Our Public Library has the movie "Saw"...is there anything we can do to have it removed?

Our local library has the movie "Saw" %26amp; others like it. We pay taxes here, so it seems we would have a say in what is bought. I called there %26amp; she said that she is the one that purchases it %26amp; did it b/c she had a request for it.





Said our only recourse was to sign a complaint form which would be "kept on file". A lot of good that would do! Said that they "couldn't sensor what people watch."





What can I do - anything?





People want to complain when we have people who's mind's run in violent ways, yet we have our public library BUYING IT FOR THEM - to make it easier, I guess!





I am upset about it...is there anything I can do!?

Our Public Library has the movie "Saw"...is there anything we can do to have it removed?
Move to a country where censorship is permissable.


If you get to remove from the PUBLIC library what YOU find objectionable, then I get to remove what offends ME, and so does the next guy, before long, you have an empty library.
Reply:You can avoid checking those films out, or you can make requests for what you consider more tasteful materials. However, you should understand that not everyone likes the same books and movies and that you have no right to infringe on the rights of other taxpayers to see what they want (within reason) offered in the public library. Just my $0.02.
Reply:I would just like to know how you got so all-knowing that YOU know what is best for every one.
Reply:You can just not check it out, and leave it there for other people to make their own choices.





No, there isn't anything you can do. Would you like the library to send out a form each month for you to approve their latest purchases? And if each proposed book is not unanimously approved by the voters, the library should refuse to purchase it? Does that sound like a way to run... well, anything?





The point of having a library is to provide free and open media and educational resources for everybody. The premise being that an educated public, with their right to freedom of speech and choice, is what's going to keep this country going.





I know that this isn't an educational movie! But libraries also serve to provide entertainment, and most importantly they are there to serve the public... if somebody actually called in and requested it, what was the librarian supposed to say? "Sorry, we don't think that movie is morally appropriate for a public library." That may be fine for "Saw," but what about when someone requests a copy of Nabokov's "Lolita"? I don't want people like you, for example, making those calls for the rest of us.





I haven't seen it, because it looks to me like a pretty distasteful and graphic film. So I don't want to. But other people do, and that's okay with me. I make my choices, and they make theirs, and I'm glad that my library is there to support all of us. I use it frequently, and the more variety on the shelves, the better for everyone.
Reply:If you don't like it, you are under no obligation to check it out. Pure and simple.





There are plenty of things in libraries that someone, somewhere is not going to like. Atheists might not like to see the Bible there. Republicans don't like to see liberal works. Many people wouldn't want to see Mein Kampf. Yet all of these things are in virtually every library in the country.





We are a free and open society and do not censor things just because someone doesn't like it. You have every right to your opinion, but you have NO right to dictate what I might want to see at the library.
Reply:What can you do? YOU CAN REALIZE YOU LIVE IN AMERICA WHERE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FREE FROM OPPRESSORS SUCH AS YOURSELF. WE ALL PAY TAXES THAT SUPPORT THINGS WE DO NOT AGREE WITH. SUCK IT UP, SIT DOWN, AND SHUT UP.





I'm sure the library has a policy regarding renting only to those old enough (18 and over for R movies). It is not YOUR place to determine what materials are acceptable for a PUBLIC institution to carry. It isn't porn. Get over it.





So now we're to punish everyone for acts that MIGHT occur by someone, somewhere, sometime? We do not live in a nation of "thought police". Do you want to ban all movies and games that might, possibly influence another human to do something illegal? Yes, it is your tax money buying those DVD's but it is also the guy next doors tax money and HE wants to watch SAW and rent it from the library. Why shouldn't he be able to rent a LEGAL movie? Your tax money pays for the war, welfare, abortion, corporate welfare, farm subsidies, protection of the scrub jay, bridges in Alaska that serve 50 people, and any number of other wasteful and harmful projects. Why do you choose this one thing to complain about when this is something that is PROTECTED BY OUR CONSTITUTION?
Reply:Yes there is something that you can do! Are you ready invoke your freedom of choose by not renting it. Stop telling people what they can and can't rent. Find a real cause and stop making waves where none are needed.





Oh and FYI its a PUBLIC library which means its sponsored by our government which means they are subject the have the same constitutional rights that you do.





In short help starving children, abused animals, or something that is impotent. So in conclusion you have the right to not rent said movie as much as other people have the right TO rent that movie.
Reply:A public library is for the public. You could start a private library and put into it what ever you want. The public is everyone. Not just those who agree with us.
Reply:You have to think of it from all perspectives. There are people in your community who would feel exactly the same way about The Passion of the Christ being funded with their tax dollars.





Instead of focussing on how you can get it removed, why not take a different approach and ask if you can hold a 'round table' at the library, invite the public and get people talking openly and without hostility about everyone's feelings on movies and entertainment in general.





Talk to them about your feelings, listen to theirs, and maybe you will open some hearts to your point of view and help others realize that that sort of entertainment is unhealthy for our society. Maybe you will learn from their perspective as well, and become more tolerant. Either way, you will feel you have accomplished something perhaps?
Reply:The First Amendment, baby. If you don't like the movie, don't rent it.

gerbera