I feel like a problematic book gets released at least once a month. But despite the book's content or author's background, you'll rarely ever see me on Twitter demanding it to be cancelled or calling for a boycott.
Here's a bit of my background. My family comes from a developing country. One where freedom of the press is a joke and going against the status quo can get you killed. Heck, a relative of mine was nearly killed once by state soldiers for having a different opinion. Let's be real. Cancelling books is a form of censorship. And I hate censorship with a burning passion. Censorship - the prevention of publication, transmission, or exhibition of material considered undesirable for the general public to possess or be exposed to. -Fast Times' Political Dictionary I've seen people demand that publishers cancel books for a multitude of reasons. Everything from a book's core message, how characters were portrayed, plot, triggers, and even an author's old social media posts. In other words, many of these readers are upset because certain books (and authors) go against their worldview and/or core beliefs. When should books be cancelled or restricted? When a book is deliberately written to incite hate and violence toward a group of people. Hate speech meant to hurt people, especially the underprivileged? That's a big no. Books also written by authors with the intention to spread misinformation by using pseudoscience should definitely not be published either. But I will not demand for a book's cancellation because its content makes me uncomfortable or because I disagree with its content or with its author. I've been a big reader since I was in elementary school. I've come across quite a few books whose content I've disagreed with or whose author made me really uncomfortable. Never once did I feel like asking a local library or bookstore not to stock them. Because...
Readers aren't just one demographic. There are so many different readers from a wide range of demographics and backgrounds. Someone will always be able to find something they think is problematic. Someone will always be able to find something that makes them uncomfortable. That's life. If one is very passionate by what they feel, they can express why they think others shouldn't read the book. They can express what the book didn't do right. They can express why they think people shouldn't monetary support the book's author. Readers have the absolute right to write about how much they loath a book and explain why no one should read it. But it shouldn't be a shock when other readers and publishing companies refuse to cancel a book. Because one's discomfort about a certain book shouldn't infringe on an other person's right to read that book. Because once you take one book, it opens up opportunities to take away other books.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
July 2021
Categories
All
|