{"id":515,"date":"2012-11-18T08:18:27","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T16:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bannedbooks.world.edu\/?p=515"},"modified":"2016-07-01T16:37:36","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T20:37:36","slug":"banned-books-awareness-twas-the-night-before-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/2012\/11\/18\/banned-books-awareness-twas-the-night-before-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned Books Awareness: \u201c\u2019Twas the Night Before Christmas\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u2019Twas the night before Christmas and someone stole Santa\u2019s pipe.<\/p>\n

Yes, folks- yet another beloved tale from childhood has become the latest victim of the red pen of politically correct censorship as tradition and historical accuracy fall to ignorance and arrogance.<\/p>\n

The 18th<\/sup>-century poem, \u201cA Visit from St. Nicholas<\/em>\u201d- more commonly known by its famous first line, \u2019Twas the night before Christmas<\/em>– is a tale of holiday magic that has delighted children worldwide for generations and has become a staple of holiday traditions in many an American home as children bundle up with hot cocoa on Christmas Eve and listen to the timeless story of Santa Claus and his yearly trek across the world to spread cheer.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s all about to change.<\/p>\n

The American literary world was shaken and battle lines were drawn recently all because a self-published author has taken it upon herself to edit the classic and remove all mention of smoking from Clement Clarke Moore\u2019s 1823 masterpiece.<\/p>\n

Canadian publisher Pamela McColl changed the poem to \u201csave lives and avoid influencing new smokers,\u201d according to statements on her website.<\/p>\n

McColl\u2019s new version, which she released through her own publishing company, cuts two lines that describe Santa smoking:\u00a0‘The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, \/ And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;’ and she also omits the iconic illustration of Santa holding the pipe between his teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really don\u2019t think Santa should be smoking in the 21st<\/sup> century,\u201d McColl was quoted as saying in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n

She took refuge behind her website to release the following statement: \u201cI have edited out a few words and lines that reference Santa smoking and removed the cover illustration of his pipe. The omission of these few words do not change the material intent of the author nor do they infringe on the reader\u2019s understanding or enjoyment of this historically-rich story, but by removing these words we may save lives and avoid influencing new smokers. I think these edits outweigh other considerations. If this text is to survive another 200 years it needs to modernize and reflect today\u2019s realities. I want children to celebrate the spirit of giving and to reflect proudly on the holiday traditions that shape their childhood, and the best way to honor Santa and this story is to make him smoke-free.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Library Association has gone on record that the changes amount to \u201can act of censorship that denies the audience access to the author\u2019s authentic voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have to agree; and I think of another famous writer whose works have had a similar fate in recent years- Mark Twain, whose classics have been revised<\/a> to omit \u201coffensive words\u201d that were common vernacular for the time.<\/p>\n

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA\u2019s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said that \u201csuch censorship misrepresents the artist\u2019s original work and relies wholly on the idea that children are incapable of critical thinking or that a parent\u2019s guidance and training are meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n

She suggested that \u201ca far better path would be providing tools for parents who want to raise the issue with their children rather than suppressing Clement Moore\u2019s speech. One person\u2019s beliefs- no matter how well-meaning- should not be used to deny youth and families the ability to read Clement Moore\u2019s original poem for their own enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, I couldn\u2019t agree more. This is yet another incident in which the insecurities of a so-called modern mentality are running roughshod and revising history to fit the censors\u2019 self-righteous sensitivities. It is an insult to fact and logic. Smoking was a common practice and this image of a man is befitting of the 19th<\/sup> century, folks- step out of the bubble and deal with it. That\u2019s the whole point of history- to learn from our mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people my age have lost someone to smoking,\u201d McColl said, herself a former smoker, \u201cAnd I thought, \u2018Oh my. This is a great project.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So, with illustrators Elena Almazova and Vitaly Shvarov, McColl put out the new version in Spanish, English, and French with a note from Santa on the back flap that says he has \u201c\u2026decided to leave all of that old tired business of smoking well behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reaction has been mixed, to say the least. It has drawn support from children\u2019s advocates and pediatricians, but strong criticism from librarians and those who oppose censorship. Many critics cast serious doubt that the image of Santa\u2019s pipe gets children to light up, and they say that it\u2019s not okay to hack away at the original poem.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy fear is not that kids will read [it] and take up smoking. My fear is that kids will take their cues from models I revere nowhere near as much as I revere literature,\u201d said David Kipen, owner of Libros Schmibros bookstore in Los Angeles and a longtime literature advocate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt bespeaks of such a wholesale misunderstanding of what literature is or does. Given a choice of kids smoking or not smoking, I would come out on the side of kids not smoking. But I don\u2019t think the means justify the ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cSmoking killed my dad, so it\u2019s not like I’m an apologist for the devil weed.”<\/p>\n

The New York Post reported that The National Coalition Against Censorship said that \u201cputting children in an insulation bubble, hoping to protect them from anything their parents may deem harmful, is not only impossible, it is unproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t run into any opposition until someone said he\u2019s a historical figure. He\u2019s not historical to the people I\u2019m worried about. To children, he\u2019s real. He\u2019s coming down the chimney and he\u2019s smoking in the middle of the living room,\u201d McColl said.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no supporter of smoking by anyone<\/em>, let alone children; but even I thought a comment<\/a> by David Savona, a blogger on the website Cigar Aficionado, was spot on when he stated, \u201cI have no issue with a person coming up with a story that doesn\u2019t mention smoking, or one that talks about smoking being bad for you. If it\u2019s your story, you can write it any way you please. But rather than having the creativity to imagine a tale of her own, to pluck words from the ether and place them together in a way that people might find as memorable, endearing and entertaining as the original, McColl simply took out her red pen and cut out the words she didn\u2019t like. That\u2019s not writing- that\u2019s censoring.\u201d
\nAs for Santa\u2019s \u201cchubby and plump\u201d stature, McColl said she\u2019ll leave that to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t eat in the story. That\u2019s not my issue,” she said to the LA Times. \u201cThat\u2019s Jamie Oliver and other people\u2019s issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

How smug is this person?<\/em><\/p>\n

But the truth is that she doesn\u2019t stop with just smoking. She may have a blas\u00e9 faire attitude about the obesity thing, but she does take issue on animal rights.<\/p>\n

In the back flap of her new version it also states, in the supposed \u201cLetter from Santa,\u201d that the fur on his iconic suit is fake. That ought to appease to the folks over at PETA, but why not go all out. Obviously he\u2019s an animal abuser who wears the skin of his victims, but he also chains them up and forces them to drive his sleigh as he breaks into homes around the world to offer free candy and gifts to our children- an obvious indoctrination into the welfare system; all the while helping himself by engorging on our cookies and milk. He\u2019s teaching our kids to abuse animals, expect free hand outs, and have poor dietary habits because being overweight is awesome.<\/p>\n

McColl\u2019s\u00a0Twas the Night Before Christmas<\/em>\u00a0has also made the Grammar Nazi emerge from my psyche, as it is published without the apostrophe before the \u201ct\u201d in \u201c\u2019twas.\u201d I think she needs a history and a grammar lesson.<\/p>\n

Speaking of history lessons- Clement Moore came from a prominent family and his father, Benjamin Moore, was the Bishop of New York who officiated at the inauguration of George Washington.<\/p>\n

Smoking may be a practice that will not stand the test of time but we can\u2019t ignore its history or its place in literature and character. For all the good that it does, there are times that the politically correct movement gets a little too full of itself and steps outside of the boundary of logic and good intentions. Trying to create a meaningful future by revising and ignoring the past is counterproductive to tradition and a disservice to critical thinking. The greatest gift you can give the next generation is not in taking a red pen to past traditions but by creating new ones that in time will become just as beloved and cherished on those cold winter nights.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information on the Banned Books Awareness and Reading for Knowledge project and the complete list of titles covered, please visit the official website at http:\/\/www.deepforestproductions.com\/BBARK.html<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Sources: American Library Association, Wikipedia, Guardian UK<\/a>, Telegraph UK<\/a>, Daily Mail<\/a>, Examiner<\/a>, Cigar Aficionado<\/a>, LA Times<\/a><\/em>
\n\u00a9 2012 R. Wolf Baldassarro\/Deep Forest Productions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2019Twas the night before Christmas and someone stole Santa\u2019s pipe. Yes, folks- yet another beloved tale from childhood has become the latest victim of the red pen of politically correct censorship as tradition and historical accuracy fall to ignorance and arrogance. The 18th-century poem, \u201cA Visit from St. Nicholas\u201d- more […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[70,83,250,255,285,306,312,343],"class_list":["post-515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-change","tag-censorship","tag-clement-moore","tag-pamela-mccoll","tag-politically-correct","tag-santa","tag-smoking","tag-st-nick","tag-twas-the-night-before-christmas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Twas.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1353,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions\/1353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}