Posted on 07/21/2004 4:58:49 AM PDT by snopercod
A few days ago my daughter related how she took my ten-year-old Grandson to the Eau Gallie, FL (near Melbourne) public library to check out some books. She turned him loose in the kids' section while she looked for some books for herself.
A while later, they each took their stack of books to the counter, checked them out, and went home. My daughter didn't inspect his choices any farther than the covers - big mistake. This is one of the books he chose (cool cover, right?):
"Meet Rally and Minnie-May -- The Gunsmith Cats -- two of the most fun-loving, well-armed, bounty-hunting women in Chicago! Whether they're chasing bail jumpers or fending off the mob, you can bet on a healthy supply of guns, bombs, car chases, and more guns! In this 176-page trade paperback -- collecting issues 1 through 6 of the series -- the pair run afoul of Bonnie and Clyde, a couple of hired guns working mob jobs in the Windy City. With their business interests running on opposite sides of the law, it's no surprise that the net result is gunfire and mayhem!"
Later in the day, Grandson shows Mom what's inside the book. Her eyes got big and her jaw dropped. Splattered across an entire page was a lewd sex act of the monica kind in graphic detail captioned with "OOOH, yeah!", "Oh Babe...!", MMPH!, etc.
My daughter turned some more pages and found episodes of cop killing, cocaine sniffing, drug dealing, prostitution, and normal, head-banging sex ("Twenty friggin' times" to quote the John) - all punctuated with assorted gutter language. There's a frame in there that even I can't figure out. Some guy is apparently performing fallatio on his gun barrel. His tongue is licking the side of it with the caption, "hahh...ahhh...huhh".
It turns out that "fun loving" character Minnie-May Hopkins portrays an underaged prostitute. Nice.
You know, I'm not a prude and not a "social conservative". But what the heck is a book like this doing in a public library at all, let alone in the childrens' section?
My daughter went back and talked to the woman at the desk, who thought this book was completely suitable, apparently. When asked why it was in the childrens' section, she said, "Oh this was probably misfiled. It should have been in the teenage section". When asked why it was in the library at all, the woman responded, "Because it's popular with the kids". Well hell, why not throw in a couple of beers with each book; That's popular with the kids, too.
I hope my daughter follows up on this. I recommended that she write a letter (with copies of the offending pages) to the Brevard County Supervisors and ask them why her tax dollars were being used to purchase this crap and push it on her children.
Japanese comics tend to be violent which perhaps is an outlet to displace sexual impulses in a country in which explicit pornography is outlawed. Don't be too put off by it; Japan is still the safest country in the world and until recently, violent crime was virtually unheard of in Japanese society.
This is what government libraries and government schools are about, Charlie Brown.
Excellent idea. That's what I would do. Just expect to be villified in the press as a "Christian Fundamentalist."
Then again it's better than being thrown into the sea with a millstone around your neck.
FWIW, at the airport bookstore in Rome, Italy, the hard-core porno "manga" graphic novels are literally next to the kiddie books.
In the last state I lived in, some county libraries were required to post signs warning parents that they were not entering a kid-safe environment.
By the way, is Eau Gallie pronounced Ug-al-lee?!?!?
Thanks for posting.
My 11 year old son, who is an avid reader, has discovered the world of comic books much to my dismay. We've just finished the Ultimate Spiderman book which I felt the subject matter was a little more advance than I prefer for his age (discreet talk of drug use, gays and safe sex) but overall the story line (more like picture line) had some good moral foundations which, quite frankly, surprised me.
I just don't like this kind of reading because there really is not much reading. It's looking at a bunch of pictures for the most part. (My wife said the library calls them "Graphic Novels" now.)
Might I suggest the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. We've just purchased the complete 17 volume Redwall series which are excellent books for children of this age. They're extremely well written and we've have enjoyed those that we've read.
It's "Oh-Galley".
It's sending a very good message that you should fight evil rather than be "nice."
These books are intrinsically evil, so destroying them is a moral good. Failing to destroy these books is a moral evil.
You're a good parent by being aware of what your child is reading.
We had an incident in our library of a 12 year old girl checking out Patterson's "Kiss the Girls". She decided to share the "good parts" with a friend. That friend's mother came in and wanted to know if we could put ratings on our books!
Thanks for the tip on the Redwall series.
I know, I know....just funnin' ya'....
How about teaching the child to try the proper procedures for having a book removed from a public library? You may be surprised how often that method could work.
Then you know how to pronounce Kissimmee, don't you?
Evidently they are teaching that this is typical behavior of a gun owner to frighten the children. That and they want to teach the children that cop killing, cocaine sniffing, prostitution etc. are "cool" in our wonderful valueless society. Just don't allow any Bibles -- that might offend somebody!
Porno? Nope. Gunsmith Cats is a dramatic anime (not unlike crime dramas, both motion picture and television in this country), that is geared toward adults, and written with adults in mind. In terms of what's there, it's no worse than The Sopranos or The Shield. The basic storyline is about a pair of female detectives in Chicago. That being said, it is not intended for children. The people at the library obviously didn't find out what they had on hand. The animated episodes of Gunsmith Cats show up off and on on Encore's Action Channel. The videos are available at Borders and elsewhere. And yes, I've watched the episodes. My teenaged daughter is an anime buff, and I've paid close attention to what kind of anime she is getting into, so yes, I do know what I'm talking about. Please keep in mind that there is far, far more insidious Japanese animation out there, and while the larger distribution companies do not deal with it, parents have a responsibility to find out what their children are reading/watching and deal with it appropriately. I take that responsibility very seriously.
Porno? Nope. Gunsmith Cats is a dramatic anime (not unlike crime dramas, both motion picture and television in this country), that is geared toward adults, and written with adults in mind.
In terms of what's there, it's no worse than The Sopranos or The Shield. The basic storyline is about a pair of female detectives in Chicago.
That being said, it is not intended for children. The people at the library obviously didn't find out what they had on hand.
The animated episodes of Gunsmith Cats show up off and on on Encore's Action Channel. The videos are available at Borders and elsewhere.
And yes, I've watched the episodes. My teenaged daughter is an anime buff, and I've paid close attention to what kind of anime she is getting into, so yes, I do know what I'm talking about.
Please keep in mind that there is far, far more insidious Japanese animation out there, and while the larger distribution companies do not deal with it, parents have a responsibility to find out what their children are reading/watching and deal with it appropriately. I take that responsibility very seriously.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Do they show the "monica" scene?
what's even more disturbing than the animation is what the Anonymous Reader's posted in their comments about it, villanizing Christians for condemning it, be carful what you let your children read.
"The worst attack on morality comes in the form of Japanese manga films, which spread a shocking message of immorality under the cover of animation, a cynical move targetting a genre typically aimed at children. These films are supposedly aimed at adults, but a moment's reflection counters this vacuous argument - what kind of grown adult watches cartoons? When we become adults we put childish things behind us, and cartoons, whilst of invaluable aid in entertaining and educating children, are of no use to a healthy adult of sound mind and firm moral base."
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