Before “Gossip Girl” was scandalizing audiences on the CW and HBO Max, it was a much-debated book series that found itself at the center of controversy for its entire run, with some parents going so far as to have the books banned from their public school libraries.
Telling the story of a cadre of spoiled rich kids at the Constance Billard School for Girls, the characters engage in all kinds of language and behavior that would make ordinary parents blush. One concerned parent in Picayune, Mississippi became so alarmed by the books’ so-called “offensive” language that she fought to have it pulled from the middle school’s library in 2011. “The f-word is in there,” said Tony Smith, parent and then-Mississippi State Senator, in a report by local TV station WLOX. “It makes reference to ‘F*** this test,’ ‘F*** the teacher.’ It makes some sexual explicit comments in there that I find very offensive, as a parent.”
The school board acquiesced to Smith’s demands and pulled the books from their library, but this is just one example of many conservative parents fighting against literature and our public libraries around the country.
Gossip Girl was one of the most challenged books two decades in a row
The American Library Association tracks the most banned and challenged books of each year and decade, and the “Gossip Girl” series made frequent appearances on those lists. It was the second most challenged book of 2006, and in the top 10 for 2008 and 2011.
All this landed the books onthe 2000-2009 listas the 22nd most challenged title, while it showed up in the 56th spot on the 2010-2019 list. Other repeat contenders for the label of so-called “controversial” books include the “Harry Potter,” “Alice,” and “Captain Underpants” series.
While concerned parents like Tony Smith cite the language in “Gossip Girl” as reason to ban the books, most of these allegedly “controversial” novels are quite tame in comparison. It’s almost as if having any book banned, even one as intentionally provocative as “Gossip Girl,” isn’t a matter of obscenity, but restriction of any free speech that certain parties or political ideologies don’t agree with. Just some food for thought the next time you binge watch “Gossip Girl” on HBO Max.
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