The Hits Just Keep on Coming
From secret brother Tom, in comments:
Yep, context is everything. Take teen sex for example. When there's teen sex in Alaska, it's all about life and love. When there's teen sex in Looking for Alaska, it's pornography.
posted by John Green @ Wednesday, September 03, 2008
15 Comments
15 Comments:
Still not a fan of Palin then :)
C'mon, John. Stuff happens. Get with the program. ;)
Secret Brother Tom is very wise.
Oh, that's classic.
Brilliant!
Noticed that, did you?
In the words of the late, great, Jackie Gleason, "Hammada-hammada-hammadah."
Before I had kids I too passed judgment on other's children (the screaming toddler in the store, the knocked up teenager). Now I have kids and situations occur and I think, "Oh Shit. I don't have a clue on how to do this the right way." I've had to swallow every arrogant thought I've had when I passing judgment on other parents.
@mundane4life
I don't think anyone is getting at Palin for her daughter getting pregnant - life happens to everyone.
It's Palin's stance on abstenance and anti-contraception that's the nub here - would her daughter be in the situation she was in now if her mother had given her some realistic sex education instead of the aspirational guff of abstinence?
I am proud to be secretly related to such wit.
@ mush
You have sort of hit on my point. I can teach an ideology to one of my kids and they catch on, agree, and listen to everything I say. I can try the same method with my second child and it fails miserably.
You can pass out birth control to your teenager (I think that is fine), but who is going to ensure they take the birth control pill every day, or they use a condom every time they have sex?
You can't honestly believe that every parent who has passed out birth control to their children have never ended up with a pregnant teen on their hands?
i think people are kind of missing the point about Looking For Alaska. As a YA myself the thing that I connected with the most when reading that book was death. my friend died on january 10 (the exact day i believe alaska died. only difference is the year) he also died in a car accident. no one ever discusses helping someone deal with death especially at a young age and it's a friend of yours who died young (17). sure sex and drugs is an issue but thats what health and sex education and all the shit i was forced to take in school is for. i believe when you're dealing with death the issue of sex becomes just a little less important. your book was spot on with the language, the pain, the sex, the confusion etc. what teenager wants more censored material? between all the music and movies and television why are you worried about a book? we want to read the truth. because half of us are already experiencing it..
@mundane4life
Of course. There is no sure fire way to prevent teen sex or pregancy. All we can hope to do is to inform young adults of the options available to them and help them through their learning processes. I don't think one way or the other should be promoted exclusively over another. There is something to be said for the restraint that abstinence can teach but the raging hormones of your average teenager can put paid to that.
At the end of the day, having books like looking for alaska that talk to young adults on a real level can help them deal with the stuff that they can't go to their parents with. Minnie's comment is particularly relevant. YA literature such as that that John writes is important for this purpose. I look forward to Paper Towns :)
Ha ha. Well, context is important. Also, you don't have the republican party spinning for you. It's big bucks to make context...
hahahahaha..wise words.
Mr.Green with the keyboard in your library,
I loved "Alaska" and "Katherines" and I think the critics are just boiling warts on a yucky face (best try for a Shakespeare insult). Are they between 12-18? No. So how would they know whats up with YA's these days? Can't wait for Paper Towns! DFTBA!
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