Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Free Speech Zone

Last night, Brian and I went to the 5th annual production of "And The Banned Played On." This is a fundraiser put on every year by Plan-B Theatre Company in SLC. I'd never been before, but I really enjoyed it.
The evening focused on the First Amendment, inviting local writers, officials, and other talent to give readings from banned literature. It was hosted by Doug Fabrizio, a radio show host on the local NPR station, and my friend Scott McCoy. They gave the background on each book, including the reason(s) why it was so debated, followed by one of several guests reading an excerpt. The reasons each of the books were banned was almost as entertaining as the book itself. Most of the books were geared toward young adults, and one was a children's book about gay penguins. I also thought it was funny that many of the people leading the fight against banning these books hadn't even read the book in question.
After seven readings, music became the focus. A band came out and played four songs banned from radio air-play, mostly due to world events. For instance, did you know Clear Channel ordered its stations not to play Nena's "99 Luftballons" after September 11th? One song was "I Get A Kick Out Of You," a Cole Porter classic. And who would've thought a song by Donny Osmond would ever cause controversy?
Brian and I had a nice discussion afterward about things we read in high school and our parents' role in raising us. I'm pretty anti-censorship, and everything said last night really made me feel passionate about things I normally take for granted.

1 comment:

Jess said...

As a former librarian, I am completely against censorship. Just because you don't like a book or a song, doesn't mean you should stop other people from listening/reading. If you don't like it, don't read it.