Letter to Senator Verschoor, R-Gilbert (AZ), from Ryan Boudinot on Rick Moody's The Ice Storm
Dear Senator Verschoor,
I recently read an article in the Arizona Daily Sun regarding recent controversy surrounding the inclusion of Rick Moody's The Ice Storm in college curricula in your home state. You were quoted as saying, "There's no defense of this book. I can't believe that anyone would come up here and try to defend that kind of material."
I make the comments that follow under the assumption that you have read The Ice Storm. Or maybe you saw the movie by Ang Lee (whose pro-gay cowboy movie looks to be a lock on Best Picture for this year's Oscar). That counts, I suppose, but I assure you the book is much better than the film. In the highly unlikely case you haven't actually read the book, I promise not to give away the ending.
You should know that I am a former student of Mr. Moody, who has taught on occasion in a graduate writing program at Bennington College in Vermont. I consider studying under Rick Moody one of the highlights of my education and life, and he remains a friend years later. The reading required of me by Mr. Moody included Virgil's The Aeneid, Lattimore's translation of The New Testament, and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Moody's grasp of the varieties of human experience is vast, and he doesn't shy away from reading or writing about human experiences that may challenge certain sensibilities. In fact, he belongs to a tradition of artists and thinkers for whom the study of the myriad ways humans live, love, work, and think is a hallmark of moral and civic maturity. And you should know that as a Christian and the co-editor of a collection of essays about the New Testament, Joyful Noise, Mr. Moody has come under attack from certain liberal quarters of the literary community but refuses to bow to intellectual fashion. What moves me most in Moody's work is his keen empathy for his characters filtered through a dazzling and verbal intelligence. The Ice Storm is a powerful, sorrowful story of American families coping with the sexual and cultural confusion of the 1970s. An argument might be made that The Ice Storm expresses a sadness for the loss of moral guidance for which your political party so often claims to bear the standard.
If literary considerations of the kinds of non-monogamous sexual behaviors that have existed for all of human history are considered beyond defense, I'm afraid your opinion and mine are irreconcilable. However, if you agree that human beings are complicated and struggle with questions of faith, sexuality, politics, and culture, and if you agree that such struggles arise from human beings' essential goodness, then I believe you might find much to admire in the works of Rick Moody. At the very least I would hope you agree that other mature adults should be free to take up such questions as to be found in Moody's novels for consideration in an academic environment, their own home, or in public.
I have also considered the possibility that your comments about The Ice Storm are meant to appeal to the conservative voters of your district in the interest of preserving your political influence as a US senator. One of many threads in The Ice Storm involves the malaise that enveloped the United States post-Watergate, with faith in public officials at a low point. I don't need to tell you that our country is in the midst of such a period right now. Statements against intellectual freedom such as yours invariably provoke the opposite result of their intent, with more attention (and thus sales) for the media product in question, and sympathy for the author. Works once deemed obscene or profane are more often than not considered benign or culturally vital with age, and comments such as yours, committed to the public record, are deemed by history at best embarrassing and at worst indefensible.
As a citizen of the United States of America compelled to live under the laws you draft, I demand a public apology from you to Rick Moody and all Americans for your unfortunate statement.
Sincerely,
Ryan Boudinot
***
related items:
Fact Sheet for S.B. 1331
Avoid Whatever Offends You (article detailing the controversy at Inside Higher Ed)
I recently read an article in the Arizona Daily Sun regarding recent controversy surrounding the inclusion of Rick Moody's The Ice Storm in college curricula in your home state. You were quoted as saying, "There's no defense of this book. I can't believe that anyone would come up here and try to defend that kind of material."
I make the comments that follow under the assumption that you have read The Ice Storm. Or maybe you saw the movie by Ang Lee (whose pro-gay cowboy movie looks to be a lock on Best Picture for this year's Oscar). That counts, I suppose, but I assure you the book is much better than the film. In the highly unlikely case you haven't actually read the book, I promise not to give away the ending.
You should know that I am a former student of Mr. Moody, who has taught on occasion in a graduate writing program at Bennington College in Vermont. I consider studying under Rick Moody one of the highlights of my education and life, and he remains a friend years later. The reading required of me by Mr. Moody included Virgil's The Aeneid, Lattimore's translation of The New Testament, and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Moody's grasp of the varieties of human experience is vast, and he doesn't shy away from reading or writing about human experiences that may challenge certain sensibilities. In fact, he belongs to a tradition of artists and thinkers for whom the study of the myriad ways humans live, love, work, and think is a hallmark of moral and civic maturity. And you should know that as a Christian and the co-editor of a collection of essays about the New Testament, Joyful Noise, Mr. Moody has come under attack from certain liberal quarters of the literary community but refuses to bow to intellectual fashion. What moves me most in Moody's work is his keen empathy for his characters filtered through a dazzling and verbal intelligence. The Ice Storm is a powerful, sorrowful story of American families coping with the sexual and cultural confusion of the 1970s. An argument might be made that The Ice Storm expresses a sadness for the loss of moral guidance for which your political party so often claims to bear the standard.
If literary considerations of the kinds of non-monogamous sexual behaviors that have existed for all of human history are considered beyond defense, I'm afraid your opinion and mine are irreconcilable. However, if you agree that human beings are complicated and struggle with questions of faith, sexuality, politics, and culture, and if you agree that such struggles arise from human beings' essential goodness, then I believe you might find much to admire in the works of Rick Moody. At the very least I would hope you agree that other mature adults should be free to take up such questions as to be found in Moody's novels for consideration in an academic environment, their own home, or in public.
I have also considered the possibility that your comments about The Ice Storm are meant to appeal to the conservative voters of your district in the interest of preserving your political influence as a US senator. One of many threads in The Ice Storm involves the malaise that enveloped the United States post-Watergate, with faith in public officials at a low point. I don't need to tell you that our country is in the midst of such a period right now. Statements against intellectual freedom such as yours invariably provoke the opposite result of their intent, with more attention (and thus sales) for the media product in question, and sympathy for the author. Works once deemed obscene or profane are more often than not considered benign or culturally vital with age, and comments such as yours, committed to the public record, are deemed by history at best embarrassing and at worst indefensible.
As a citizen of the United States of America compelled to live under the laws you draft, I demand a public apology from you to Rick Moody and all Americans for your unfortunate statement.
Sincerely,
Ryan Boudinot
***
related items:
Fact Sheet for S.B. 1331
Avoid Whatever Offends You (article detailing the controversy at Inside Higher Ed)
posted by Ismael Ricardo Archbold at 2/21/2006 10:32:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home