I started a thread about this a few years back.
The spokeswoman for the NY library called it censorship and I agree with them. IMHO The publisher is reacting to today’s woke movement. They’re trying to save Dr Seuss’ other books from the same fate.
According to your quote, the library didn’t call the publisher’s action censorship. They said they would not self-censor. Big difference.
From what fate? The publisher choosing not to publish them?
What power is it that you think public libraries have to control how a private publisher uses its intellectual property, and how do you square it with that publisher’s Constitutional freedoms of speech/press?
In other words, the Invisible Hand of the Free Market is working as intended. Capitalism at its finest.
The online woke mob can make life quite rough. The publisher doesn’t want to be the target of that ire.
At one time folks defended freedom and art. Even art deemed obscene. WHY IT`S NECESSARY TO FUND CONTROVERSIAL ART, TOO – Chicago Tribune
How quaint.
So the market is responding to public demand by withdrawing a product it doesn’t see as worthwhile.
How is that different than what should be happening in a free-market society? Should corporations somehow be coerced to produce certain products regardless of what they or the market want? Sounds pretty socialist to me. You’re not a socialist, are you?
This is a market decision. It has nothing to do with “defending art”. You’re acting as if the President of Wokeness demanded that all Dr. Seuss books be gathered in the town square and burned. In this country we reserve that kind of behavior for things like Harry Potter books and Nike merchandise after Colin Kapernick endorsed it.
Dr. Seuss, the Muppets, Mr. Potatohead…Do the right have any concern about actual people or events?
At this point, I won’t be surprised if people start molding giant sex toys onto their Potato Heads in order to “own the libs”.
Gotcha.
Racism is just a kind of obscenity. It’s just done to shock the norms. Understood.
Lynchings are performance art with an unwilling lead.
Racial slurs are a sub-set of beat poetry.
“Since the thing I love to complain about isn’t happening, I’m going to pretend to read the publisher’s mind in order to claim that this was done out of fear that it was going to happen.” Got it.
Meanwhile, the publisher was pretty clear why they did what they did, and that wasn’t the reason.
I said none of the above.
Of course. Never mind the sequence of events.
You certainly didn’t.
What was the intent of this statement, if you are not equating racism with obscenity?
If there is sufficient demand, other folk can publish them starting in 2161, no?
I know, right?
We’re not throwing a Fahrenheit 451 party here. This is a foundation representing the Dr. Seuss estate deciding that those books may not be congruent with Dr. Seuss’s legacy and taking them out of publication. They are still out there – many libraries will continue to have them in their holdings; when the copyright expires, anyone will be able to reproduce them. No part of our history is being whitewashed here. It is all still available and will become more available. The foundation has the right to choose which books to publish and which not to, so why is this even an issue? Or would you rather force them to publish these books?
The intent should have been obvious. At one point, people and institutions had a bit more spine and defended art. Including controversial art. Now people cower, pander, and appease a movement that will never be satisfied,
Which is why it’s not in a quote box.
It is, however, what you so very obviously implied by bringing up mere artistic obscenity when the problem here is racism.
But back-pedal away, it will be quite entertaining.
Which is why radio stations never beeped songs, television never cut scenes out, and most children’s libraries had a nudity section. No one ever tried to pull funding from the NEA for funding Mapplethorpe’s work. No one ever tried to pull funding for museums that showed Piss Christ. There was never any TV show canceled for making political jokes about the president. No country music act was ever banned from radio stations for criticizing the president. No one was ever blacklisted for suspicion of having communist sympathies. No album was ever pulled from the shelves of major retailers for having naughty words. No movie rating system was ever put in place to restrict or completely disallow minors from seeing movies. No comic book authority ever regulated what was in comic books.
Yeah, I remember those days. Good days!