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11 yr old boy in Shades of Grey outfit

(160 Posts)
TriciaF Fri 06-Mar-15 11:19:39

I heard about this from the Radio 4 news this morning
www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-31760713
His mother was interviewed, saying that the school was wrong to ban him from the Book Fair.
I'm gob-smacked about it - what idea of moral standards does it pass on to children, what attitude towards women? Glad the school banned him though.

petallus Sat 07-Mar-15 07:25:23

The problem with Fifty Shades is that it has been ridiculed and lampooned so much that nobody takes the sex seriously. It has almost become a national treasure.

Nelliemoser Sat 07-Mar-15 07:52:44

I have come late to this thread. I agree with the "ban" as do most of us.

This is meant as a childrens day to promote books and reading. 50 shades is about S & M with lots of things about sexual violence and control.

There are increasing concerns about young people accessing porn and getting an idea of it being normal or acceptable.

His idea is inventive but it is in very bad taste. His mother should have known better. That is not right in any school.

gillybob Sat 07-Mar-15 07:59:49

I cannot stand James Bond either Eloethan for exactly the same reasons you mention. I really can't see much of a difference between the two characters to be honest. Both seem to treat women appallingly. I can't imagine sitting around on a Sunday afternoon with the DGC to watch a James Bond film.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 09:24:58

Well, my thirteen year old grandson has been watching all the James Bond films with his dad, and loving them! I think they are being taken by gs in the spirit of entertainment only. Although, of course, many, perhaps most, teenage boys would like to be just like JB! #intheirdreams

(You must remember he only kills the very bad people) grin

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 09:51:02

Harrigran I've only just noticed your comment (sorry) regarding going as The Boy In A Dress! I did suggest that once to gs but - no way! Not brave enough. grin I think it's a good idea though. DW's books are so good.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 09:51:43

I've always wanted to buy one of them a pretty pink fairy frock.

gillybob Sat 07-Mar-15 10:15:35

The Boy in the dress is one of DGC's favourite books. Would be very brave of any young boy to adopt the character for WBD though.

granjura Sat 07-Mar-15 10:16:06

I cannot for the life of me even beging to think how any mother would have thought this suitable- and how anyone here can support her decision.

Rape is still a huge issue in our society- with many young men still not accepting that 'no' means 'no'- what message does dressing up as Grey convey? It beggars beliefs. What next, the Marquis de Sade perhaps.

Young men still turn up in court saying it was not rape- she was just saying 'NO' but I knew she meant yes.

I agree the interviewer made it much worse!

granjura Sat 07-Mar-15 10:21:58

jingl, why don't you- go on, enjoy (and post the pictures here please)

Juliette Sat 07-Mar-15 10:37:31

jing Young Bond was on DGs suggested reading list for the summer holidays before he started at the High School so he'd be rising twelve. According to DD he enjoyed it so much that they went on to buy the whole series. Hope your grandsons enjoy it too.
DD also tells me that he dipped into Fifty Shades, there was a well thumbed copy doing the rounds at school! Much like Lady Chatterly did when I was a very innocent thirteen year old, never looked at a Forget-me-Not in the same way since.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 10:50:35

Juliette grin

I would love to know if my older GS has heard of FSOG, but I 'm not brave enough to ask! I think I'm pretty certain the younger one hasn't, but who knows?! Wouldn't put it past his lot. grin

Thanks for the book recommendation though. Have had the first two sent direct to his house as I won't see them till next week. smile

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 10:51:56

Granjura would it have pictures^?! shock

granjura Sat 07-Mar-15 10:53:11

pictures of you in a pink fairy frock jingl;)

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 10:56:24

Oh! I see. Sorry! grin

Oh I would look lovely. smile Size could be a problem though.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 07-Mar-15 10:58:28

I would never get one of them into it. I can't even catch 'em these days to give 'em a kiss! hmm

absent Sat 07-Mar-15 18:58:33

James Bond has had a major lambasting here, but I'm pretty sure that the books are very much tamer than the films. I read a couple of them when I was 12 as part of a project to write a pastiche of a popular author. I wasn't very keen and haven't read any since.

Yes, indeed, he did kill but only enemies of the realm and with government authority – isn't that what the 00 signifies? You could reasonably compare him with some of the cartoon super-heroes who regularly save the world on some children's television channels or the cowboy heroes who shot the men in black hats on our own childhood television programmes. He drank alcoholic drinks but was never drunk and sicking up in the high street. His liaisons with women were always consensual and must have seemed hugely sophisticated and quite unreal in the narrow-minded post-war world. He was broken-hearted when his wife was killed just after their marriage.

I doubt if many young people would find these classic Cold War era stories at all exciting these days. It's the movies with all their special effects that capture the audiences – and the recent ones were not even based on books by Ian Fleming.

This was World Book Day, not World Film Day, after all.

rosequartz Sat 07-Mar-15 19:10:47

I agree absent

I did read a JB book when I was young but then threw it out to the jumble sale - probably worth a fortune now!

Deedaa Sat 07-Mar-15 20:51:17

I saw the Daniel Craig version of Casino Royale at the cinema and was appalled that it had a 12 certicate. I thought the violence in it was far too graphic for children and far worse than the rather mild sex content.

NannyGoat12345 Sat 07-Mar-15 21:39:13

When I read the story in the DM, I had to chuckle.... I thought maybe the cable ties and the eye mask were a step too far (not that I have read the books or seen the film - cba), but I did think the teachers at the school should maybe 'lighten up' a bit. I used to hate the dressing up days when my kids were at school, it is not that easy to 'knock up an outfit' if you are not handy with a needle and no way could you compete anyhow with parents who specifically hired an outfit for a day. Most of the kids I have seen going to school this year seem to be dressed up as superheroes and girls dressed as princesses from Frozen, surely these are comic and film characters, not books, so I don't think World Book Day has any real effect on schoolkids (only their parents who have to try and find the cheapest book in a shop to use the wretched £1 off token)!

Ana Sat 07-Mar-15 22:39:51

I agree, NannyGoat. Last year my DD had to cobble together something for her twin girls to 'go as' for WBD but this year their school saw sense and had a local author of children's books in to give a talk.

jinglbellsfrocks Sun 08-Mar-15 09:10:47

Nannygoat12345 your post sounds very - normal.

A breath of fresh air in fact. smile

Alygran Sun 08-Mar-15 09:58:06

There was a young boy on Chris Evans show on Thursday and Friday, just before the 7.30 news who went to school in a dress!

jinglbellsfrocks Sun 08-Mar-15 09:58:40

Well done that boy! smile

rosequartz Sun 08-Mar-15 10:16:31

Frozen - the up-to-date friendly Disney version of The Snow Queen.

Everything has been Disneyfied these days.
As the girl in the Disney shop told me earnestly 'Snow White is our oldest princess. She dates from 1937!'
I said 'I think she's a few hundred years older than that in fact!'

rosequartz Sun 08-Mar-15 10:21:32

Then again, if the voucher encourages some parents who would not normally take children to a bookshop to buy a book, that can't be a bad thing, surely?

Not sure about dressing up beyond primary though.