Panic! At the Library

As I mentioned in Wednesday’s post, I reached out to family and friends for ideas for this Year’s Banned Books Week. 

My husband doesn’t read as much as I do, and never has, but as a teenager he listened to Heavy Metal, played games like Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering, and played video games.  So many times, he found that people who didn’t know anything about these media or genres labeled them as evil or Satanic.  He said he would be interested in hearing more about that idea – about the “Satanic Panic” of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s* – the books and leisure activities that got slapped with that “Satanic” label by people that had no idea what they were really about.

Peer into my crystal ball…

The American Library Association keeps track of the reasons why books are challenged or banned.  Since the ALSA has been keeping track, many books have been challenged for “magic and witchcraft,” “occult/Satanism,” and similar reasons. Some of these include:

The Harry Potter series (for obvious reasons)

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Witches by Roald Dahl (again, obviously)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle (for witches)

Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam (for “Satanic references and cult symbols”)

Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen (for “perceived advocacy of magic and witchcraft”)

            Cohen also has other books on supernatural subjects banned for similar reasons.

The Goosebumps series (for “depicting occult or demonic themes”)

The Lord of the Rings

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

And I’m sure there are more that I’ve missed.  While the ALA has multiple lists of multiple categories of books, not all of those lists state why books have been challenged.  Those I listed above are the ones that I knew – or, strongly suspected and looked up elsewhere to confirm.

*Unfortunately, the ALA has only been keeping statistics on banned and challenged books since 1990, and has only been keeping track of the reasons for challenges for an even shorter time so, disappointingly, I can’t answer Jason’s exact question about which specific titles and authors were involved in that 80’s/90’s Satanic Panic period (aside from the big granddaddy of “occult-promoting books,” Harry Potter – but even Harry only dates to the late ‘90’s).

Additionally, while they are not on any of the official banned books lists on the ALA website, I do know that often roleplaying books such as Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade have been challenged due to the perceived notion that kids who play these games will be drawn into dark magic rituals or the occult. But as with many other pass-times (movies, video games…rock ‘n’ roll anyone?) parents and other adults are often quick to jump on This New Thing The Kids Are Doing and label it as “evil”… despite the fact that most evil thing a lot of D&Ders are doing is drinking way too much Mountain Dew.

The Punishment Food

"Throw him in the dungeon! Give him only bread and water!" - any medieval or fantasy tyrant worth their salt.

"It is not the bread and water I fear. I can live on bread - when have I asked for more?" Joan of Arc (per George Bernard Shaw)

"I. Love. Bread." Oprah

Hm... One of these things is not like the others.

Ah, bread. The staple of civilization. The most basic of basic commodities in Western and Middle Eastern culture for millennia. Cultures are defined by the bread characteristic to them. Open a story with the description of a meal - whether the bread on the table is a baguette or biscuits - and you've solidly placed a setting in the reader's mind. And what else? Is bread the ONLY thing on the table? Is it stale? Is it white or coarse wheat? Is it merely there along with a mountain of meats and delicately prepared exotic fruits and vegetables? Each of these scenarios says a lot about your world and your characters.

And yet now... now, there's a movement - dare I say an obsession? - with eliminating bread (or, more specifically, refined carbohydrates) from the diet. What was the most basic staple, the food that even the most hated prisoner was allowed, has become a special treat: "I've been good on my diet all week - I'm going to have a roll with dinner." I wonder, 100 years from now, if someone reads a story (a "chick lit," a YA that deals with dieting and body image issues, etc.) if that person will be confused as to why the character in the book eschews bread... or confused as to why bread is even an option. (No, I don't really think the latter is going to happen. 10,000 years of the existence of bread isn't going to be toppled by a couple decades of a diet fad. We'll have a new obsession in 100 years.)

So, bread - the basic food. ONLY bread - the "punishment" food, or the "reward" food depending on what era you're talking about. A friend and I were talking about another "punishment" food the other day.

"Why do we eat bitter herbs and unleavened bread, my uncle?" Eliezar, The Ten Commandments

My friend is Jewish, and shortly after Passover, her husband found huge box of matzoh at Costco - a four or six box package for a dollar, or something ridiculously cheap like that. "I know it's supposed to be the 'punishment' food." She shrugged. "But I like it." Funny thing is, I like it, too (and I'm not even Jewish - we always just had it around when I was a kid). She gave me a box. Later that afternoon, I sent her a picture of the "punishment" food all dolled up with peanut butter and sliced pears. Yum!

And the bitter herb thing? My sister used to eat parsley straight. And the flat seaweed sheets you're supposed to use for sushi. We both like matzoh. I like kale. I once scared all the kids in my first grade class because I told them my favorite food was spinach. For most people, the thought that you HAVE to eat these stronger, often bitter, greens for your health is less than desirable. But for me? Sure, I'll take that kale salad. Can I have a side of matzoh?

But, then again, I also love bread.