Sex scences and YAL

As I complete my course on young adult literature I realize how much YAL surrounds us. Unfortunately, I am not speaking of their book versions which are well written, appeal to young adults in theme, and are appropriate for a young adult audience. I am speaking of the sensationalized versions made for television or the big screen.  The main point of contention I have with the sensationalized versions of these wonderful stories is the depiction of sex. Within the confines of the books the scenes that involve sex are tastefully handled and written for young audiences. The sensationalized versions often add to or change the scences depicting sex to make them more graphic and inappropriate for young viewers. Thus, making people take offense to a book in which they may have never read. I  will only speak of a couple in which I have personally read the YAL that the movies or series is based on.

Thirteen Reasons Why

I read this book because of the way the Netflix version made people talk about the book. Unfortunately, I heard the book being talked about negatively when in actuality the people should have been referencing the series on Netflix. The inaccuracies are outrageous:

1. There is never a mention of a cell phone in the book. The rumors and lies about the girl in the book did not start because of a photo the was passed around via cell phone.
2. The series on Netflix addresses the tapes out of order. If one has read the book the importance of the order of the tapes is paramount to the storyline of the book.
3. The rape scene is depicted vividly in the series. Whereas in the book it is only briefly brought to the attention of the reader. The reader doesn’t need a detailed account of the rape. The reader is able to infer what happens from textual clues given in the book.

The White Queen

I watched this series before I ever read the books. The amount of sex in the series is not at all what is depicted in the book. After reading the books I gave them to my teenage daughter to read because never once in the book is sex actually described. It is alluded to, but never graphically described.

YAL does address the issue of sex and sexuality. In all the books I have read in which the characters had sex it is described tastefully and is something I would not be embarrassed to discuss with my daughter as she reads the book. Why then, oh why does “Hollywood” have to take these wonderful stories and make them more explicit for the screen, thus eliminating the viewers the book was originally designed to engage?

I am recently read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Fault in Our Stars. Both of those have also been made into movies. I have yet to see them and I hope that the story hasn’t been “ruined” by overly graphic sex scenes.