‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Ban Lifted in Florida
Well, it looks like Florida is heating up – and we’re not talking about the weather! The controversial ban of E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey by the Brevard County Library System has been lifted, which means that Floridians can finally get in on the ‘mommy porn’ action (that line sounded more PG in my head).
Earlier this month, the library system took 19 copies of the Twilight fan fiction-inspired novel from its shelves, calling the bestselling novel “semi-pornographic”. Which, in all fairness, it is. The titillating tale features lines such as, “the muscles inside the deepest, darkest part of me clench in the most delicious fashion”.
However, after receiving a bunch of negative feedback (I like to imagine a group of frazzled-looking housewives protesting outside a library, holding signs that say, “We want our porn!,” and, “Censorship makes us fifty shades of angry!”), the county decided to review its selection criteria. The book will soon be returned to the shelves.
“We have a long history of standing against censorship and that continues to be a priority for this library system,” said Cathy Schweinsberg, library services director.
What do you think? Is banning books (for being pornographic, poorly written, or for any other reason) ever okay? And most importantly, have you read Fifty Shades of Grey? I haven’t… but my mom has.
BONUS: If you want to laugh until your sides hurt while listening to Gilbert Gottfried read selections from Fifty Shades of Grey, check out the video below. It is definitely not safe for work (language, sexual content).
