As an educator of 40 years, who taught 2nd grade through adults in all subjects, I wholeheartedly agree! I learned to steer clear of drugs due to learning from Shelly Winters and Frank Sinatra movies I watched as a youth and teen in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as books on identical subjects.
Whether it is Shakespeare, or more recent humorous films, such as “some like it hot”or Tootsie or Mrs Doubtfire, there is no need for censorship. I did not know of that past history for the Lake George school board candidate.
I guess Laurence Fishburne's "Othello" movie would be on the banned list, too, with Kenneth Branagh's gay Iago. Or Pasolini's adaptation of Euripede's Medea, characterized by one film critic as a "Marxist allegory". (I'm sure the censors would be fine with Medea as a raging madwoman a la Fatal Attraction because, you know, misogyny is always cool, but that communist stuff... can't have that)
We should put together a whole list of movies we think censors would like to ban and then have a film festival. Maybe we can get a drag queen to host it. :-)
Nobody is talking about banning the school bus even though (let’s face it) school bus chit chat is the traditional trafficker of every kind of misinformation but particularly sex education. When I was a senior in high school there was a lot of discussion of Walter Carlos (Switched on Bach) transitioning to Wendy Carlos. But “transitioning” wasn’t a common term at the time. Once Jeff L (last name withheld to protect the guilty) stole a dirty magazine from Poor Richards Bookstore at lunchtime in Lake George and gave it to me on the school bus because he was smart enough to not bring it home and I was dumb enough to take it home and hide it between the mattresses of my bed shortly before my mother changed the sheets. In fact, my first memory of riding the bus shortly after we moved here from Afghanistan and I a month and a half away from being 6 an older kid goaded me into telling a teenage girl to “lick your balls.” Being even more naive and gullible than the average 6 year old I told her to “lick your balls.” She told the bus driver and I was escorted to sit in the front seat for bus rides for a couple of weeks. When I went home my sister quickly ratted me out to my parents and I got my mouth washed out with soap. Those were the days!
If we bothered to ask second graders about these “adult” subjects such as sex and gender, we’d learn a whole lot about them, and us. But maybe we’re afraid of that.
It's astonishing we are wasting time as a society on censorship; we've been there before, and it's never worked. Let's move forward. This is ridiculous, and hypocritical.
Thanks for exposing this. "Moms for Liberty" ran candidates with a book banning agenda in many districts across the country. The book banner (who went undercover during the candidate forum) also lost the race in Saratoga. Voters are catching on to the (often hidden) oppressive agendas, thanks to outings like this.
Will, you’ve done it again! Stirred up memories! I recall the school year 1953-1954 , sitting in Mr. Curnow’s senior English class at Benton Harbor (MI) High School. Pre-Polanski, we read “Macbeth” (“Didn’t see the movie. I read the play”) and memorized several sections.
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day…Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow…a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Oft quoted through the years by this seasoned pastor, along with Ecclesiastes’ lament, “Vanity of vanities all is vanity…” (1:2), and good enough for Faulkner to use as a framework for a novel.
Mr. Curnow also had us reading Chaucer’s naughty “Canterbury Tales’” and memorizing part of the prologue in old English.
If we teens some 70 years ago could handle all of this, I’m sure that today’s teens, with their experiences and maturity, can handle and learn from it now.
Of what are some adults afraid? Let’s not project our own insecurities on those coming of age.
Linda Clark lost for good reason. She's out of touch with the community and school system she wanted to censor. I never knew about her showing of Macbeth which makes her an even bigger hypocrite than she already was known to be. Luckily the voters said, "no thanks" and now she's a sore loser. But watch out for people like her, they don't give up easily and are dangerous to the education of young minds in my opinion.
As an educator of 40 years, who taught 2nd grade through adults in all subjects, I wholeheartedly agree! I learned to steer clear of drugs due to learning from Shelly Winters and Frank Sinatra movies I watched as a youth and teen in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as books on identical subjects.
I hope Linda Clark reads this Will :(
Congratulations to the Lake George voters who chose another direction for Linda Clark.
Infantilization of our teens. Spot on. Stems from immature parents, methinks. Out, out damn spot!
Whether it is Shakespeare, or more recent humorous films, such as “some like it hot”or Tootsie or Mrs Doubtfire, there is no need for censorship. I did not know of that past history for the Lake George school board candidate.
I guess Laurence Fishburne's "Othello" movie would be on the banned list, too, with Kenneth Branagh's gay Iago. Or Pasolini's adaptation of Euripede's Medea, characterized by one film critic as a "Marxist allegory". (I'm sure the censors would be fine with Medea as a raging madwoman a la Fatal Attraction because, you know, misogyny is always cool, but that communist stuff... can't have that)
We should put together a whole list of movies we think censors would like to ban and then have a film festival. Maybe we can get a drag queen to host it. :-)
The *Christian * nationalist movement is working from the ground up to gain foothold in our local governments.
I am happy that these candidates failed to be elected, (Chris Music lost thankfully and he endorsed her).
The thought of this mindset running our schools is truly frightening
Nobody is talking about banning the school bus even though (let’s face it) school bus chit chat is the traditional trafficker of every kind of misinformation but particularly sex education. When I was a senior in high school there was a lot of discussion of Walter Carlos (Switched on Bach) transitioning to Wendy Carlos. But “transitioning” wasn’t a common term at the time. Once Jeff L (last name withheld to protect the guilty) stole a dirty magazine from Poor Richards Bookstore at lunchtime in Lake George and gave it to me on the school bus because he was smart enough to not bring it home and I was dumb enough to take it home and hide it between the mattresses of my bed shortly before my mother changed the sheets. In fact, my first memory of riding the bus shortly after we moved here from Afghanistan and I a month and a half away from being 6 an older kid goaded me into telling a teenage girl to “lick your balls.” Being even more naive and gullible than the average 6 year old I told her to “lick your balls.” She told the bus driver and I was escorted to sit in the front seat for bus rides for a couple of weeks. When I went home my sister quickly ratted me out to my parents and I got my mouth washed out with soap. Those were the days!
If we bothered to ask second graders about these “adult” subjects such as sex and gender, we’d learn a whole lot about them, and us. But maybe we’re afraid of that.
It's astonishing we are wasting time as a society on censorship; we've been there before, and it's never worked. Let's move forward. This is ridiculous, and hypocritical.
Thanks for exposing this. "Moms for Liberty" ran candidates with a book banning agenda in many districts across the country. The book banner (who went undercover during the candidate forum) also lost the race in Saratoga. Voters are catching on to the (often hidden) oppressive agendas, thanks to outings like this.
Will, you’ve done it again! Stirred up memories! I recall the school year 1953-1954 , sitting in Mr. Curnow’s senior English class at Benton Harbor (MI) High School. Pre-Polanski, we read “Macbeth” (“Didn’t see the movie. I read the play”) and memorized several sections.
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day…Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow…a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Oft quoted through the years by this seasoned pastor, along with Ecclesiastes’ lament, “Vanity of vanities all is vanity…” (1:2), and good enough for Faulkner to use as a framework for a novel.
Mr. Curnow also had us reading Chaucer’s naughty “Canterbury Tales’” and memorizing part of the prologue in old English.
If we teens some 70 years ago could handle all of this, I’m sure that today’s teens, with their experiences and maturity, can handle and learn from it now.
Of what are some adults afraid? Let’s not project our own insecurities on those coming of age.
Linda Clark lost for good reason. She's out of touch with the community and school system she wanted to censor. I never knew about her showing of Macbeth which makes her an even bigger hypocrite than she already was known to be. Luckily the voters said, "no thanks" and now she's a sore loser. But watch out for people like her, they don't give up easily and are dangerous to the education of young minds in my opinion.