Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Violence in Children's Books
(That being said, I'm not opposed to violence in fiction, even children's fiction. Kids are more mature than a lot of us give them credit for. I'm just pointing this all out. I personally think violence is only an issue when it's glorified.)
But it continues to astound me how much of an emphasis our society places on visual fiction versus written fiction and the different standards for each. Minors can't buy an R-Rated movie but anyone can buy a romance novel with explicit sex scenes at Wal-Mart. And who can forget all the hullabaloo about minors being able to buy Fifty Shades of Grey, no questions asked?
And then there's the odd world of children's books. I've mostly noticed this in the genre of animal fiction (which has steadily gained in popularity over the last six years or so) that scenes and actions depicting pretty graphic violence are oddly enough the norm. Scenes that would never be put in an animated kids' cartoon, no matter how old the target audience might be, are rather prevalent in books.
Case in point? Scourge's murder of Tigerstar in Warriors, the rather graphic deceptions of injury and illness in The Guardian Herd, and the cruelty and horrible ways dragons die in Wings of Fire.
My guess? I think we, as a society, place a higher intellectual value on reading. If you read a lot, you're smart right? By extension, this means you might be mature enough to handle reading about a cat getting eviscerated. (Whether or not this is true.) Another explanation might be because these books depict animals harming one another, and not humans doing the same things.
Agree? Disagree? Thoughts? Comment!
On "All Girls Want Bad Boys"
Labels:
bad boys,
domestic abuse,
draco in leather pants,
human psychology,
philosophy
·
Sadly, this "desire," I suppose we can call it, can carry over into real life, as there are countless stories of women staying with their abusive husbands because they want to “change” them.
There have been several scientific theories posed as to why this phenomenon exists, with most coming to the conclusion that a "stronger" man is more desirable evolutionarily so he can help protect the woman and her offspring, as well as provide her with healthy offspring. Understanding this phenomenon is important, but what’s more important is that it does happen, oftentimes with tragic consequences.
That all being said, I’m going to say that I have a big issue with either implying or outright telling girls and women that they shouldn’t attempt to help someone just because that person “can’t change.” People change. Perhaps not as easily or magically as they do in fiction, but people can change and they can grow into stronger, better people. I’d even go so far as to say that a supporting partner can easily be one of the main causes for a human being to live a more emotionally fulfilled and happy life than they would have otherwise. Because, in my experience, the vast majority of people simply want to be understood and supported.
This is NOT to say, however, that I think ANYONE should stay in an abusive relationship, no matter how much you "love" them. And I’m not saying all or even most "Bad Boys" would make good boyfriends. (I think the core of the matter lies in our largely apparent inability to teach our girls to value themselves, but that's a discussion for another time)
What I am saying is that people need to be supported, understood, and loved, no matter what stage they are in life. And discouraging people from doing that, from feeling compassion for others and acting on that compassion, I think, is one of the many things that is wrong with this world.
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