Monday, April 05, 2004
GAH!!!!
The world is coming to an end. No really, it is this time. The Fairfax Count School Board has declared that the movie 1776 is unfit for middle schoolers because it's too risque.
Ok, we watched that in elementary school for many years, and the only reactions i remember my fellow students having were (1) boredom (2) mild happiness that any film was being shown rather than doing "real work" or (3) happiness at seeing a musical [yes, more people than just me felt that way. not a lot, but some!] Not one kid thought it was titillating. No one thought we were getting away with something. And if it can safely be shown to 5th graders and younger, what could possibly be in there to set off 6th-8th graders?
The whole point of this show is to drive home the point that the Founding Fathers were people too. History isn't just a bunch of facts -- it's about people doing things. People with wives and families. People with tremendous egos. People who can dislike each other, but put that aside when something more important comes down the pike. People who would rather be doing something else, but are convinced to stick around and help out. What more relatable way to show this than to have people wanting to be with their wives?!?!
and please -- "sexual innuendo"? Thomas Jefferson says he "burn[s]" for his wife. John Adams claims "I'm only 41, I still have my virility." We have the statement "Life is more than sexual combustability" [which, one would think, is an idea these board members could probably get behind]. The whole song about how Jefferson wooed his wife gets no raunchier than saying TJ "played the violin", which i suppose you could turn into a metaphor, but please don't tell me how, because the necessary contortions would be too much for my fairly agile brain.
please, world, stop trying to protect the next generation from things that aren't dangerous -- especially not things that might inspire them to see a school subject in a whole new non-boring light!
(insanity pointed out by Neil Gaiman)
Ok, we watched that in elementary school for many years, and the only reactions i remember my fellow students having were (1) boredom (2) mild happiness that any film was being shown rather than doing "real work" or (3) happiness at seeing a musical [yes, more people than just me felt that way. not a lot, but some!] Not one kid thought it was titillating. No one thought we were getting away with something. And if it can safely be shown to 5th graders and younger, what could possibly be in there to set off 6th-8th graders?
The whole point of this show is to drive home the point that the Founding Fathers were people too. History isn't just a bunch of facts -- it's about people doing things. People with wives and families. People with tremendous egos. People who can dislike each other, but put that aside when something more important comes down the pike. People who would rather be doing something else, but are convinced to stick around and help out. What more relatable way to show this than to have people wanting to be with their wives?!?!
and please -- "sexual innuendo"? Thomas Jefferson says he "burn[s]" for his wife. John Adams claims "I'm only 41, I still have my virility." We have the statement "Life is more than sexual combustability" [which, one would think, is an idea these board members could probably get behind]. The whole song about how Jefferson wooed his wife gets no raunchier than saying TJ "played the violin", which i suppose you could turn into a metaphor, but please don't tell me how, because the necessary contortions would be too much for my fairly agile brain.
please, world, stop trying to protect the next generation from things that aren't dangerous -- especially not things that might inspire them to see a school subject in a whole new non-boring light!
(insanity pointed out by Neil Gaiman)
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