c/censored-culture-chat

So I was reading about banned kids books in a Florida school district...

I found this list online of books pulled from a county near Tampa, and one of them was a picture book about a gay penguin couple. The crazy part was the reason given... 'sexual content'. For a kids book about penguins finding an egg. I just stared at my screen for a solid minute. Has anyone else seen a reason for a ban that just made zero sense to them?

Watched a classic film from the 90s get a weird digital scrub

I streamed 'Farewell My Concubine' last week and the version on the big platform had a key scene removed, the one about the Cultural Revolution. Checked my old DVD from 2005 and it's all there. Are they quietly editing older foreign films now?

I saw a censored Ai Weiwei exhibit in Berlin last year

They had to cover up a few pieces with black cloth, which made me look up why. Anyone know of other artists who've had shows altered like that?

Appreciation post: Found a list of films banned in Singapore that really surprised me

Was looking up old movie ratings and stumbled on a government archive. They banned a 2007 documentary about graffiti artists for 'undesirable influences'. Anyone know where to find a copy of that film now?

Finally got my hands on a copy of 'Persepolis' after my library talk got shut down

I was giving a talk at a community center in my town about graphic novels as history, and someone complained when I mentioned Marjane Satrapi's work. The center canceled the rest of my scheduled talks. I ordered the book online instead and just finished it last night. Has anyone else had a public program canceled over a single title?

Just saw a library in Florida pulled 'And Tango Makes Three' from the kids' section again

I used to just check books out, but now I screenshot the catalog page before I go because titles keep disappearing. Anyone else had to start doing this in their town?

Spent $45 on a 'banned book' box that was just a bunch of public domain classics with edgy covers

Just realized I've read 12 books that were banned somewhere, and it's made me think about 'protection' vs. 'paternalism'.

Warning: A museum in Warsaw quietly removed a painting last week

I was there on Tuesday and a guide told me they took down a 1970s piece about government protests. The wall label just said 'temporarily unavailable' with no other info. Has anyone else seen art vanish like that in their city?

Took me three days to find an uncensored copy of 'The Satanic Verses' after my library pulled it

Remember when they said that book about Tiananmen Square was pure fiction, but my history professor in 2010 quietly slid me a copy after class.

Reading those firsthand accounts from Beijing in '89, with dates and names that matched other records I found, made me see how a story can be erased from one place but still be true.

Found a way to watch that banned documentary about the 2019 Hong Kong protests. It involved a specific browser extension and a server in Taiwan.

Heard a coworker say '1984' is just a boring old book

We were grabbing coffee and someone mentioned they had to read it in school and found it dull. It made me think about how a book that gets banned in so many places for its ideas can just feel like homework to someone else. The whole point is that it's a warning that gets silenced, not a boring story. Does anyone else get frustrated when people miss the real reason a piece of art is important?

My buddy in Beijing tried to send me a copy of 'Animal Farm' last month and customs seized it

Warning: Found a blank spot in the library at my old high school

I was back in my hometown in Texas and went to visit my old high school library for old times' sake. On the fiction shelf, there was a clear gap where a copy of 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' used to be, and the librarian quietly told me it was pulled after a parent complaint last fall. Has anyone else seen a book just vanish from a public shelf like that?

A librarian in Dublin told me to stop calling '1984' just a dystopian novel, and it changed how I see banned books

I used to think banning books was just about politics

For a long time, I figured if a book got banned somewhere, it was probably just some government being overly sensitive. Then I actually read 'The Satanic Verses' after learning it was banned in like 15 countries. The whole thing is way more about culture and history than I ever got. It completely changed how I see censorship now. Anyone else have a book that made them rethink this stuff?

Honestly, I used to think book bans were just old news until I saw it happen here in Texas

Tbh, I was helping at my local library's teen book club six months ago when a parent came in demanding we pull 'Gender Queer' from the shelves. They had a printed list from a website and said it was 'inappropriate.' The head librarian had to explain the official review process, which took like three weeks. Ngl, seeing that list and the anger up close made me realize this censorship stuff is real and happening now. Has anyone else had to deal with a formal challenge at their library or school?

Honestly, seeing a film get pulled mid-festival in Istanbul changed how I look at art

I was at the Istanbul Film Festival about 3 years ago for a screening of a documentary about press freedom. Right before it started, two officials walked in and told the organizers to stop. They said the film didn't have the right permit, but everyone knew it was about content. The whole room went quiet for a full minute. It made me realize how fast things can disappear, even in a place that feels open. Now I always download or make a physical copy of any work I think might get targeted. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where you saw something get censored right in front of you?

My attempt at a banned book display for the library board meeting went hilariously wrong

I was setting up a small table with a few censored classics last Tuesday, and the main poster I'd made for 'Fahrenheit 451' fell right off the easel, tearing in half. I had to tape it back together while the board president was talking about the new carpet budget. Has anyone else had a public presentation about censorship get derailed by something silly?

Finally tracked down a copy of 'The Tin Drum' after hearing it was banned in Germany

I've been looking for a specific 1979 edition for about two years, and I just found one at a small shop in Toronto. It matters because the book was actually seized and burned in some places when it first came out, which is wild to think about now. Has anyone else had to hunt for a censored book from a specific time period?

TIL my town's library quietly pulled 'Maus' from the graphic novel section

I saw the empty space on the shelf during a visit yesterday, and the librarian just shrugged when I asked about it. Has your local library ever removed a book without any notice?

I found a copy of 'The Satanic Verses' at a garage sale in Phoenix and the seller whispered it was 'contraband'

Reading about the 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie for writing it made me wonder what other art has sparked real-world violence, not just bans.

My neighbor's kid asked why his school library didn't have 'The Giver' anymore

I was helping him fix a leaky faucet last Tuesday, and he just came out with it. He said his teacher mentioned it was a 'challenged' book, and he didn't get what that meant. I told him it was basically banned in some places, which made him go quiet for a second. It hit different hearing a 12-year-old ask about censorship instead of just reading about it online. Has anyone else had a simple conversation that suddenly made this stuff feel really close to home?

My $25 'banned book' turned out to be a censored copy

I bought a vintage copy of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' online for twenty-five bucks, excited to finally read the 'scandalous' version. When it arrived, I realized it was a 1960s reprint from a country that had cut out all the, you know, good parts (the pages were literally glued together in sections). So I paid for a famous banned book and got a heavily edited one instead, which feels like a weird joke. Has anyone else accidentally bought a censored version of something thinking it was the real deal?