A college student in California is protesting the inclusion of four graphic novels in one of her college’s English classes. Tara Shultz and her parents refers to Persepolis, Fun Home, Y: The Last Man Vol. 1, and The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll’s House — all selections in a class she already completed — as “garbage” and “pornography.” Schultz staged a protest at Crafton Hills College, saying students should have been warned about the “graphic” content in the books.
The college’s president, Cheryl A. Marshall, released a statement saying she will not remove the books from the curriculum, although the professor will now have a disclaimer on the syllabus.
“I support the college’s policy on academic freedom which requires an open learning environment at the college. Students have the opportunity to study controversial issues and arrive at their own conclusions and faculty are to support the student’s right to freedom of inquiry. We want students to learn and grow from their college experiences; sometimes this involves reaffirming one’s valueswhile other times beliefs and perspectives change. In this specific case, the syllabus distributed on the first day of class contained the list of required reading materials allowing students the opportunity to research the books and make a choice about the class. The class is one of numerous electives available for completion of the English degree. We are attempting to avoid this situation in the future and Professor Bartlett has agreed to include a disclaimer on the syllabus in the future so students have a better understanding of the course content. I know he appreciated the differing views presented by Ms. Shultz in his class.”
This whole thing seems to be quite preposterous. The authors Schultz decided to throw under the bus are among the most respected comic book and fantasy writers on the planet.
For example, Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman series, has inspired numerous authors while putting out some of the best writing of the 21st century. The Sandman series is often listed among the greatest fantasy comics ever, and even cracked the New York Times bestsellers list — something graphic novels barely ever do. Yes, the subject material is certainly dark and violent, but that’s not exclusive to comic books. To call it pornography is hilariously misguided.
Back in university, I took a Graphic Novels & Manga class, where our assigned work was seemingly much more graphic than anything Shultz is protesting. One of our assigned readings was Shurayuki-hime, also known as Lady Snowblood. The book included many graphic images in the book, including plenty of nudity, sex, rape and violence. When not put into context, the Kazuo Koike Manga could definitely be seen as too graphic, but the story is one worth telling. The book was adapted by Quentin Tarantino into Kill Bill.
The other books listed have their fair share of nudity and violence, but how many novels in an English literature class have the same? Especially in fantasy writing. One of the most popular books of our generation, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series (or A Song of Ice and Fire), has featured many cases of brutality, both sexual and violent, yet that doesn’t take away from the fact those are damn fine novels.
It is possible to tell a good story while standing outside the confines of restriction. Not everything is designed to be PG-13, and a university setting is the ideal place to examine these type of texts. It’s an environment where you’re supposed to be exposed to new types of literature — not be held back.
Students often have a choice of which classes they want to take, so instead of being offended and staging a ridiculous protest, Shultz should have just dropped out of the class. Interestingly enough, she already had completed the class before her protest, so it’s likely she’s just fighting for a better letter grade. Either way, these texts deserve to be read — and hopefully, more people do so when hearing this incredibly dumb story.
