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The banning of books has long been criticized, yet people still think seem to think that it's a good idea. You'll notice that some of the bans on this list are from within the last five or 10 years even. Yet, some filmmakers decide to fight back to the criticism being thrown at the novel. They'll make films as equally racy, violent, or challenging as the books they're based on, which then often also receive backlash from the same group of folks. However, that group is usually fairly small when compared to the entire world - so most of the films made from the banned books on this list did quite well at the box office.
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This year, innumerable authors will pitch tens of millions of books to publishers and agents
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From that literary scrum, industry insiders will select around a million titles to publish
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And those selected titles will join the over 100 million existing titles already out in the world
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Now, who decides which of these millions of titles appears on the shelves of your local school, library, or prison is a murky business
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But when people challenge whether it's appropriate for one of those published books to appear on some of those public shelves
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and that challenge is honored, it's popularly labeled a book ban. But when someone tries to ban a book, it can be pretty good advertising
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because lots of people want to know what the hubbub is all about. And if you can score the film rights to a banned publication, you're almost guaranteed to generate some buzz
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So, today, we're permitting a list of movies based on banned books, or books someone attempted to ban
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Let's hit the books. Nothing takes you back to the carefree days of sophomore English class like Harper Lee's 1960 book, To Kill a Mockingbird
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A novel that, despite its name, is not about assassinating birds. This coming-of-age story about courage and racial equality was challenged by a woman in Virginia in 1966 for being immoral, largely because the book uses sexual violence as a plot point
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In recent years, the book found itself challenged or banned in some local schools in California, Virginia, Washington, and Mississippi for various reasons, including derogatory language and sexual violence
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violence. But that kind of fussing never stops Hollywood. In 1962, director Robert Mulligan
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turned the book into a movie starring Gregory Peck, garnering overwhelming praise from both
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critics and audiences. The movie remains a classic. In 1982, Alice Walker released her novel The Color
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Purple to critical acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize for her efforts. The story is about a young
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African-American woman living in early 20th century Georgia and all the challenges in her life
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Even though the book was well regarded, some did not approve of the violence, sexual explicitness
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homosexuality, racism, and language. In 2017, Texas banned the book from all their state prisons
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due to the topic of incest. Three years after the novel hit bookshelves, Steven Spielberg directed
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a film version of The Color Purple, which launched the career of pre-talk show media mogul Oprah
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Winfrey. The film earned 11 Academy Award nominations. In 2005, the book was adapted
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into a Broadway musical, and that version was adapted into a 2023 film
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Lord of the Flies was either a nightmare for your high school reading homework
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or a dream of yours to live on an island with no adults and no rules
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Although that turns into a nightmare if you read far enough. Written by William Golding in 1954
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Four, the book deals with a plane crash, which leaves a group of young boys stuck on an island
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forced to fend for themselves It deals with societal order loss of innocence and a character named Piggy who deserved better Kids facing adult moral dilemmas using racial slurs and eventually killing each other was seen as inappropriate for some readers
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And while some of these situations have been removed from the reprints of the novel, the remaining subject matter has led to Lord of the Flies being the eighth most challenged or banned book in the U.S. of A
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As far as the moving pictures, Lord of the Flies has been adapted twice. Peter Brook directed an acclaimed 1963 version, while Harry Hook directed a 1990 take
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which was seen as less faithful by critics. But it does feature Muldoon from Jurassic Park
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which means it should be critically acclaimed. Stephen King doesn't just push the envelope
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In 1974, with his first published horror novel, Carrie, King was shoving that envelope out an open window to its imminent doom
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The story, which King never thought would sell, made him a sensation
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It was generally well-received by critics and sold over a million copies in its first year
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However, some took issue with just how dang violent the story was
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Others were fine with the violence, but didn't fancy the language, underage sex, and menstruation
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At various times in its life, Carrie has been banned in institutions in Nevada, Vermont, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota
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In 1976, just two years after King's book was published, Brian De Palma's film helped create one of the most iconic scenes in horror movie history
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the pig's blood prom scene. Don't worry, you'll still understand the plot of Slaughterhouse-Five
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even if you haven't read Slaughterhouses 1 through 4. Kurt Vonnegut's satirical sci-fi novel landed in bookstores in 1969
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and follows an American soldier through World War II, with a focus on his time as a POW
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Since its publication, the book has been in the sights of book bans at least 18 times
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And when a 1971 ban in a Michigan school was challenged in court
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the circuit judge described the work as depraved, immoral, psychotic, vulgar, and anti-Christian
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although the book would eventually make it to the shelves. A school district in North Dakota actually burned all its copies of the book in 1973
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In 1972, George Roy Hill's film version of the book hit the silver screen
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And we give it five out of five slaughterhouses. Don't worry, we won't make you choose which of these books is most interesting
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That would be A Real Sophie's Choice by William Styron. It's a story about a writer from the American South, a Jewish scientist, and the titular Sophie
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a Polish Catholic woman who survived the World War II concentration camps
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haunted by the impossible choice she was forced to make. The 1979 novel found itself a target of bans despite ending up number 96 on Modern Library's Best 100 Books
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In the U.S., due to its sexual content, various schools banned the book for its students
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Whereas at the time of publication, the governments of Poland, South Africa, and the Soviet Union placed a ban on the book
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For everyone, all the time, everywhere. Now, that's a ban. Sophie's Choice was made into a highly lauded film in 1982 starring Meryl Streep
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who would win one of her three Oscars for her performance Frankly my dear I don give a ban But in 1936 when Margaret Mitchell published Gone with the Wind
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people definitely did. Following Scarlett O'Hara, who lives on her father's plantation
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the book covers many aspects of 19th century America through the Civil War
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And since we're talking about the Civil War, we're talking about slavery. And one of the biggest complaints against the book
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is the derogatory way black characters were described. Despite the pushback, Gone with the Wind went on to become not just a movie, but a movie cited as one of the best of its time
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Boasting hundreds of extras, gargantuan set pieces, and Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable's names on the poster, the film was an instant classic
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But while Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar for the film, it draws ire from some for its romanticized representation of the American South
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Judy Blume gave us Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, in 1970
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spinning the coming-of-age tale of Margaret and her struggles with the age-old question
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Where are you at, God? In the 50-plus years since its publishing, the book has been subject to several bans
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one such band even taking place in the primary school where Blume's own children were attending
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Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, is considered a classic of young adult literature
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So why the backlash? Menstruation and sexuality were seen as inappropriate in some schools
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as well as a teen protagonist who questions the existence of God and chooses her own religious preferences
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Several decades after its publication, a film version of the book finally hit theaters in 2023
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The film does not hide any of the book's themes, instead paying full homage to the source material
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Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange was released in 1962 and was almost immediately challenged for its depictions of robbery, assault, and ultraviolence
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Due to the violence and sexual deviance depicted in the book, it found itself banned occasionally in the 1970s and 80s in some high schools
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in Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Alabama. In 1973, a woman in Utah sold a copy and was arrested for selling obscene items
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although the charges were dropped. Stanley Kubrick directed the film adaptation in 1971, garnering a cult following
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Some British theaters pulled that movie due to the controversial brutality, fearing it may have inspired real-world violence
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And who was at the center of this removal? Stanley Kubrick himself
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That takes some bullshit yarbles. American Psycho was written by Brett Easton Ellis and released in 1991
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Now, when you're exploring the life of a fictional sadistic serial killer
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you're going to get some pretty gruesome details. But Ellis' novel contains such graphic passages
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that they have provoked tons of challenges, controversies, and even accusations of misogyny from Gloria Steinem
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Gasp! In Australia, it garnered an R-13 rating, where they shrink wrap the book
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and it can only be sold to readers over the age of 18 When the movie adaptation came out in 2000 Christian Bale was praised for his performance as the deranged Patrick Bateman Directed by Mary Herron
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the film toned down the novel's graphic scenes, instead emphasizing its blackly satirical sensibilities
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You can't really ban a short story in The New Yorker, but Annie Proulx's 1997 ditty entitled Brokeback Mountain
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did appear in her 1999 collection, Close Range, Wyoming Stories. Brokeback is about two cowboys who fall in love in 1963 Wyoming
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and the effect their relationship has on their marriages and families. The short story's openly gay theme did not fit some schoolroom environments, however
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Specifically, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, a small private religious school in Austin, Texas, where tuition is $50,000 a year
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The short story was on the 12th grade reading list. And some concerned families asked for it to be removed
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with one withdrawing their $3 million pledged donation, as they felt they could not support a school that didn't reflect their values
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The school kept the title on their reading list, and they came up with the $3 million from some other place
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Ang Lee's 2005 film version of the story became a huge success
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and was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Picture, and it won Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, and Best Director
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which was awarded to its Taiwanese director Ang Lee. Interestingly, the film was banned in China
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2003's The Kite Runner, the debut novel from Khaled Hosseini, is about two young boys growing up in Afghanistan through historical transitions and traumas
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Beyond its societal explorations, the book explores complex issues regarding personal friendships and family
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But some people in Utah, California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas
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challenged its presence in public schools for its scenes of underage sexual violence
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vulgar language, and religious content. In 2017, 15 years after its release, The Kite Runner was the fourth most challenged book in America
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The book was adapted into a film in 2007. Directed by Mark Forster, the movie's depictions moved the government in Afghanistan
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and a bannet in all theaters and DVD stores, and its young actors were relocated by Paramount Pictures for their safety
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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle has been no stranger to the challenged book list since its publication in 1962
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due to depicting Jesus, Gandhi, Buddha, Einstein, and da Vinci as similar forces standing together against evil
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Some people objected to these figures being characterized as being equivalent to Jesus
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Lengel described her reaction to the accusations. First, I felt horror, then anger
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And finally, I said, ah, the hell with it. It's great publicity, really
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A Wrinkle in Time made it to the big screen in 2018. Though it boasted a star-studded cast
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including Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Oprah, it received mixed reviews and ultimately lost money at the box office
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How's that for a wrinkle