That should read, "BECAUSE of efforts to ban the book.
They turned-on to the idea that getting 'banned' would sell books. And sell 'art' - it worked so well it became the first choice of the talentless.
Liberals competed to become the most offensive - a plastic crucifix submerged in the 'artist' urine was the poster work of this type of 'art'.
Eventually the idea became so fashionable liberals couldn't find anyone to ban their works...
Mapplethorpe was the last of the great 'finger in your face' type 'artists'... After him - it was hard to get banned, but they kept trying... In a hundred years the 'art' that existed only to express hatred for traditional Americans will be classed with hate pictures of Jews and Blacks from an earlier time. Mapplethorpe Photography
YEARS ago when I worked in a bookstore I got dirty looks from the rest of the staff when I pointed out that the "banned books week" or month materials showed only books that were "challenged"--in other words, some parent dared to ask that their tax money not pay for a book going into a school library, usually.
I'm completely against censorship of books, but when you can walk down the street to buy a book at a local store, that ain't censorship.
Check out the display the next time there's a banned books thing--all the labels will say "challenged" because books simply aren't censored. But they don't want to let go of that victim label. They should be CELEBRATING that books aren't banned but Americans are free to want to not pay for certain things (while they're still available for all who want them)--that's free speech!
But they have to continue to push this idea that we're living under a cloud of McCarthyism.
The difference is that some of Mapplethorpe’s photography is extremely good.