Where To Draw The Line — Week 2 Discussion
(Content Warning: Abuse — Sexual, Self Harm, Eating Disorders)
“The concept of popular culture bears both positive and negative connotations: ‘inferior kinds of work’ but also ‘work deliberately setting out to win favor’ as well as ‘the modern sense of work, well-liked by many people.’” — Carrie Hintz, Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction
Popular culture, whether we like it or not, is all around us. It is engrained into our lives in ways we can’t even imagine. A simple concept of such, however, is that of works of art. By art, I do not simply mean paintings, or drawings, or photography. I mean pieces that inspire us. Pieces that bring entertainment, influence, and meaning to our lives — music, films, fashion, figures: everything! But there is one piece of popular culture that seems to be forgotten… Books!
Books have created movements for centuries. They have captured the hearts of many fans, but they have also garnered attention from many critics. A book can influence readers in many ways, so it has become important in culture to encourage healthy behaviors in texts, rather than harmful ones. But where is this line drawn? How do we cross from inspiring and strong leaders in books to villainous and forbidden ones? This is an issue I came across while reading my independent work for the week: Identical by Ellen Hopkins, 2008.
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Identical is a free-verse poetry book that follows two young sisters, Kaeleigh and Raeanne. They are identical twins who suffer through life with each other. They are the daughters of a district court judge father and a politician mother. Their mother is rarely in the picture after losing her affection for her family following a horrific car accident. This car accident was caused by the drunk driving of the twin’s father. Their father is known to be a heavy drinker, but there is an even worse evil to him: He sexually abuses Kaeleigh. This abuse has occurred since the twins were 10 years old, leading to a multitude of behavioral issues stemming from it. Kaeleigh begins to binge and purge while she self harms. Raeanne finds herself jealous and wanting her father’s attention in the way Kaeleigh recieves it, so she turns to sex and drugs. Both girls fall into extremely unhealthy paths as they try to cope with their situations. However, the end reveals a major twist that leaves readers scrambling back to the beginning to connect the dots.
Identical is a riveting novel that causes readers to constantly question what is going on in the story. It discusses many different sensitive situations that many different people can relate to. This is a generally positive thing, as readers can find themselves in the characters. However, there is a possible issue: Identical is targeted at young adults of high school age. Now, this is not to say that high schoolers can not experience or relate to the subjects described in the story, but it brings about a concern of influence.
As Hintz explained in her quote above, popular culture can be negatively and positively influential. Books are their own form of popular culture, but they can also fit into this category of negative and positive. When popular culture is aimed at children we want to showcase healthy behaviors as they tend to be easily swayed. Thus brings the struggle of labelling Identical: Positive or negative? Young adult or adult? Appropriate or not appropriate?
We want to expose children to new concepts and experiences in order to develop their mental and emotional cognition. But where does this desire go too far? Personally, after reading Identical, I think the book goes too far beyond exposure. While the text presentation is very explorative and the characters can be (unfortunately) relatable, it is a little too risky to give an influential book that showcases damaging behaviors and attitudes. Perhaps if this book were read within the whole class and then discussed by a teacher, I would be more comfortable. But on it’s own — it’s too explicit. Many of the actions taken in this book are already ones that many teenagers partake in. By seeing this behavior written in the book, they may believe it is okay.
Overall, I’m not confident in the labelling of this book as Young Adult, but I can also see the benefits of it, as well. Let me know where you think the line should be drawn in terms of explicit content in young adult literature.
