A couple of weeks ago, we reported on two teenagers who claimed to be traumatized by seeing a gay sex book at the library. But how traumatized could they be? After all, they sued for just $20,000. So, logically, they must have only been 1/20th as distressed by the thought of gay people as Jessica Turner of Chicago:
A suit was filed on behalf of a 12-year-old girl who claims she suffered psychological distress when a teacher showed in class the gay-themed movie “Brokeback Mountain.”
The girl, Jessica Turner, and her grandparents Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking more than $400,000 in damages under the suit filed Friday against the Chicago Board of Education and others.
[…]
The plaintiffs accuse Diaz, Buford and the Chicago Board of Education of negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit claims Jessica continues to suffer from emotional distress caused by watching the film and is currently undergoing psychological treatment and counseling.
You know, as I recall, William Faulkner had that effect on me. I wonder what the statute of limitations is on psychological-assault-by-bad-literature.
9 Comments
Faulkner prose, or machine-translated German text? You can take the test here (via Terry Teachout).
Good reason to send your kids to private school. Bad reason to sue.
I hope you never undergo the startlement, pain and heartbreak I experienced by reading the ending of “Freya of the Seven Isles” by Joseph Conrad. I should sue his estate.
The lawsuit is ridiculous, but the substitute teacher should never be hired again. What educational value is there in showing “Brokeback Mountain” to a junior high school class? Why not screen “Friday the 13th” while they are at it? It was a waste of student’s time and taxpayers money.
http://shieldofachilles.blogspot.com
I think it is a good reason to sue, and I hope they win. Maybe the 400k is excessive, but not the reason to sue. The school was obviously negligent for showing a controversial rated R movie to 12 year olds. It does matter if the movie was gay-themed or straight-themed or whatever. It was a rated R movie that has sexual content in it.
I have voluntarily gone to the theater recently and left feeling that I should sue. I can just imagine this poor girls trauma at being forced to watch what Hollywood produces.
I remember in high school the teacher fast forwarded through the fully dressed can-can girls in an Old West movie. And they can show Brokeback Mountain? Damn school has changed
I’ll join the chorus in asking why a group of pre-teens was shown Brokeback Mountain in school. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’m familiar enough with it to know there’s no educational value in it. Damned lazy teachers.
Certainly the teacher should be fired. It’s obviously a case of the teacher pushing her political values on her students. That it was mandatory viewing was hard to comprehend. It doesn’t even belong there with an opt-out for students.
Even if the purpose of showing the film was to prompt a discussion on some social values, the film has no business being shown at any junior high, and not even at a high school. It’s R-rated. Show at college? I don’t believe the film in question has any value of any kind, but at least at college it’s likely that all students are likely to be at least 17 years old.