I Am Not A Pornographer
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- UPDATE: The Depew School Board voted unanimously to keep "Looking for Alaska" in the curriculum; more than 99% of parents allowed their kids to read the book, and it was taught without incident or complaint. Huzzah!
In which John argues that his novel "Looking for Alaska" is not pornographic and should not be removed from the curriculum at Depew High School.
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Nerdfighteria
effyeahnerdfigh...
effyeahnerdfigh...
/ nerdfighters
nerdfighteria.i...
A Bunny
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I can't believe 15 years later this video is still relatable with current events
Was thinking the same thing
That almost makes it worse bc it still hasn’t change
You are absolutely correct. I am sad that it is still relevant. That book has so much to teach and just a shame that it is now label as "inappropriate" by a minority.
This shit literally happened last month in my county
Being a teen myself, it really displeases me when adults brush me off as if I was a stupid and reckless child. I mean, I feel like teens are expected to act like adults and yet...are treated like children.
Thank you
Which is great because those themes are explored in Looking for Alaska :3
Even worse are when children are treated that way. If you tell an eight-year-old that they couldn't possibly understand something because they're too young, they will carry that mindset through their teenage and even adult years.
There are two things that a lot of adults choose to ignore:
1) Stupid kids grow up, too.
2) Respect is earned.
Have you noticed how you know a bunch of people and few of them you like, some you just think they are OK, but a lot of people you know are stupid and just act like asshole? These same people grow up and usually the shitty ones stay the same way as adults.
But, the other extreme is also bad, because you don't know what the others think and what they've been through. That's why you act politely to everyone in the beginning, so you can change your stance towards them afterwards, if you think you should. Because if you act like a dick in the beginning and then be nice, no one will believe you.
Keep an open mind.
Don't be prejudiced, be cautious.
Don't waste time and energy thinking about people you dislike, ignoring them is always the best choice.
These people are UK year 12 (11th grade) and they are 16 which is above the age of consent so they should be able to make there own responsible, mature decisions and, ok, I realise that they are under 18 so it is legally required to contact parents. Also I read looking for Alaska age 13 and, again, I realise that most of the time I'm considered more mature than most my age (I'm not being conceited it's just feedback from peers), but I wasn't influenced negatively in any way in reading that book!
Oh no, theres no way an 11th grader knows anything about sex
have you heard the stuff some 11 or 12 year old kids say on c.o.d
i dont even know how the hell they know that but it is most likely the internet
It's not like we taught them the bird and the bee when they were in 6th grade
@@darthutah6649 this is late & all, but I remember knowing what sex was when I was in elementary (I didn't even have internet)
@@nachochips8090 oh my god, I misread that and thought you said you remembered HAVING sex in elementary.
But yeah I'm in 11th grade right now and I read Looking For Alaska in like 5th grade lol
I'm pretty sure this person was being sarcastic
"It's not the ography that bothers me, it's the porn"
- John Green
Lolz😂
"Shut up and stop condescending to teenagers"
Thank you..... Thank you so much.
THE SAD THING IS THAT THIS STILL MATTERS!
Sadly
i dont even think thats the right response, i think the right response to people who say teenagers dont have the critical sophistication to understand complex messages in literature is more like "what the hell do you think the english class is for"
@@Croktoyeah, like it's just so weird, if you just rub your 2 braincells even for a moment, the whole thing falls apart
Uh no. Murder, torture, and slavery are completely ok but not sex!
I know right? A comepletely natural part of life is evil and wrong.
Jake Schenk It's not that sex is wrong. It's that it's trivialized as a way to make me feel good, rather than a way for two people to be physically/emotionally intimate with one another. We treat it like it's the same as going to McDonalds or some other "guilty" pleasure. We have dilluted what it truly was meant for. That in itself is dangerous. Look at the violent porn or the common interaction between young people that leave one, if not both, scarred emotionally. Scarred emotionally from a physical act. Sex is one of those things that if you enter into it too soon or for the wrong reason you can destroy your relationships. And hurt someone else.
1974spr Sex itself isn't bad, it's how people use it, so really, it's us that are evil and not sex. Sex is fine, but it can be involved in bad things.
Jake Schenk I whole-heartedly agree.
Murder, torture, and slavery shouldn't titillate, it should repel. Sex, even if it wasn't design to titillate, can still titillate.
The only thing I find offending about Looking for Alaska is the fact that it's being taught in some classrooms and not mine. Well, maybe that's a good thing because I'd probably fangirl so hard that I'd pass out...
To be honest I think it kind of kills books when teacher's pull it apart in classrooms and make you write essays about it. I would have enjoyed 'The Simple Gift' If we didn't go through every page hunting down metaphors and such.
I hate when teachers have us rape half decent books because reasons.
Your response is so perfect for this, because I can totally picture John saying exactly the same thing, for exactly the same reason.
i still think none of this is as horrible, yet hilariously ironic, that in many schools Farenheit 451 is banned.
That's stupid. I've only read about half of Fahrenheit but I wouldn't understand why people would do that. It's strange that they don't like the idea of an alternate world destroying books. Ray Bradbury knows it is impossible in real life, that is why it is sci-fi and dystopian.
It doesn't surprise me that a book arguing against censorship is banned by the censors.
Did the extremists in your town make a pile of Fahrenheit 451 and burn it? :P
What temperature do books burn at again?
+
IT'S FULL OF GEOGRAPHY.
*_L E X I C O G R A P H Y_*
Ɔɹʎdʇoƃɹɐdɥʎ
Can't remember if it applies to this one, but that's a valid observation of Paper Towns.
"Have you ever had an Asian country border quiz before"
"That seems out of the blue"
I don't know. Those twin peaks and that valley look kinda sus if you ask me..
Oh no, ban any sort of computers in school, or computer assignments. Otherwise the children will run the risk of being exposed to OBSCENE amounts of typography.
+Cycling in Edmonton from the Eyes of a Teen It's sad how little sarcasm is valued today.
+Cycling in Edmonton from the Eyes of a Teen She was being sarcastic.
Could you provide evidence that this book has been banned? I am not talking about challenged or even removed from a school--where parents should have a say, since they food the bill, pumpkin.
@@EuSeiT So if they pay for it then why not just teach the kids their personal political views amd religion in public schools? They pay for it so why don't they get to pick the teachers? Why don't they teach the classes themselves? It's a service they don't use and shouldn't have a big say in.
This video was posted in 2008. That was 9 years ago when I was 5... I have fallen down quite the rabbit hole and I love it. These older videos make me feel nostalgic even though I've never watched them, and am a relatively new subscriber.
Nicolette Swann damn now I feel old :/
++++
Nicolette Swann gosh, I was 5 too and I feel the same!
Same!
I was six and a half.
People underestimate kids.
truth is, they can be smarter than plenty of adults out there, which is a recurring point made on "South Park" by focusing on nine-year-olds rather than their parents. And when they DO focus on the parents, it's because they do something stupid and make a poorly educated decision.
especially the government
For a very good reason: they are kids.
Is kid. Can confirm.
Parents trying to "protect" teenagers from controversial books like Alaska (which, btw, is very mild in nature compared to books like Animal Farm and Heart of Darkness) is one of the main reasons why we teens sometimes despise adults with a passion. You treat us like mindless toddlers, yet expect us to be "prim and proper" like adults. That's ridiculous, unfair, and immature at best.
+Cycling in Edmonton from the Eyes of a Teen Animal Farm isn't enormously distressing, it just shows how theoretically sound systems like socialism and communism will always eventually become corrupted by human ( or in the book porcine) greed.
+Cycling in Edmonton from the Eyes of a Teen And that's somewhat depressing
+jobrien Well, I am not a native English speaker, yet I know and read Animal farm. However, I never heard about Heart of darkness. So it may be less famous than you think.
I think many adults see the things that jaded them and are trying to protect kids from the same mistakes they made. Unfortunately they forget the way that made them feel when they were young. It’s important for adults to have some sort of guiding presence as kids age, but not the constricting or sheltering type.
SHUT UP AND STOP CONDESCENDING TO TEENAGERS.
John, this is why I love you.
"Info in the side bar" man........ Those were the times.......
Memories!
How old do you feel today?
Appologies, misery loves company.
Wait, isn't LFA going to be taught in classes and ANALYZED?? Couldn't they analyze the "controversial" scenes and come to that conclusion. Also, parents, if you think that your 11th grader shouldn't be reading a sexISH scene... Then I don't think you fully understand how much middle and high schoolers talk and know about sex.
LFA? I didn't know a super car made by Lexus could controversial...
Swaff Corps Looking For Alaska
Jo Martensson I know. get a since of humor
Swaff Corps Yeah... but I felt I kinda had to say it....
+Swaff Corps (Theswaff699) eeeehhh
15 years later and it just got much worse
I bet you pointing out those two scenes about emotional closeness got someone an A.
"Physical intimacy can never stand in for emotional closeness" amen to that!
Also, I think it's getting to the point where people of the US need to get over the fact that pornography exists, and that their teenage kids probably watch it. It's not that big of a deal.
I don't have a problem with the idea of porn, but the porn itself makes me uncomfortable. It objectifies women and makes things like consent and protection seem unimportant. It affects the way teenagers think and treat women and affects their expectations of what women should do for them. I'm a teenager too btw
Megan Joyce Some porn is better about that than others. Pornhub has a category called "female friendly" where the scenarios are consensual and the sex doesn't seem like it's being depicted as being solely for the dude's pleasure.
Then again, I'm a dude, so there's a chance I'm not being objective about it. However, I do know that a lot of women do watch porn, so it's not as though there's no market demand at all for porn that doesn't portray the models as glorified masturbation tools.
Graidon Mabson hmm that's interesting i had never heard of that. it sounds nice but i feel like boys would choose the porn that wasn't "female-friendly" presented the opportunity.
the problem isn't that there isn't any "female friendly porn," it's more that the porn that isn't is planting sexist ideas in people's minds
Megan Joyce I'm just pointing out that not all pornography portrays their female models as objects.
I agree that a lot of young guys are growing up with completely unrealistic expectations concerning sex as a result of watching porn. However, I think the primary reason for that is the scarcity of quality sex education in the US, not the prevalence of porn.
Megan Joyce I think there is an important distinction to be made between sexual fantasy and reality, and that many people, including teenagers, are capable of making that distinction. There is a very big difference between finding the degradation/objectification of women in a FICTIONAL context arousing and actually being a sexist person in real life. Likewise, there is a difference between having a rape fetish and being a rapist.
That said, I certainly think it's possible for pornography to implant sexist ideas into the minds of teenagers. I just think a lot of them are smart enough to be above that. If you go into porn thinking you're getting an accurate representation of sex in the real world, then yeah, you're going to be pretty messed up. However, if you go into it with the right mindset, that's not necessarily the case. Kids need to be taught that porn, while enjoyable and normal, has nothing to do with real sex and should absolutely not be used as a "learning tool" or a replacement for sex ed.
"I don't think there's a single halfway normal person in the world who would find a single thing in my book in any way arousing."
TELL THAT TO BOOKLIST. One of the most-used reviews for LFA is "Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska’s vanilla-and-cigarettes scent."
I AM A GIANT SQUID OF ANGER ABOUT THAT TERRIBLE AND SEXIST REVIEW.
*hell* yes! I HATE THAT REVIEW. IT SUCKS ANGER SQIUD BEAKS. it's so sexist and downright w r o n g.
I read the novel "Flowers for Algernon" in eighth grade without a permission slip. It had several sex scenes and nobody gave a shit.
There were sex scenes? Add that to the list of "files lost" in that crash into a telephone pole in 1981. I just don't know what i can't remember until somebody says it...thank you.
I love that John talks to and about us like we really are young adults who actually know at least something about whats going on around us.
And people wonder why I'm a nerdfighter...
"Shut up and stop condescending to teenagers!" Thank you, Mr. Green. You should run for President.
Unfortunately, you forget most teenagers can't vote. But they will soon be able to, so it's a thought to keep in mind.
We read flippin Brave New World in Grade 11 in a CATHOLIC SCHOOL. As JG pointed out, sexual content in a book is not always meant to titillate or arouse.
I read it and I'm 12
Brooke Thorne You must be proud.
Please, care to provide the graphic descriptions of sex in Brave New World? I am talking about graphic descriptions as in this book. Please. And take your time.
I never knew you were this cool. I read about this issue in AP Language. I also read the letter you wrote about this, and I always thought you were one of those popular writers,who are very detached from their fan base. That is, until I started watching these videos. I think it's amazing how you geek out about stuff just as much as I do, and I'm very happy that people like you make such a strong impression on my generation. Also, I have watched so many of Hank's videos because of AP Bio, and that's how I actually started watching these videos. So I'm very grateful to him as well. You two are fine examples for all of nerdkind.
Funny cuz all of the poetry i read in high school was pretty much porn. I know there was some very interesting and literary questions in the poetry but my god. Im
Never think of a rosebud the same
You need to go back to school. Or try Word.
I have matured quite a bit since first watching this video. 21 year old me is very happy I found the green brothers. I just read looking for Alaska (I was 4 years old when the book was first published) and I must say I am thoroughly amazed. So many thoughts and emotions evoked by one book. Just heart wrenching and beautiful in a way no book I’ve read has been.
I've always stood by the principal of "if it's worth banning, it's worth reading". the fact that a small group of people WHO DON'T HAVE KIDS READING THE BOOK gets to decide weather or not a school can or cannot read a book is both wrong and drastically imbalanced to say the leased. parents, and as a parent i'm sure you can attest to this, have the responsibility to their children to ensure they get the education they need. teaching children the lessons of emotions are always better than physical is one of those ones that no teen can walk away from without being affected at least somewhat. as always, keep up the good work!
Thankyou for standing up for teenagers' mental capabilities. Not many adults remember what it's like to be us and forget that we might a little bit smart.
I read it a few months ago.. I'm 11. I can think critically. Adults.. treat us like kids but expect us to act like them. It's revolting.
As an English supervisor for ten years grades 7-12, I absolutely love this! "Stop condescending to teenagers." Three cheers for intellectual freedom!!!
I read Perfume in high school, pretty much a book about a person who murdered people to extract their scents. Then there was Like Water for Chocolate, which had many sensual scenes. East of Eden, etc. Books with violence, etc. Oh, and how could I forget Shakespeare? I am so glad I read them, they were great. I am glad I was in the IB program and was exposed to so many different genres/styles.
Perfume is such an amazing book. I read it when I was about 14 and it was a much better book then the ones that were chose for students to study in school.
I've never heard of Perfume, but it sound delightful. It's going on my list of books to read this Spring.
Cool! I didn't go for a diploma but got certificates in Math, History, and English. I did really well in math. Best of luck to you with that. It really is such a fun program even though it is difficult.
Have you seen the movie?
There's a movie? o.O
The mad people didn't find Alaska
I go to Depew High School and I just wanted to let everyone know that Looking for Alaska is still taught, and that this year they added The Fault in Our Stars to our summer reading list for the 11th grade. One of the women who attempted to ban Looking for Alaska ran for school board this year, and fortunately lost.
I'm not an 11 year-old but I can assure you that the fanfictions most of them read on tumblr and watgpad have way more mature content.
People need to stop treating teenagers as if they don't understand anything.
I have seen many teenagers that are more mature than some adults, it's not really about age...
Mason Shin She's saying that age doesn't matter, she did not once mention that she includes herself as a teen. She's also saying that mature content can be found almost anywhere, it's not just in YA, it's also in Fan fictions; according to her, more prominent in Fan fiction too.
The fact that someone mentions her age in a condescending matter as she argues against people treating teenagers as though they are ignorant merely because of their age shows how large of an issue this is.
News flash, America: You don't have to be 35 to understand things. In fact, it is often the ones from this generation that see things more clearly, as their morals and knowledge has not been obstructed by former teachings and ways. That's why so many of our parents and grandparents are so eager to tell someone what should or shouldn't be done in America even though it has pretty much no affect on them while we either agree or pay no attention to it because IT DOESN'T AFFECT US.
+Mason Shin read it again cause it seems like you didn't get my point. The age doesb't matter. and again, I'm not eleven. If uou really want to know, I'm actually eighteen but that's irrelevant.
I was very lucky in high school and got to read Looking For Alaska as part of my senior English class which was based around "teen issues" (drinking, peer pressure, drunk driving, sexual activity, etc etc etc) and I have to say this book truly did change my life.
I'm 14 and i read looking for Alaska. My parents were perfectly fine with it because they trust me to be mature. It is a truly beautiful story and it is my all-time favorite book which i have read 3 times. I understand that not all kids my age are mature enough to read it, but surely by ELEVENTH GRADE they would. When my teacher saw me reading it she said "wow. that sure is a mature book. Are you sure you should read it?" this comment sort-of upset me because i felt like she was saying i was too immature. Before this book, I already knew what sex was, i knew that people smoke, i knew that people drink and i knew that people swear, and reading that book did not encourage me to do any of that, it just told me an incredible story about some teenagers who did. Thank you john for writing such an amazing book. DFTBA
This is probably one of the best vlogbrothers videos. It really showcases what makes you guys so awesome.
I'm a sophomore in college and was in an English class where the entire class for the semester was on writing one inquiry paper. And what eventually became my topic (after my teacher said 'Why are books banned' was too broad) was 'Why are books banned due to sexual content'. Now most articles I found involved Fifty Shades of Grey, And Tango Makes Three, and Looking for Alaska. For the sake of the paper I read all three books. I must say that after looking over the legal standings, finding the Supreme Courts issuing's on banned books, looking at parent reviews vs student and teacher ones, that most of these parents haven't read the book and just are very over protective people who believe that if their kids read the books they'll go out and do the same things like you made the good point of. All in all, there are way too many over protective parents, keep writing John (I've so far read three of your books over the last few months), and teach this book in schools!
I read Looking For Alaska when I was 13 years old and it in no way what so ever made me sexually ambiguous or made me think it was okay for me to perform any explicit actions that took place in the novel at that age. I respect a parents decision in whether or not they want their child reading Looking For Alaska (or any book for that matter), but they should not be worried about other people's choices in the matter. The book wasn't centered around that one scene, and if anyone is going to read this book, they should be mature enough to see the underlying message that John was trying to convey: sexual intamicy is in most cases not as profound as emotional intamicy. Looking For Alaska was a beautifully written master piece that had deeper themes than what some parents are suggesting and if they can all look past the very brief explicit scene, they will see the story for what it truely is.
I read the frikin book when I was 12 -.-
Dude. I think that the book came out when I was 12, but I hadn't read it until I was like 15-16.
Sex is mentioned in books such as Catcher and The Rye, but never is used for titillation. It's often used as a device to develop a character or place emphasis on certain elements of a book. Mentions of sex in Catcher in the Rye were to establish how Holden was stuck between his innocence and adolescence; he paid a prostitute simply to talk to him.
I've read all of John Green's books and they're intelligently written, mentioning that sort of content diligently and with thought, like it often is with literature. He's in no way a pornographer and the fact that parents think otherwise purely shocks me. Just because you don't understand what your kids are reading doesn't mean they don't.
And let's not forget how in Act 2 of Macbeth the Porter goes on a rant about how alcohol decreases sex drive and arousal (said pretty explicitly).
Even if some teenage students did lack the critical thinking skills need to discern that the point was to juxtapose the unfulfilling physical sex scene with the emotionally connecting scene, is that why there is a (presumably adult) teacher, teaching this book? To point things like that out?
People who don't want kids to read stuff in school "I'm worried that those teens who aren't even my kids may be manipulated or psychologically damaged by the fiction that they read. Well, better stop them learning how to think critically under guidance and supervision of a qualified academic and hope that they never come across any actual damaging literature while alone with an untrained mind" lol
+
Wow. I hate that 14 years later you are still dealing with this. And 14 years after I graduated from high school, current high schoolers are still dealing with this. Just know that so many of us will continue to support and defend your work (and the work of so many others), as much as we can..
Thank you John, you have very successfully helped me write a paper on banned books. You are a great person to quote.
Hmm should they read looking for Alaska with one almost PG scene, or a book entirely about sexual immorality and a scene where a preacher almost does the deed in the woods with his secret child a few yards away (the scarlet letter)? Uh that's a no for looking for Alaska and a yes to scarlet letter because come on who would understand the scarlet letter anyway?
GAHH LOGIC
Okay hold on did your teacher tell you that Hester and the reverend guy (forgot his name) DID have sex in the woods with Pearl right there cause that's what our teacher told us but apparently most people don't believe that's what Hawthorne meant...
Scheurthiaume I read that part about 5 times trying to understand it, and NO they didnt do it, they just came close. Very heavy make out session. And then they were like ok we are going to leave in a few days and go somewhere else away from these people who hold us to our sin but until then we'll be free and happy and have more kids but until then we will just meet secretly and make out. and then Dimesdale (preacher dude) is like oh right my daughter is right over there and I've never actually met her umm can I meet her and then Pearl is like I wont come across the creek without mom wearing her A and then Hester is like fine I'll put it back on for a few days, and then when we leave I'll never put it on again. But of course they dont leave when planned because he dies right after telling everyone, but eventually Hester does leave with Pearl and they go back to England where Hester was actually royalty and so Pearl gets to be royalty and she has money from Chillingsworth because when he died he left everything to her, and so she lives happily ever after in England and Hester eventually comes back to America, basically to die, and she dies and is burried next to Dimesdale except not exactly right next to him because they wernt married and they have a shared tombstone with an A on it. The end.
Most of this I didnt get from reading the book, but from talking to an English/History teacher who is a family friend and she explained everything to me. So... ya, thats what happened to the best of my understanding.
To add: 11th grade?
that means like 16 or older? (I am not from the USA) Yeah, porn will be so new to them… not!
+Henrik G. I know right? they aren't even "children".
this is probably my favourite vlogbrothers video
John Greene I just finished reading your book 'The Fault in our Stars' an I just have to say that near the ending I cried so hard my brother became actually concerned for me (which is not a usual occurrence I assure you) he even asked my parents to come see me. I had to sit on my bed sobbing into my parents. My dad has read the book and he didn't think it was that sad until I cried. Just know that while devastating, your reading is filled with this amazingly awesome power.
PREACH JOHN PREACH!!!
Isn't it much better to have the book read in class and have a full discussion about it? I mean school is the best avenue to discuss what they deem as "erotic" part in the book. It wil be much more of intellectual reading. I hope they realize that that it is more of a good thing than a bad thing. I'll support LFA all the way!
I think people are afraid of their own minds.
Thankyou! Someone out there understands teenagers! This is why you are such a great author and why you are so great at writing YA books!
So i just read Looking for Alaska and when I got to that scene it made me think of this video and I came back to comment.
The only way I can see this being considered pornographic is if someone literally didn't know what sex was, and this was their first ever encounter with any type of sexual content. I heard more graphic language from a roommate I had last year while he was playing League of Legends.
Just for context I'm 19.
On the same token, shouldn't the books by the Marquis de Sade be consider sadistic, because not all of us LITERALLY know what sadism is?
A banned book is a burned book.
Just got assigned this video for university,,,, being an old nerd fighter is wild
heyyyyyy past self
i was wondering why this video seemed so familiar
I remember that one of things I loved most about taking honors english in high school, was being encouraged to read books like Looking For Alaska. Sometimes the books did shock me, scare me, or make me feel uncomfortable, but I believe that because they took me out of my comfort zone, they taught me more about life. There are books like these that I can say changed my view of the world and made me more open minded towards all sorts of things. This is why I think its great for schools to teach these books. The kids dont have to agree with everything in the book, but if it can teach them a truth that most humans are afraid to discuss, then i think its worth it. Plus if it's a John Green book, it'll make everyone cry, and that's always fun.
So apparently we didn't get memo photocopied enough.
15 years later and John Green is still not a pornographer
I'll admit, George Orwell's Animal Farm is a good story, but WHY DOES OUR SCHOOL HAVE TO INCLUDE IT IN EVERY LESSON FROM LEARNING TO LEARN TO ART???
LOL
I'm writing an essay about banning books for English class and l'm watching vlogbrother's videos as part of my research. Best essay ever!
I actually chose to study LfA in my year twelve English extension class and I'm so glad I did. LfA is a book that's very close to my heart, but it's also a really good book to study. Honestly, because I was able to choose whatever book I wanted (LfA), I ended up writing one of the best English essays of my high school career. I have no problem with studying assigned books in school, but I often wished that everyone (not only those of us who studied English extension, which was more like university literature) would have to chance to study books that THEY liked. I mean, for all of my English extension classes, I chose to study young adult novels. They weren't what many people would call 'great works of literature with a capital L' but they were interesting and they allowed me to think very critically about many different ideas. That's what I think English should be about. By teaching from a list of prescribed books that most high school students skip over reading anyway, students don't get the opportunity to hone these important critical thinking and reading skills.
The librarian at my middle school said it was a great book and had good life lessons when I read it a couple years ago.
My librarian and I talked about John's books too, and she said that was a good one.
Im reading Animal Farm in class and I'm in 6th grade. I actually will kill the pigs, but that is because they are tasty, not because I'm afraid of them
Ew pork
I am actually a vegetarian... so yea.... ew
HOLY SHEEEIIIT IT'S JOHN GREEN.
MATT, ARE YOU A NERDFIGHTER? PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE. DFTBA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE THE GREEN BROTHERS SO FREAKING MUCH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
I, like Julia, am also a vegetarian. Some animals deserve to be eaten for their delicious, delicious flesh. Also, because pigs are racist.
DFTBA, kiddo!
It has been over 10 years since this video. Yet, it remains relevant today. Thanks, Green brothers.
Did John Actually give us his mail?
"Shut up and stop condescending to teenagers". Although I was in my teens when this video was uploaded and when I first became a Nerdfighter, I am no longer a teenager (weird). But this sentence still gives me chills and fills me with feels :')
+hermyslilsis I literally clapped in front of my screen when he said that.
Oh my goodness I really scared to read this book in home
Who's Hank?
bipolarorwakingup his brother, the other side of this channel...
Thanks!
no problem:)
bipolarorwakingup Hank is a small island in the Pacific Ocean. First colonized by the Spanish in 1521, Hank is today known primarily for his beautiful coral reefs and large American military presence.
+bipolarorwakingup Hank is a large ball of ice approximately 27% the size of Earth's moon. Once believed to be the ninth planet in the solar system, Hank is now just a dead ball of ice floating out past Neptune.
John looks just like Bernard from Megamind!
Ography is VERY offensive to me :P.
Haven't read Looking for Alaska (yet), but already I'm interested based on your defense of it. I was worried when I read that there is a sex scene, since I am highly opposed to teen sex in media (and in life) especially when it's highly romanticized teen sex, but hearing your argument really puts me at ease. Contrasting those two scenes must have been quite the creative challenge. Bravo!
I'm not an avid reader...but i did read Looking For Alaska my freshmen year in high school and loved it. I just recently subscribed to this page and never put 2 and 2 together that you actually wrote my favorite book! Mind Blown!
I actually wish we read books as awesome as this in my 11th grade English class. But I graduated in the 90s and we didn't have awesome authors like John Green.
Yes you did. You just didn't know of them. I'm gonna be honest and admit I've never read a single word of John Green. But I'm 100% certain that he isn't the greatest writer that has ever lived. In the 90ties there were also awesome and thought provoking authors.
He's written some really awesome books. I will admit that at 39, I proudly read them. Of course, what makes me feel not ashamed of that is that he is pretty close in age to me. PS. The only book I remember being really awesome in high school English was when we read Pigman in the 9th grade. That was awesome.
This video got a sequel today!
+SketchyHippopotamus I know so cool!
+SketchyHippopotamus Thats why I'm here
It is 11:06 p.m on September 10th, 2020. This is the Watching History of Vlogbrothers. Here my general thoughts so far:
I think I've finally realized, thanks to this smart and intellectually brilliant video, one part of why I think Hank and John are absolutely awesome: *you guys are actually understanding and not condensing to teenagers*! My gosh, it is so rare to find adults that aren't condensending or not understanding of teenagers and the pressures they live with. It's why I think of my high school as my second home--it's because I'm in an environment where I actually feel understood.
Just found out my favorite author is a youtuber... good god I love you man. I've read a LOT of books in my life and never have I read such well written characters as the ones in your books. Love love love you.
When you condescend towards the future of your country, how does that benefit anyone in any way? I am not a "dumb teen" I am a human, mature and old enough to make conscious decisions about how I think, act and comprehend the world around me, especially when it comes to sex. I want to be informed about intimacy. it's human nature to need intimacy, so why is it so dang taboo? Teenagers in the eleventh grade who aren't allowed to view something even slightly sexual aren't going to do well when it comes time to actually do those things, being well informed about the natural occurrence that is sex isn't going to damage anyone, it will infact better prepare them. Don't think I don't have a voice, because my voice and my peers voices will be the most prominent sooner than later.
And welcome to all of the awesome parents who are critically thinking about Looking for Alaska by coming here, to get a sense of what it's all about.
Really awesome parents read with (or at roughly the same time as) their kid and discuss the book with them.
It's really ironic because I saw an article about your book being banned somewhere else and they had a link to this video to watch it. This also just happened to be the next video I needed to watch on my quest to watch all of the vlogbrother's videos.
This is still my favorite vlogbrothers video of all time.
TO JOHN GREEN-
I agree with your "shut up and stop condescending to teenagers" but i also think that most ( not all) (and i do consider myself one of the "not all" ) of today's teenagers (granted "today's" teenagers are not your teenagers because this is 7 years old) don't TRY to develop the "critical sophistication when they're reading" and thus, no they do not have the critical skills to "understand that" while i do think i'm one of the teens that "understand that" i don't frequently, and until i watched this video i didn't understand the significance of that scene in the book. So while i do think that you are right in your anger to the people likening your book to pornography. i do see where they come from. However; because they see that in teens, is the reason you, me, and everyone else should strive to make teens, adults and everyone in between the critical thinkers they CAN be. and that kind of teaching doesn't come from a textbook.
From a Nerdfighter-
Don't forget to be awesome
+Ara Kaya There is another argument though:
Teens won't understand it, it's not like they're reading it as part of a class designed to teach them about the meaning behind it...
Oh wait...
Well, in my experience, most teens don't read critically.
But that is becouse they don't seem to care. (Just books that are thought at shool.) Those who care (and read the book at all, another problem there.) read critically, or at least get that such scenes exist to either drive the narritive forward or convay a massage.
DFTBA.
+Henrik G. Love this response. Thanks for taking the time to analyze my statement and respond.
Well kudos to america for teaching actual decent books, the books we read are tedious, ad uninteresting. However, we apparently don't care what the books says, as I'm pretty sure that 4 or 5 out of the 10, or so, books we've read in the different languages between the 8th and 10th grade, have contained heavily detailed sex, and rape, and I've never seen a permission slip.
I bought one of your books "The Fault in our Stars" yesterday and just finished it it's such a great book totally changed my life hooked me since the moment I opened it. It was just amazing. I'm about to start looking for Alaska right now totally love your writing
(this isn't me in the pic) I myself read your book this year (I'm in 11th grade) and I found it amazing and moving and I thank you for writing it and all of your books because I will read every last one. You are a GENIUS.
“It is awkward, unfun, disastrous, and wholly unerotic.”
Me
I once read a book with a very in depth and in detail scene about a deer pooping. In the 4th grade. Out loud.
i was curious to know how long i had been watching vlogbrothers videos so i searched for this video because it was the first one i ever saw. my freshman english teacher showed us this in class (because im from buffalo) and asked us to write to depew. i cant believe ive been watching for over 5 years.
I read several books throughout high school, both required and not, that contained sexual encounters for the purpose of telling the story. While some of them were incredibly awkward to discuss, and even more awkward if they were read allowed, I can say as 21 year old virgin, they didn't cause promiscuity...
I'm from germany we read looking for alaska too. i really loved it, like, pretty much my whole class. there weren't any problems with any parents at all. i think it's pretty delusional to ban children from reading it. it's neither violent or anything. i just don't get why those parents try to raise a generation so small-minded and limited. and after all, most of them have most probably internet access, so what's the point ? ;)
The "Let's Ban Books" crowd here in the US of A are a tiny but incredibly loud bunch of people who hold extremely conservative social views but who are extremely liberal about sharing those views and enforcing them in their communities. Basically, their attitude is "I have the right to an opinion, and my opinion is that you should not have the right to your opinion." The good news is, they usually DON'T get their way; the bad news is that they occasionally do, which is a problem because people who want to tell you what to read, what to write, what to say, and what to think should NEVER get their way in a free society.
Young John Green is young, and hilarious.
I had the book sitting in a box in my room because someone recommended it to me. I didn't realize this was THAT John Green. I'll definitely be reading it.
My 6th grade English teacher got pissed off because one of her students read Looking for Alaska. I know sixth grade is quite young to read that book but I knew the girl who read it and her mind was far beyond the content of the book. I have read it and it's nothing that my class mates couldn't handle. Most of them talk about that stuff on a regular basis. It's also a very deep and intellectual book that I believe can benefit students everywhere. John Green made a truly beautiful piece of art that needs to be read by the age it was intended to be read by.
even thought this video was published 7 years ago, I'm still just loving the bunny:)
I can't Believe people actually lost their shit. I HAVE READ EROTIC STORIES WRITEN BY 11 year olds and what John wrote was nothing.
So they had sex, most teenagers do now a days and his books are so relatable and he understands teenagers. His book have the realistic things that happen in a teenager environment and it makes me mad people bashed this book for a sex scene.
I swear, Apparently sex is bad even though is in our nature to do it. Nice thing to teach our kids! Sex bad. Woah I'm astonished.
you mean fanfiction?
In the senior English & Humanities class I was in, we read Lysistrata and wrote about (and sort of discussed between ourselves) why it wasn't pornographic. Sex (and the avoidance of it) was a huge part of the play, but it wasn't there to titillate the audience.
Thank you John people always say that I'm too young for "insert book name here" I mean seriously I'm mature I'm a year ahead in school but apparently can't read a book because a suggestive theme it's words on a page for crying out loud. Anyways thanks again John for being awesome and for making this video hopefully people might not undermine ones maturity based on age
Who's watching this in 2016?! me😂❤
Maybe i should read this book
You're very Lucky to have read Looking for Alaska at 13, I didn't read it until I am 18, and I wished I had read it in way before so I could've developed with it, I wish my school had taught us this book, John is a Genius in every meaning the word holds.
Vancouver Canada: We recently read L'étranger (The Stranger) By Albert Camus for french immersion... If you are at all familiar with that book, yeah. Point made. If you are not, well, major themes included: existentialism, and sex. (Oh and some social commentary, partially on the sex.)