On Sex, Swearing, and Violence in Literature

Recite the 13th Article of Faith. Right now. Ready, go! Ok, good job. You finished that statement of truth with the words, "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." I love that phrase. It gives us solid principles to teach our children, guide our careers, and select our entertainment. However, I think that as members of the church, we too often fall into the trap of over-simplifying. We tend to shy away from anything that contains sexual references, violence, swearing, or other immoral behavior. Now, that's fine, but it also means that, like all blanket statements, value can be overlooked. (Note: I believe that movies, TV, and music require slightly different criteria, so everything I'm about to say relates only to literature.) Please understand that I am absolutely an advocate for holding high standards, but I also want to show that there can be great value in literature that contains sex, violence, and swearing. Let me explain.

First, let's establish some shared assumptions. I believe that in order for a book to qualify as "good literature" it must do several things. First, it must tell the truth. This can be accuracy of facts, but more importantly, it should reveal truths of human nature and behavior. It should implicitly comment on a universal condition. Second, it must be well-crafted. The characters must have depth and fallibility. The plot should be engaging. There's an endless list of criteria for "well-crafted," but I'm going to assume that we can all recognize it when we read it. I could list more criteria, but those two are the most important. 

Ok, let's look at what that has to do with SVS (sex, violence, swearing). Telling the truth means showing consequences. Let's say that two characters in a book have sex out of wedlock. Obviously bad. Now if the book romanticizes it and shows a singular dimension of emotions and zero effect on anything else in the characters' lives, then that is not telling the truth (Nicholas Sparks is a prime example of this). However, if a book deals honestly with the emotional and logistical consequences, then it can teach powerfully. John Green does an amazing job with this in his book Looking for Alaska. He's gotten some backlash for a sex scene in the book, because parents were worried that now all their teenagers were going to go do the same thing. What they failed to realize (because most didn't actually read the book) was that John included the scene to show the absolute loneliness and emotional emptiness that accompanies casual teenage sex. It dealt with a reality that many teenagers experience, and the purpose was the complete opposite of encouragement. He told the truth, and it was a powerful book because of it (won two awards, actually). At this point, you're probably thinking that there are many books that tell the truth without sex. Well, of course. I'm not saying to go read all the books with fornication you can find. I'm saying when you encounter a book with it, look closely and consider if it's telling the truth and what it reveals about a human condition. And if you find that it does NOT tell the truth, PUT IT DOWN! Don't give it to your kids, either. 

Violence is a little more interesting topic. I've found that with violence, we tend to have a higher tolerance than sex or even swearing. I don't know why, but we do. Gratuitous violence in literature is not well-crafted work. Let me define "gratuitous." According to the OED, it means "Freely bestowed or obtained; granted without claim or merit; provided without payment or return; costing nothing to the recipient; free." Violence never comes without cost in the real world. The Book of Mormon is a great example of non-gratuitous violence. I could estimate that over 1 million people die from the sword in the 531 pages of the Book of Mormon. A lot of slaying and bloodshed goes on, but all for a reason, and all with consequence. And what do we learn from it? Beautiful lessons--because it tells the truth. Violence, if it comes at a price, can expose human truths not seen in other circumstances. If you encounter violence in a book, consider what the cost is. If it's gratuitous, PUT IT DOWN! 

Swearing needs to be considered in the most complex way. It largely concerns our second criteria: well-crafted. Let's say that an author writes a novel with a sailor as a character. And let's say the sailor breaks his arm. And let's say the sailor says, "My golly goodness, that sure hurts like heck!" How convincing would that character be? Would we continue suspending our disbelief, wrapped in the plot, or would we suddenly become aware that this is a fictitious character? Eliminating all swearing at the expense of believable writing is poor craftsmanship. However, the idea of gratuitous swearing is equally poor. If swearing does not add dimension to a character, or show a conflict or contrast, it's gratuitous. PUT IT DOWN! Again, if it does show conflict or contrast or depth, don't immediately discard the book. A good example of this is a YA lit book called A Complicated Kindness. It's basically the female, Mennonite version of Catcher in the Rye. It uses swearing, particularly the F word, quite liberally. I am not a fan of swearing, but I was ok with this because it created a harsh conflict between the Mennonite community expectation, and who the character actually was. And this conflict was the basis of the whole story, and it implicitly commented on the universal condition of unmet expectations. So I was ok with it. That said, even though sometimes it's not gratuitous, I will put a book down because it makes me uncomfortable. And that is perfectly legal. Always use judgement and sensitivity. 

Ok, so that's my long discussion on SVS in literature. Let me end by saying that good literature asks questions; it doesn't give easy answers. Be just as wary of squeaky clean, vapid, easy novels. Always look for truth and craftsmanship. And of course, if you are going to allow your children to read a book with SVS, always read it first, and read it with them. Take some time to discuss the implicit questions and the revealed human truths. And obviously, be sure they are mature enough to know that they can understand a way of thinking or behavior without adopting it. 

So those are my thoughts. What are yours?