The Banned Together Film Viewing & Discussion

Alyssa VanPelt-Cathcart, Staff Writer

Last week, faculty member and author Michelle Hendley led a viewing for the film “Banned Together.” Hendley has gone to many conferences to present on the subject of book banning and worked alongside the Gender & Sexuality Club, History Club, and the Secondary Education Club to make the viewing happen.  

Hendley’s presentation provided context for “Banned Together” and the history of banning books. She explained the difference between the conversations of a book being challenged and a book being banned. To challenge a book is to attempt to remove or restrict materials based on content. To ban would be the official removal of materials merely based on a disliking or different belief. 

In “Banned Together,” the film follows a group of high school seniors who work together to bring books back into their local libraries. The three students are from the group Diversity Youth Literacy Organization who work on promoting diverse literature within their communities. After parents in their communities push to ban almost a hundred books from their school libraries, they begin to voice their beliefs on the matter. By the end of the film, the students successfully brought most of the books back to their libraries. As these students stated throughout the film, they have a right to learn and read what they wish.

Hendley explained the most common books to be challenged or banned are perceived as sexually explicit, containing offensive language, and written with commentary on queerism and race. Many people who call for these bans are parents, who find these books in schools or their public library. Additionally, book banning happens outside of the U.S. and has been occurring for far longer than the 21^st century. Surprisingly enough, “The Odyssey” was banned for its promotion of Greek Freedoms by the Roman Empire. And even “All Quiet on the Western Front” was banned by Nazi Germany.

The film also highlighted the mission of Moms For Liberty, a political organization advocating against school curricula to limit diversity in schools which included book bans. The organization began in Florida and further expanded to Midwestern America. As of 2023, 4,240 books have been challenged and another 1,247 have been banned.