse, who deserves a new statue.

Same for tv. There is definitely a discussion to be had, but It should be a considered decision in each case.

Fucking Christ on a bike. Now I’ve heard everything 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

..actually it is not ironic - it is utterly consistent what the public demands which the state is imposing. We seem to be sleep walking into a state where we all have the same views and are told what to do at all times.

donquixote To clarify the Fawlty Towers issue:

It has been removed due to use of racial slurs

John Cleese himself has approved the editing of the episode to remove the slurs, and this edited version has been the one most people will have seen in recent years

It's likely the episode will return with the edited version

If the creator of the art doesn't mind the removal and/or editing of the art, I think this makes a big difference.

@Helenluvsrob

I am wondering if we are one step from book burning ... and I am not being ironic.

"Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people."

Heine. Jewish Poet. Early 1800s

Completely agree. The sanctimony and arrogance of the 21st century astonishes me. If the woke have their way they’ll destroy our entire heritage and culture. I’m bloody glad I’m nearer the end of my life than the beginning.

How can we have LESS banning of books when NO books are currently banned?

Wow, some people are really afraid of black people achieving equality with while people. I thought the whole White Fragility thing was a bit , but no, it seems to be a real, scary thing to be equal to other members of our society.

Carol Ann Duffy said it best when one of her poems was removed from the GCSE curriculum because it was said to glorify knife crime. It didn't, of course, but you would have to actually be able to both read it and understand what you were reading to know that. Anyway, this was her response:

You must prepare your bosom for his knife,

said Portia to Antonio in which

of Shakespeare's Comedies? Who killed his wife,

insane with jealousy? And which Scots witch

knew Something wicked this way comes? Who said

Is this a dagger which I see? Which Tragedy?

Whose blade was drawn which led to Tybalt's death?

To whom did dying Caesar say Et tu? And why?

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark - do you

know what this means? Explain how poetry

pursues the human like the smitten moon

above the weeping, laughing earth; how we

make prayers of it. Nothing will come of nothing:

speak again. Said by which King? You may begin.

Blimey @Xenia, I never thought the day would come when I agreed with you.

Ha ha, yes, Owen Jones. I wonder who else would sit on the “banning” committee? The mind boggles at who would be approved and just what they would approve of.

maybe we should get rid of the royal family as their ancestors are german and the queens uncle was very well known for being a Nazi supporter, and Victoria was very involved in building the british empire where we just walked into countries and put the population into penury and living under our version of a dictatorship, and knock down the house that the Mitford sisters lived in after all they had servants and supported Hitler as well

Exactly Dione. Remove a TV show with racist slurs (with the permission of its creator) and next thing you know they'll be banning Shakespeare. Peak white fragility.

Wow, some people are really afraid of black people achieving equality with while people. I thought the whole White Fragility thing was a bit confused, but no, it seems to be a real, scary thing to be equal to other members of our society

What on earth are you on about?