Book Burning

Pillar 3: Constitutional Heritage

Media description: A scene from the movie Field of Dreams (Universal Studios 1989) where the character Annie Kinsella (Amy Madigan) and a local woman argue their differing interpretations of a novelist’s works.

MEDIA CONTEXT
This scene from the movie Field of Dreams (Universal Studios 1989) is played out at a local school PTA meeting in Iowa, USA. It is being held to discuss the inclusion of the book, “The Boat Rocker” by Terence Mann, in the school curriculum. Beulah Gasnick (Lee Garlington) raises some legitimate and well supported concerns regarding the contents of Mann’s novels. Annie Kinsella (Amy Madigan) on the other hand, appreciates and defends this fictional writer’s ideas. While comparing “Beulah” to well-known dictatorial historical figures for wanting to ban the book, Annie passionately infers that to do so would be to reject the virtues of the Bill of Rights*.
* The American Bill of Rights protects the natural human rights of liberty including freedom of religion, speech and press.

MEDIA CRITIQUE
Annie Kinsella (Amy Madigan) is portrayed in this Field of Dreams (Universal Studios 1989) scene to be tolerant; in the right. Was Annie’s accusation of Beulah (Lee Garlington) being a Nazi book burner an extreme comparison? Beulah and her followers were portrayed as narrow minded and a little ‘stiff’. According to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights do they not also have the right to censor the literature their children are exposed to? The author Terence Mann and the book “The Boat Rocker” are both fictional; while a significant link was made to the main plot, this scene might have been avoided. Perhaps it could have been written without the political slant, in a different setting. Did the screen writer, Phil Alden Robinson, have a political agenda he wanted to address? Are the concerns raised in the PTA meeting similar to social sentiments in the late 1980s? It is likely that the PTA scene served mainly to develop the background character of Annie and her husband Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner).

ANALYSIS & REVIEW

1. Using the issues raised during the argument between the characters Beulah and Annie as a basis, present a class debate.
2. What is the “Bill of Rights”? Does Australia have one? Why?
3. What relationship does the character Annie Kinsella infer between the banning of a book from school curriculum and: “Eva Braun”; book burning; “Nazi”; and Stalin-like censorship?
4. How is the PTA meeting an example of Liberal Democracy?

THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION & AUSTRALIA TODAY
The Australian Constitution inherently protects some human rights; either explicitly or implied. However there has long been debate over the need for a Bill of Rights. Any attempts to pass such a bill to date have been declined by the population.

PERSONAL APPLICATION
Can you identify a clear distinction between "holding an informed opinion strongly" and "holding an opinion belligerently or ignorantly"? Is there room in Australia for every way of thinking, or are there some stances that should not be tolerated? What do you think? Can you list three subjects or topics you hold a strong opinion about, yet someone or some others that you respect maintain a different opinion? Are these topics you could raise and discuss around the dinner table?

AUSCIVICS FILM & TV SERIES LINKED TO SCHOOL CURRICULUM
Learning areas and/or outcomes relating to the questions and issues above have been identified for each state and territory in the following links:*