What is a Clean Read?

by Katy White

I recently came across a post from Blink YA Editor, Jillian Manning, about Clean YA. She had a lot of good thoughts about it, all of which I found helpful. And it got me thinking about how everyone sees "clean" literature as something different. It also got me thinking about the purpose of literature.

I took a couple of theater classes at BYU with a pretty popular professor who explained that the purpose of theater was to elicit thought and cause growth in the viewer. Theater is an experience that should make us learn something about the human condition, he said. I found this to be a profound way to look at all entertainment. Shakespeare, for instance, is one bawdy dude. But every tragedy teaches me something and every comedy makes me smile. I have no problem watching or reading Shakespeare. I feel like I grow as a person through the experience, despite the cursing, violence, and even the innuendo.

Not everyone agrees. At a meeting with my writer's group, a friend shared that a woman from church won't let her kids read or watch anything that has content outside of the For The Strength of Youth pamphlet. This woman feels like books should reinforce gospel standards and bring someone closer to Heavenly Father, and anything that isn't up to gospel standards doesn't do that.

So...what does this mean? Is one of us right and one of us wrong? If a book has cursing in it, can it still be clean? What if a book shows teens drinking (particularly with negative consequences)? Or features a gambling addict? One of our core beliefs is that of redemption. Can a strong message of redemption or hope or recovery teach gospel principles while still showing some of the seedier elements necessitating that redemption, like the story of the Prodigal Son?

I don't have any answers here, just questions, so I'd love your thoughts. What makes a "clean read"? What is the purpose of reading, in your mind? All comments are welcome!

"Banned" Books and "Clean" Media

This week is Banned Books Week. The entire blogosphere is alight with posts about the benefits of reading banned books, posts about how we shouldn't ban books, posts about the First Amendment (sorry, non-US readers, I don't know what clause this falls under for you), posts about how lives have been changed by reading a book that was on a banned list.

As members of the LDS church, we strive to seek out uplifting media. The church officially gave one hard-and-fast rule in the nineties, that members should avoid viewing R-rated movies, which quickly became obsolete. The standards for MPAA ratings shifted, and as LDS.org says, relying on the MPAA to regulate the content of your media is like "playing Russian roulette with your standards."

So now the official standard is to find media (in all its forms) that is "uplifting... wholesome... [and] promotes good thoughts."

Which means there's no longer a hard-and-fast rule. Which means you need to think for yourself. Which means you need to let others do the same. What uplifts you may not do the same for another, and vice versa.

So how does this relate to Banned Books Week?

Most books, as I'm sure you've guessed, are banned because of parental requests through schools. But that's not always the case. Books can be pulled from store shelves due to customer complaint and library shelves due to patron complaints.

The most common reasons books are banned are (1) sexually explicit - though this often includes sexual themes, not sexual acts* (2) profane language, (3) unsuited for the age group - this is the catch-all, "I can't put my finger on why, but I just don't want my kid reading it", (4) Satanism - any magic gets this label, including Harry Potter and Narnia, (5) violence, (6) religious viewpoint.

Religious. Viewpoint.

Over the last ten years, 291 titles have been banned (most of them are banned broadly and repeatedly, resulting in thousands of petitions) in schools for having a religious theme. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series was often banned for being too violent and sexually charged, until book three came out and Edward announced he was a virgin and wanted to remain so until marriage. Then the book was challenged for having a religious viewpoint.

Parents all over the United States are successfully having books removed for having a religious viewpoint. This includes the Bible. Religious texts of any kind are not allowed in school or public libraries. Searching my (extensive) public library for "Book of Mormon" brings up a slew of anti-Mormon hate-books and the Broadway musical soundtrack.

Let's think about that: We, collectively as a nation, are more okay with anti-religious hate than we are with Christ's message of love and forgiveness. Look back to the reasons books are banned. We are more okay with violence than we are with sex, even if it is consensual, non-graphic sex.

Looking at a list of the most popular banned books of all time (compiling sales with successful bans over the entire twentieth century), The Bible tops the list. Virtually every classic work of literature makes the list. Les Miserables is a powerful metaphor of God's redeeming love and the juxtaposition of mercy and justice. But it features an unwed mother who turns to prostitution to survive, so it gets banned. Canterbury Tales, The Scarlet Letter, Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes (it teaches kids to lie and spy!), and The Diary of Anne Frank are all on the list.

Sorry, 13 year old girl, your thoughts are inappropriate for teenagers.

While those books contain some content that some people might find objectionable (particularly if taken out of context), I argue that those titles all fall under the category of "wholesome" and "uplifting." Les Miserables stands, in my opinion, as one of the most beautiful works of literature to preach the Gospel of Christ without actually being a religious text. Here on MMW, just last week, we had a post recommending The Hunger Games as being "squeaky clean." The series tops the list of books banned in 2010 and 2011**. Parents cited them as being anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitive, and being full of offensive language, occult/satanic themes, and violence.  (Looking at that list makes me believe the people requesting and approving the ban have not, in fact, read the books)

Here's the TL;DR version: If one woman who is seeking out clean, uplifting, wholesome media sees The Hunger Games  as filling that role, what right do you have to prevent her from reading it? What right do you have to demand the book be taken from shelves across libraries and stores? Control what happens in your own home. Make suggestions. Ask for alternate assignments for your children if you need to.

Don't ban books.

*For the purpose of this post, and because of logic, I grouped the bans based on "homosexuality" with "sexual content," though homosexuality is usually listed as its own category. 

** Books are usually only banned when they're popular. Book banners apparently have short attention spans and forget about those evil books once they're not on the bestseller lists anymore. 

Clean Reads--coming soon

If you love to read books, but don't care for questionable content, you'd love this new blog that
Tristi Pinkston and a few of us are working on.

It's a list of all clean books under all genres with links to Amazon. Everyone welcome!

I'll keep you up-to-date on our "grand opening".

Till then!