Banning of American Psycho

Categories: American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis

Essay, Pages 2 (496 words)

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There is always going to be that one author with far fetched ideas that not everyone agrees with or understands and with that people will always challenge those books. The novel, American Psycho by Bret Easton Elis, just happens to be one of those novels that capture people's attention, and not in a good way. This book has been pulled from the shelves from libraries around the world due to the gorey sexual torture and murder in the book. Although this book has very graphic content in it I do not think that it should be banned, however I do think that it should be age restricted.

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According to thevitagenew.com in many countries the book is not allowed to be sold to people under the age of 18 because the content is thought to be harmful to minors due to sexual torture, necrophilia, sex, and profanity written in the novel. For example in Australia, the book has to be sold shrink-wrapped to stop minors from reading the book in stores, and in public libraries the book is available but is only in the restricted section that minors do not have access to.

Although, American Psycho is a controversial book I do not agree with it being banned, but I do think that putting an age restriction on this book is ok. Children should not be exposed to the graphic murders Elis writes about, for example ”he starts nodding helplessly and I pull out a long knife with a serrated edge and, being very careful not to kill him, push maybe half an inch of the blade into his right eye, flicking the handle up, instantly popping the retina.

”(Elis 131) this type of violence may be harmful to a child's psyche and may scar them in the future. This book also promotes the use of homosexual slurs such as when price says, “what are you fags talking about?”(Elis 32) This is not the only example of the use of homosexual slurs, they are scattered all throughout the book. This type of language could teach a child to discriminate against people who are different than they are, causing them to become bullies. Parents are also concerned that this book could teach their children that using drugs is cool.

There is a scene in the book that Bateman's fiance invites an “artist” friend over for dinner and Bateman says “she is doped up watching MTV…”(Elis 11), and he just shrugs it off. This could teach teen that drugs are not a big deal and that it is ok to do drugs. There is no denying that American Psycho by Bret Easton Elis’s Novel is not for the light hearted and no child should be exposed to the details in the book, however I do not think that any book should ever be banned from anywhere. The matter of the fact is that their will always be books that are very controversial and you can not sensor everyone's reading.