cartoon controversy

tawni68 · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:10 pm Post subject: cartoon controversy

Hi, I am currently attending school in a Christian institution where there is a controversy going on that involves the banning of one of the books in the library. It is the series of comics called "Asterix". I don't know if you've heard about them but they are very educational and entertaining. There have been some parents who believe them to be too violent and they want them pulled of the shelves. They came to a meeting and showed images from the cartoon. The one I posted below was scrutinized the most and it led directly to the banning of the Asterix books. Any opinions or thoughts?

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geo · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject:

Asterix does seem a strange target for banning. It's a comic strip, for crying out loud. Even Tin Tin has some violence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix

But if you could please give us more information, where is this school, how old are the students, etc. What other books have been banned?

tawni68 · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:14 pm Post subject:

It is a kindergarten-grade 12 private Christian school in Kelowna, BC , Canada. As far as I know there haven't been other bannings. Those who supported the ban got very detailed and specific about the frame in question, saying it was inappropriate because...

1. The discus thrower is naked

2. the explosive force of the blow shatters a stone discus he is holding

3. showing his toes spread apart and twitching is overly cruel

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:35 am Post subject:

geo · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:42 am Post subject:

geo · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:49 am Post subject:

Ophelia · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject:

Asterix cannot be objected to on the grounds of Christianity, and he also did not carry the fight of atheism. The last druids, unfortunately, died long ago and no trace of how Asterix and Obelix performed (or did not perform) their religious duties remain.

All posts above forgot to take the scene in its cultural context. Here all students are required to study Asterix as part of the national curriculum from grade 4 to grade 10. The picture you gave may look violent, taken out of context.
We learn that the Gauls were greatly outnumbered, and that giving any Roman Soldier a good beating is a national duty. Roman soldiers are insufferable for their vanity and cowardice--indeed they all requested not to be posted in Gaul and some of them refused to fight the valiant Gauls, and had to be pursued and given a good pounding to teach them manners.
In fact, the Romans' manners were so appalling that the Gauls understandingly sometimes lost patience. The picture above has to be interpreted in this context, not as encouragement to fighting or being cruel to those of your enemies who show sense and good breeding.

Asterix series should not be banned as they are a fixture for French students as they learn how to write essays, for example:

- Show that Asterix embodies the two main qualities of a French national hero: greatness of spirit and cleverness.

- In 1976, the price of oil doubled, and France is not an oil producer. Show how the popular TV slogan "En France , on n'a pas de pétrole, mais on a des idées*) can be linked to the invasion of Gaul by the Romans in the first century AD.

* In France we have no oil but we have ideas.

- A small nation with no aspiration to leadership of the free world can still be the greatest of all. Discuss, giving examples from a world-leading comic strip.

Ophelia · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:46 pm Post subject:

Oh, and Tawni, welcome to Booktalk! Smile

Grim · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject:

What is the church opposing here an image or the motivation?

Are they not concerned with why Asterix is punching the discus thrower?

It seems to me that Asterix alone offers little real education value and its disclusion on library shelves will do little to detriment the real "quality" of the shelf material. I cartainly took little away from the bulk of the issues other than a general idea of plot.

If you don't like it don't stock it.

Should they make a point of banning the series? Of course not.

What message will they be sending about Christian institutions?

Apparently the bible is not the only ancient text they are still mulling over.

I would be more concerned with the obvious support for performance enhancing drugs, especially with the Olymics just past

Ophelia:

Very cool studying Asterix & Obelix in school.
I've been a fan since childhood.

Smile

Frank 013 · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:46 am Post subject:

This is an interesting thread, and I have a few comments.

First…

The Christian church and community have never been shy about banning (and sometimes burning) books and other material that offer alternative ideas even fantasy ones. Recently here in the states Harry Potter books and films have been under constant attack from many religious groups. The movie “The Golden Compass” also attracted some very negative remarks from the religious and was banned by several church groups. In any event the church banning of the Asterix series does not surprise me.

Second…

The Asterix series is not as far as I know widely read here in the states, I have never heard about it until this thread. From what I have gathered so far it offers a rather unrealistic and false history of the Roman/Gallic conflict much the same way that the Bible gives a false history of the Roman occupation of eastern Europe. Both also seem to promote a bogus portrayal of Roman ideals and actions during those times.

The cartoon may possess a moral message that I am not seeing from this limited account but I agree with Grim it seems to hold little to no true education value.

Anything that shows the Romans to be cowards is way off; the Romans marched into a hostile, foreign land and conquered it, despite being vastly out numbered and facing men that were by comparison wild giants. Many historical accounts show that the roman legions were out numbered by as much as 10 to one but the legions often still came out victorious!

Read the accounts of Julius Caesar for a good reference to the actual events of those times. (Take this with a grain of salt though, Caesar was a raging ego manic and some of what he says seems to be exaggerated), much of Caesar’s writings have been confirmed through archeological findings.

At any rate banning of material be it fiction or historical goes against every fiber of my being as a free thinker and free person.

Yet the church often responds with the ban of alternative material… it may be because this tact reminds me of the Nazis that I oppose it so.

Of course the Nazis were only doing what the church had been doing for centuries banning and destroying anything not in line with their view of the universe.

Later

Ophelia · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:25 pm Post subject:

Frank wrote:

tawni68 · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject:

The only reason I really heard was just the graphic depiction of violence, which were based merely on one frame from "Asterix and the Laurel Wreath". They were ofeended that the discus thrower being hit was naked, that a stone discus explodes in his hand and that his toes are spread apart and twitching.

Frank 013 · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:15 am Post subject:

tawni68 · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:06 pm Post subject:

...just an update... "Asterix and the Laurel Wreath" , "Asterix and the Cauldron" and "Asterix the Gladiator" were all pulled off the library shelves last week...

Grim · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:32 pm Post subject:

You never did mention where you are posting this about.


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