Is romantic fiction politically correct?

Some people simply weren't born to understand books. They were just born to live in a politically-correct time. Case in point:

Last week a high school in Taylor, Mich., pulled Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from its classrooms after a parent of the only black student in the class complained after the book, which contains racial slurs, had been read aloud and acted out. Said Lynette Sutton, assistant superintendent for secondary instruction, “We want to be sensitive to how the children feel.”
Concern is a virtuous quality but taking the book out of the class isn’t the way to deal with the problem. Ignoring things doesn’t make them go away. Instead of appeasing the parent and trying to create a classroom in an imaginary world where racism doesn’t exist, a more realistic approach is needed.

Exactly so. Instead of sweeping problems and 'ugly things' under the rug, we had better learn from past mistakes and try not to repeat them. If read and taught properly, the child will have learned that 'racial slurs' are unfair and useless - not the opposite.

Racism, slavery, genocide and hate are not issues confined to non-fiction, but rather pervade all forms of literature. The controversial issues in the story — slavery and racism — were, and to some degree still are, a part of our non-fiction world. If we take this story from the classroom we might as well take out “The Diary of Anne Frank,” too. Come to think of it, because we’re protecting everyone’s feelings, we better get rid of any piece of literature that deals with rape (“To Kill a Mockingbird”), suicide (“Romeo and Juliet”), murder (“Crime and Punishment”), child abuse (“Wuthering Heights”) and any other sensitive issue.
This isn’t a racial issue but an issue of dealing with the realities of our history. To ignore history is to deny not the events in question but one’s own ability to understand humanity at both its finest and worst hours.
High school students can learn the following from the story: racial slurs are demeaning and hurtful, racism is inherently wrong, slavery was a horrible thing, hating based on race, color, creed, or gender is abominable, and even the person considered to be the lowest form of society can be the most deserving in that society. I’m sure glad we have “Huckleberry Finn” around to teach us so many valuable lessons.

We are glad that for once Wuthering Heights wasn't mentioned as the epitome of love. And we couldn't agree more with Zack Robinson, who penned this article.

On to more people who don't get it either. There's a seminar on romantic fiction at Castle of Park in Banffshire, Scotland. And of course, on the subject of romantic fiction there's one compulsory - seemingly cultured - mention:

There's Cinderella updated, the taming of the shrew, the clash between hero and heroine with different value systems, the rescue of the man who's been scarred physically or emotionally or both. Take a bow, Miss Eyre and Mr Rochester.
She's speaking to an informed audience. All the course members love reading romantic fiction and speak knowledgeably and analytically about it. They adore the godmothers of the genre: Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Georgette Heyer.

The poor, reluctant 'godmothers' must be turning in their graves once again.

And finally a passing mention to Dame Darcy's Jane Eyre. As you well know, Dame Darcy is currently on tour and - breaking news on a day like today - she did understand the book!

On the decidedly lower-tech end of the spectrum, one of the most compelling artists to surface from the underground zine and comics scene of the mid-'90s was Dame Darcy. Best know for writing and illustrating the comic Meat Cake (Fantagraphics), Darcy is on tour in support of her latest graphic novel, The Illustrated Jane Eyre, but also as a performer with her "sci-fi horror" band, Death by Doll. Darcy will be reading and signing at Bailey/Coy Books on Saturday, November 11, at 3:00 p.m. and Death by Doll will be playing at the Comet later that same night.

Don't miss her if you're nearby!

Categories: Books, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, In the News