The Conners, an ABC spinoff of Roseanne dedicated 30 minutes to denigrating such rights as parents continue to fight for parental control over what books their children are reading at school. One character even goes so far as calling a school board member who supports this fight a “moron”, and an “idiot.”
Darlene (Sara Gilbert), who wants to make an impression on her new neighbors, decides to set up a free lending library with books in front her new house.
Darlene’s daughter, Emma Kenney (the topic of books), is compelled to complain about a school board representative she learned about through her “human rights” group on Instagram.
Darlene: I have already taken the first step towards getting to know my new neighbors. I set up a small lending library box in front my new house, with books that are free for people to use.
Harris: That may be the last place where people can buy books they really want. I follow this human rights group via Instagram. The moron who represents us at the school board is trying ban a lot of the classics at Mark’s school.
Dan: While I don’t support book banning, some parents want to have a say over what their children are reading. Personally, I felt that this kind of parenting was a distraction from my TV time.
Harris: This idiot wants “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Catcher in the Rye”, and “The Scarlet Letter” to be banned. I spent the whole day going door to door trying to get people to sign a petition calling for the recall of this man.
Jackie: That’s great! You get in people’s faces! Make them uncomfortable!
Harris: Well, we need more volunteers. You wanna help?
Jackie: Uh, me? No. No.
They had Dan (John Goodman), who stated the obvious. They made it a “book ban” issue, even though no parents are fighting for books to be banned. I have yet to see anyone trying to ban “the classics.”
Today’s parents are fighting books that teach how to “eat pu**y”, which one Oklahoma parent spoke out against recently. Others have protested books that contain sexual activities, sexual assault, and abortion. Hundreds of Michigan parents also spoke out against books that contain explicit sexual material.
Harris believes she is doing the right thing, and she even said she couldn’t help the family decorate since she was “trying to save democracy”. Harris gets even more furious when a neighbor comes to complain about the political flyers she’s been sneaking into her books.
Harris: Hi. Harris: Hi.
Pamela: Hi. I’m Pamela Finch. I live three houses below where you are building your new home.
Darlene: Oh, hi. That’s my home. I’m Darlene. It’s a pleasure to meet you, neighbor. Please come in. The new house will be much cleaner, just so you know. It won’t smell like a nursing facility…inside an Arby’s brewery.
Pamela: That’s great to hear. I was asked by some neighbors to come over. We have a problem with the lending library right in front of your home.
Darlene: Please don’t tell me that it’s the chimney. That would be a lie. I don’t want that kind of toxic dynamic in my relationship.
Pamela: I have never seen a chimney in a library before. But that’s not why i’m here. We’ve been patient with the night hammering, but now you’re using the library to push your politics in the neighborhood.
Darlene: Politics? Are you referring to the vegan cookbook? You can bring as much meat to the barbecue as you like. Did I mention I’m having a barbecue? You’re invited.
Pamela: Uh, no. This is about you sticking these flyers into the books you’re putting out. These are the books that the school board wants to ban.
Harris: That would be me. Harris: That would be me.
Darlene: What do you want?
Pamela: We’d love for you to take them out.
Harris: We don’t care about what you think. Harris: We don’t care if you disagree with the ideas contained in books.
Darlene: Harris, let’s take care of this.
Harris: It’s your lending library, and you can put whatever you want in it. If you have a problem with the lending library, you can create your own lending library. You can also add as much Ronald Reagan fan fiction as you like.
Darlene: Harris, go upstairs. Please. Please.
Harris: Seriously?
Pamela: Darlene, thank you.
Darlene: Darlene, My daughter is very passionate.
Pamela: Look, I understand. If you want to make a good first impression with your neighbors, you can get her under control. Get rid of all the provocative books and flyers. Her radical, aggressive agenda forced me to remove “Lady Chatterley’s Lovers” from my 9-year old.
Pamela sounds like a good mom! The Conners want us to believe the contrary. Harris confronts her mother about taking Pamela’s side. She rants about her brother, cousin, and being allowed to stand for what they believe, while she can’t.
She yells at her mother, “You told Mark not hide being gay,” “You told Beverly Rose to not hide her intelligence. You tell me to shut down and go to my bedroom.
Harris accuses Darlene of being a sellout. She says Darlene just wants to get along well with her neighbors and that Harris should be more concerned about what her daughter thinks about her than “a bunch strangers.”
Darlene realizes that her daughter is correct, and she comes to her liberal sensibilities. To impress Harris and to stand up to her neighbors, she decorates her front yard with a graveyard full of banned books.
Harris: Don’t get excited. I’m not here to help you. I’m here to support Grandpa.
Darlene: Oh. Aww. Your costume is very nice. You look like someone who was unjustly slut-shamed in a Puritan village.
Harris: I’m Hester Prynne.
Ben: Guess who your mom is.
Harris: It’s random, she just wants to show us that she still fits in her Little League uniform.
Darlene: No. I thought a lot about your words, and I do care censorship and what you think about me. That’s why I am the catcher in the rye.
Harris: Yeah. Harris: It’s not proactive, but I know that you must feel like an idiot wearing that costume. That makes me happy.
Darlene: It gets better. Even though I want to make a new start with my neighbors, everyone who stops by trick-or-treats will get the message.
Harris: Thanks, Mom. Harris: It’s possible that I was wrong about you back when I was 8.
Darlene: If they want to know, it was your idea and Pamela Finch gave it to you three doors down.
“One of these things doesn’t belong with the other.” One of these things just doesn’t belong.” Did you notice a non-classic book stacked up alongside all the classics? Gender Queer is a classic, even though it was published in 2019.
It seems that the writers knew this from the beginning. This has nothing to do “the classics”, book banning, freedom of speech, or anything to do sexually explicit books that are inappropriately for children. Gender Queer is a book that parents have protested the most because of its pornographic and pedophilic content. The Conners want us to believe that it should be in a school library.
This speaks volumes about the show and its agenda.
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