28th April 2024

The Hate U Give

“Wanting people to listen, you can’t just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you’ll notice you’ve got their strict attention.”

(John Doe, “Seven”, 1995)

John Doe is apparently the most common of names for the average American – the dictionary says – with “Jane Doe” not heard nearly as much. 
This term started being used in England as a substitute name on legal documents and morphed into a reference to the “common man.”

The common man, woman, and child is the subject of “The Hate U Give” (abridged name) by Angie Thomas. 

It has been widely banned in United States’ schools due to  its depictions of racism and anti-police views, but also, given the unabridged version has 90 F-words in it that are said regularly and if translated directly to a movie would be R rated.

In order to make this into PG 13 movie, the Classification Board insisted on a maximum of two F-words and the mature content to be removed.

Its premise focuses on one girl’s struggle for justice, sixteen-year-old Starr, whose life transcends two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was brought up and her posh high school in the suburbs.

Her life “on the knife edge” existing between both sides is shattered when Starr is the sole witness to a fatal shooting involving her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer.
By speaking the truth, Starr could destroy her community, not to mention get herself killed!

Thomas’ novel was inspired by the “Black Lives Matter” movement, growing out of a short story that she wrote as a student in 2009 following the killing of Oscar Grant – the unarmed 22-year-old African American, fatally shot in the back by a white police officer in Oakland, California.

Of course, once the full version was banned in schools, this only made the book more popular, and as such, it wasn’t long before it was turned into a major motion picture, starring Amandla Stenberg, being classified with an age rating of 12!

The abridged book now has the following accolades:

– No. 1 New York Times  bestseller
– Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize
– Goodreads Choice Awards    – Best of the Best National Book Award Longlist 
– British Book Awards CHILDREN’S BOOK of the YEAR!
– Teen Vogue Best YA Book of the Year

The Hate U Give premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2018, and was released in the United States on October 5, 2018, by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed $34.9 million worldwide against its $23 million budget and received acclaim from critics, with many praising the performances (particularly Stenberg and Hornsby), Wells’ screenplay, and Tillman Jr.’s direction.

The film was nominated for and won numerous accolades, including Stenberg’s winning of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and being nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award.

(Wikipedia)

It just shows what can be accomplished when you get people’s attention – and there is no better way to do so than by denying people their rights it seems!

This is a recurring theme through countless literature and films, for example,
2001’s sci-fi thriller, Donnie Darko, in which Drew Barrymore’s character, Karen Pomeroy, tells her class they are no longer allowed to study “The Destructors,” following a parent complaint on its subversive nature, however if any student wants a copy of Graham Greene’s book, someone has put 20 copies aside at the Sarasota Mall!

“The Destructors” by Graham Greene focuses on a bunch of teenage boys, calling themselves the “Wormsley Common Gang.”
Greene’s short story, is set in post World War 2 London, near the August Bank Holiday, and explores the wider themes of the destruction of traditional values and social norms in the aftermath of World War II.

One of the most meaningful aspects of the context in this story is how it portrays the impact of the war on the younger generation.
Maybe because this gang of potential “ASBOs,” (written in 1954) meeting in a parking lot near a bombed area, where they are trying to destroy the only remaining house on the site, was the reason for it being banned?
Though this hardly constitutes it being of “A Clockwork Orange” fame!

In actual fact, the boys destroy the home because they find their identity within the gang and with T.’s assumption of leadership, and they are going to follow whatever task he lays out for them.

(OK, perhaps, there are SOME similarities to Clockwork Orange!)

“The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel by American author J. D. Salinger – novelized in 1951. It was originally intended for adults, hence why – like so many Mills & Boon books – it is mostly read by adolescents for its themes of superficiality in society.

The story centres around a teenage boy having been expelled from his prep school and who is struggling to come to terms with the complexities of growing up in what he sees as a “phoney adult world.”
Apparently,  school boards and parent-teacher associations had beef about Holden’s use of profanity and his dabbling into sexual expression whilst living rough in New York.

Another interesting example of the impact of banning certain books in schools is explored in 2007’s horror comedy, Teeth.

Here, students are presented with a book relating to Sex Education, but only the male reproductive parts are shown, as the female genitalia is fully covered by a large shiny sticker.
This automatically prompts the students to remove the offending censorship, causing the page to be ripped in the process, though not before the main protagonist, Dawn, dissolves the glue by soaking it in the bath!

Interestingly enough, the movie poster for Teeth was also banned for its inappropriate content, naturally resulting in both an increase in its viewing figures, but also sales of the banned poster!

No sooner was print readily available to the populace than the “powers that be” began censoring any views that contradicted the established norm.

These are just a few of those books:

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” by DH Lawrence is one of the most famous banned books in the UK.
This sexually explicit novel was published in 1928 and was banned in the UK after  publishers, Penguin, went to trial under the Obscene Publications Act, though they won the right to publish the book in its entirety in November 1960. Consequently, bookshops all over England sold all 200,000 copies on the first day of publication!

“The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall, was judged to be an “obscene libel” and all copies were destroyed, merely because it normalised homosexuality, though the British ban was eventually overturned on appeal after Hall’s death.

“A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess attracted much negativity following the release of Stanley Kubrick’s film, based on the book – given claims that the film was responsible for several ‘copycat’ crimes including home invasions, rapes, street beatings and murder.

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling triggered a change in focus of censorship in the U.S’s schools and libraries.

Before 1999, the taboos included sex, the human body, or “inappropriate” language. HP shifted this to fantasy and glorification of magic and the occult, which apparently tempted children to try the spells and curses on their friends!
Most of its censorship was for religious reasons, and it was also banned in some Christian schools in the UK.

“Ulysses” by James Joyce first appeared in 1922 to little quarrel initially, though ultimately its coarse treatment of the British royal family and its sacrilegious attitude to the Roman Catholic Church brought it to the attention of censors.
In the period between World Wars, it was clouded by endless prosecutions throughout the English speaking world.
As such, it has gone on to become one of the most highly regarded novels of the 20th century!

“The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown, published in 2003, was banned in Lebanon in 2004 for its offensiveness against Christianity, as well as being highly frowned upon by Catholic leaders. As such, it is highly unlikely to find a copy in the Vatican libraries!
Many other countries have banned the novel over time due to its blasphemous content, and it has been highly criticised for its historical and scientific inaccuracy.

At Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, King was elected student body president and graduated valedictorian of his class.  He then enrolled at Boston University, being awarded his Ph.D. at the age of 25.

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell has been banned in many parts of the world, though not in the United States, where the book was grossly misunderstood as being critical of ALL forms of socialism.
Because of its risqué status in the Soviet Union, its inhabitants had to read it in pirated form.
It has since been banned in schools in the United Arab Emirates.

“The Country Girls” by Edna O’Brien.
Her frank treatment of sexuality in this and subsequent novels got her into hot water with the Catholic Church, and these novels were banned by the Irish Censorship Board.

Other books that have been banned in selected countries include:

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Banned by the South African Government during the Apartheid era because of the word ‘Black’ in the title.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Banned in the Hunan province of China in the 1930s for portraying animals as acting on the same level as humans.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
Banned in Nazi Germany for portraying the German military forces in a bad light.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Banned in some US schools and libraries on the grounds of pornography and violence.

Last Exit to Brooklyn by Herbert Selby
Banned in the UK in 1967 due to its sexual content and references to drug taking.

(Source: Birmingham City Council website)

Don’t even get me started on the subject of changing authors’ text to make them more appealing to our new generation of “snowflakes!”
Goodness knows what the likes of J.K.Rowling or Greta Thunberg would say!

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg, born in 2003, is Sweden”s foremost environmental activist and is particularly known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change.

At age 15, Thunberg began skipping school, vowing to remain out of school until after the national Swedish election in an attempt to influence the outcome.

Thunberg spoke in front of her supporters, telling them to use their phones to film her. She then said that she would be continuing school striking for the climate every Friday until Sweden was in compliance with the 2015  Paris climate agreement.

As such, Thunberg’s blunt speaking manner and her young age fueled her rise to the status of a global icon.

In 2019, multiple coordinated multi-city protests involved over a million students each!

Attending the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, she berated the world’s leaders by exclaiming, “How dare you” in reference to their perceived indifference and inaction to the climate crisis, this making worldwide headlines.

Thunberg has received  numerous honours and awards, including:

– An honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
– Inclusion in Time‘s 100 most influential people
– Named the youngest Time  Person of the Year in 2019
– Inclusion in the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 
– Multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Graduating from high school in June 2023, she began to up her game! As an adult, her protests have included defying lawful orders to disperse, defiant confrontations with police – leading to arrests, convictions, and one acquittal.

Justifiable outspokeness has been prominent across all cultures since the dawn of time – even before this, in that galaxy far, far away – with protagonist, Obi-wan Kenobi’s farewell speech before being martyred for his religious beliefs,

“You can’t win, Vader. If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!”

In 1934, Martin Luther King’s father, a respected Atlanta pastor, undertook a religious pilgrimage around the world, ultimately arriving in Berlin to attend the Baptist World Alliance meeting.
His trip took place just one year after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany!

It was during his visit, that King Senior developed a great respect for German theologian, professor, pastor, and church reformer, Martin Luther (1483-1546) whose teachings had challenged the Catholic Church and begun the Protestant Reformation following the publication of his Ninety-Five Theses.

So much was his admiration, that upon his return to the States, he changed his and his five-year-old son’s names in his honour, with Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth certificate reflecting this change on July 23, 1957, when it was officially revised. 

King Jr. skipped two grades in school, entering Morehouse college at the age of 15 and graduated in 1948 with a B.A. in Sociology at the age of 19.
Just like his father, King Jr. was inspired by his predecessors, this time, Morehouse president, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.

During his life, King Jr. was arrested a total of fifteen times; many of the charges being dropped ranged from civil disobedience to traffic violations.

“Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application.” 
(Martin Luther King Jr.In His “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”)

On September 20, 1958, during a book signing in Harlem, a young woman named  Izola Ware Curry, jumped to the head of the queue whereupon, confirming he WAS Martin Luther King Jr., she thrust a seven-inch letter opener into his chest, narrowly missing his heart, believing he had ties to the Communist Party!

Following his hours in surgery, King stated he had no malice feelings towards his attacker.

His adoption of nonviolent resistance to achieve equal rights for Black Americans earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

King is remembered for his masterful oratorical skills, most memorably in his “I Have a Dream” speech.

On December 8, 1999, four weeks of testimony in Memphis, over 70 witnesses, twelve jurors reached a unanimous decision that King’s death was a result of a conspiracy – after only an hour of deliberation – concluding that James Earl Ray did not pull the trigger, but that local, state and federal U.S government agencies – as well as the Mafia – were to blame for his death.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. “Center for Nonviolent Social Change” has been running for over a quarter century. 

The Hate U Give is a 2018 American  coming-of-age  teen drama film produced and directed by George Tillman Jr. from a screenplay by Audrey Wells (who died the day before the film’s release), based on the 2017 young adult novel of the same name by Angie Thomas.

The film stars Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Lamar Johnson, KJ Apa, Sabrina Carpenter,  Common, and ANTHONY MACKIE (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter)
(Wikipedia)

Nic

27/4: WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
“I got caught in the middle of a jam fight. I’m covered in strawberry jam. Don’t eat it, okay?”
(Miss Caroline, “Little Monsters”)

28/4: WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?

“Film? What film?”

“This blasphemous film, “The Passion of St. Tibulus. ” Now, His Holiness has banned it, but because of some loophole, the bloody thing’s being shown on this godforsaken dump! And that’s where you and Larry and Moe come in. It’s up to you to make the Church’s position clear. Make some kind of a protest at the cinema.”

“Bishop, this isn’t really my area.”

“Nothing is your area. You do not have an area. Unless it is some sort of play area, with sandcastles, and buckets, and spades! Now do what you’re told, right?!?”