Author Topic: King & King: a children's book about two kings in love  (Read 2624 times)

mvansand76

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King & King: a children's book about two kings in love
« on: March 27, 2007, 02:24:27 pm »
I saw an interview with the writer, Linda de Haan, on television just now. I knew about the book, but I hadn't heard about the controversy it caused when it was translated into English and sold in the UK and USA.

Here is what I found on Wikipedia:

King & King (ISBN 1-58246-061-2) is a young children's book by Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland. It was originally written in Dutch ("Koning en Koning"), but later translated into English. Approximately 15,000 copies have been sold in the United States. There is a sequel, King & King & Family.

Plot:
"On the tallest mountain above (a) town," a young prince still has not married, as is the custom in his kingdom. His mother, a grouchy Queen insists he must find a princess to marry. The prince tells his mom "Very well, Mother.... I must say, though, I've never cared much for princesses." His mother marches princess after princess through the castle, but they fail to interest the prince. After a while along comes princess Madaleine escorted by her brother Prince Lee, who causes the prince to exclaim, "What a wonderful prince!" The prince immediately falls in love with the prince, and they begin marriage preparations at once. The story ends with a kiss between the two kings.

Controversy:
In some areas of the United States the book has been the subject of controversy. In a suit against a Lexington, Massachusetts school where the book was read, opponents claim the book intends to indoctrinate children by failing to portray homosexuality in a negative light. The teacher in question has said that reading the book was not intended as sex education but was appropriate in the context of a lesson being given on the subject of marriages. Massachusetts is the only state where same-sex marriages are legal. The teacher and the school board also claimed that there was no obligation, either before or after the reading, to inform the parents of the book having been read.

Lawsuit
In 2006 Joseph and Robin Wirthlin and David and Tonia Parker filed a federal lawsuit against the school district of Estabrook Elementary School their second grader attends in Lexington, Massachusetts. They claim that using the book in school constituted sexual education without parental notification, which would be a violation of their civil rights and state law. Robin Wirthlin appeared on CNN, saying "We felt like seven years old is not appropriate to introduce homosexual themes." and "My problem is that this issue of romantic attraction between two men is being presented to my seven-year-old as wonderful, and good and the way things should be."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_and_King


What do you all think?

Offline belbbmfan

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Re: King & King: a children's book about two kings in love
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2007, 03:10:43 pm »
Hey Mel,
i heard about this on the radio today. I think it's a good way to get the message across that there are other families and couples out there than the ones we always read about in a fairytale.

"My problem is that this issue of romantic attraction between two men is being presented to my seven-year-old as wonderful, and good and the way things should be."


Sounds like a modern day version of Ennis's father talking....

what a shame.
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline Toast

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Re: King & King: a children's book about two kings in love
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2007, 03:17:02 pm »
It's interesting that this book is called indoctrination.

What about all the hetero stories we hear in grade school, should they be removed as well since the same process is at work.  Getting a mate of the opposite sex is great, even if you have to kill, steal and sneak around to do it.

If we can indoctrinate for hetero, why can't we "indoctrinate" for homo?

These people are too caught up in the "fact" that their belief structure is "natural and therefore holy."

I love the theme of the book, and letting some kid have the idea slip in that there are different kinds of families and that all people deserve respect, even the people who live differently than us.

It's so sad that America has such a strong cultural control of the world with it's economy and media; but is so regressive in human rights - mainly because of its religious view of morality.   The King can blow the other King's head off and kill all his peasants, but for God's sake don't go kissing any Kings - at least not on the lips.

Offline Daniel

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Re: King & King: a children's book about two kings in love
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2007, 03:31:18 pm »
There will be a time, and I'm not sure if its 10 years from now or 100 years from now, when we will look back on the age of indoctrination of morality as the dark ages of the modern times. Dogmatic religion and the closed-view mindsets that it is not only legitimizing but enforcing are destroying the cognitive breath of the planet, suffocating the global culture.  I think I agree with Martin Luther King Jr when he suggested that a suffocated people will not simply give up the fight, but will struggle against their opressors. What frightens me is that peaceful resistance against dogmatic religion and religion-based government does not seem to work very well.

So some other resistance will need to be developed. Intelligent resistance works to a marginal degree, and through peaceful argument (that is the argument of logical discourse instead of emotional injury) dogma can melt momentarily. The problem I think is that many of those freed from dogmatic thought find themselves uncertain of what to do next, so they turn back to it at the next available opportunity, preventing themselves from thinking except in ways which fit in with the vocal majority.

If we can remember Plato's allegory of the cave from The Republic. People chained to the walls of a cave since birth were shown shadows and figments and projections on the opposite wall of the cave, and they grew accustomed to them. Even when freed, they did not go out of the cave to see what was projecting those shadows and images, but remained where they were, content in their limited awareness.
Why do we consume what we consume?
Why do we believe what we believe?
Why do we accept what we accept?
You have a body, a mind, and a soul.... You have a responsibility.

Offline opinionista

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Re: King & King: a children's book about two kings in love
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2007, 03:33:54 pm »
You know, fairy tales are often brutally violent, and I don't recall any parent ever suing a school or a publishing house for making them available for children. In Little Red Riding Hood, the poor girl confronts a really mean wolf that has killed her grandmother. Cinderella was a victim of slavery and child abuse; Snowwhite eats a poisoned apple and is almost murdered because some witch had some serious low self esteem problems; Hop o' My Thumb was threatened and pursued by a giant who has eaten all of his siblings. It goes on and on. I wonder what the hell goes on within the mind of some people that seem to think violence is okay but tellling a love story in which the protagonists happen to be gay is plain wrong and a cause for a lawsuit. No wonder the world is going down the drain!
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline Wishes

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Re: King & King: a children's book about two kings in love
« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2007, 09:23:45 pm »
I'd like to see a copy of that book. And the two kings kiss at the end. Maybe it would be OK if they killed each other!

Fairy Tales are gory. I grew up reading Grimm's fairy tales and I'm certainly not a violent person. But many fairy tales are filled with blood, violence and revenge. This book sounds like a very sweet fairy tale. I'd love to read it.