Puritannical school and town officials are familiar foils in literature and film. I think that’s partly because we often recognize the danger and folly of trying to repress undesired but generally natural and harmless human proclivities. It’s also partly because we sometimes fail to recognize it, and need to be reminded against being a ridiculous autocrat in a small area of authority (the “soup nazi” of “Seinfeld” fame comes to mind here, as does many an irritable state government grunt). And it’s also because we’ve all been subject to such petty tyrants and enjoy seeing them get their comeuppance, even in fiction.
When I came of age, in the 1980s, one such tale was “Footloose” (tagline: “The music is on his side”). As IMDB’s plot summary for this 1984 flick notes, it’s a
Classic tale of teen rebellion and repression [in which] the streetwise Ren can’t quite believe he’s living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal,” so he “initiate[s] a battle to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople.
The force of repression in that movie was indeed puritannical, a “Bible-thumping minister.” But as George Mason professor of law F.H. Buckley observed, “The modern Puritan devotes himself to political rather than religious duties” ? a Puritanism “particularly pronounced in the academy.”
In other words, the ones oppressing generally natural and harmless human proclivities are now usually not the Bible-thumping ministers but the Bible-banning administrators. Such as the ones who were so desperate to silence a Christian valedictorian, Brittany McComb:
The decision to cut short McComb’s commencement speech Thursday at The Orleans drew jeers from the nearly 400 graduates and their families that went on for several minutes.
However, Clark County School District officials and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday that cutting McComb’s mic was the right call. …They said McComb’s speech amounted to proselytizing and that her commentary could have been perceived as school-sponsored. …
School officials removed from McComb’s speech some biblical references and the only reference to Christ. But even though administrators warned McComb that her speech would get cut short if she deviated from the language approved by the school, she said it all boiled down to her fundamental right to free speech.
That’s why, for what she said was the first time in her life, the valedictorian who graduated with a 4.7 GPA rebelled against authority.