Posts tagged guilty pleasure

I have always had a guilty pleasure for dark and transgressive pieces of writing. It not only invokes negative feelings such as disgust, confusion, fear, and frustration, but if done well, it invites a different perspective on the world. Such authors include Anne Rice, who beautifully intertwines Christian faith into love that exceeds gender biases, or Chuck Palahniuk, who directly hands us the skeletons hidden in our closets.

Except, not all agrees with this point of view. Unfortunately, I do not everyone to.

Society has developed an interrelational and complex system that encourages morality, ethics, structure, justice, and overall goodness among the people. One step across that line and you are ‘not right’, evil, stupid, crazy, a troublemaker… But how does one define good in the absence of bad? This type of thinking is what causes close mindedness and bigotry towards those who dares to step out of the norm and take the road less traveled. The perception of bad and ugliness are subjective. Death can mean an end to life, or a supplier for new and young life. Solitude can be loneliness or a mode of meditation. 

For this reason, I always find it disturbing that people want to ban books because it is too violent (Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman), too sexually explicit (“Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini), too magical (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, or too gay (“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell). 

Therefore, I thank the writers who have written materials that have stirred up controversy and excitement for our restricted reality, and to bring us out of our needless fear of change.  

As Philip Pullman said, after hearing the news that people wanted to ban his books:
“They never learn,” he said. “The inevitable result of trying to ban something – book, film, play, pop song, whatever – is that far more people want to get hold of it than would ever have done if it were left alone. Why don’t the censors realize this?”