{"id":68697,"date":"2014-03-26T17:26:04","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T21:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=68697"},"modified":"2014-03-26T17:49:25","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T21:49:25","slug":"stupid-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/26\/stupid-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Stupid Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stupidsstepout\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do people still read The Stupids<\/em>, that classic series of children\u2019s books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall in the seventies and eighties? They must, right? They\u2019re too good. Making fun of fools may not be officially acceptable these days, but few books are so perfectly calibrated to a child\u2019s sense of humor. And I don\u2019t imagine most children are in any danger of confusing the Stupids\u2019 aggressively literal na\u00efvet\u00e9 with real-life intellectual deficits. As the\u00a0School Library Journal<\/em> opined in a starred review of The Stupids Step Out<\/em>, \u201cEven youngest listeners will laugh with smug superiority as they follow these good natured dummkopfs from departure to journey\u2019s end.\u201d<\/p>\n

But one naysayer\u2014who gave the book a one-star review on Amazon\u2014had this to say:<\/p>\n

\n

My seven-year-old recently brought this book home from his school library. I found it very offensive, because I think it teaches children that it\u2019s funny to call others \u201cstupid.\u201d I cannot think of a circumstance in which it is appropriate for a child or an adult to use this word towards another person. I was so upset that I wrote a note to the school librarian.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In fact, \u201cstupid\u201d is<\/em> an awfully harsh word. I was reminded of this yesterday when I stopped into a deli to buy a packet of cold medicine. There was something of a line, headed up by an older woman with a Russian accent, tall, elegant, and swathed in a mangy fur, who was screaming angrily at the hapless owner, \u201cNo plastic! No plastic! Are you stupid?! I said no plastic!\u201d When he managed to interpret her wishes and eventually handed her a paper sack, she responded, \u201cI SAVE ENVIRONMENT,\u201d which seemed debatable, but as we know, every little bit helps.<\/p>\n

Then, near my house, I snapped a picture of the following sign, in the window of a local furniture store:<\/p>\n

\"stupid<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Stupidity Ends This Week.\u201d<\/p>\n

But does it? Does it ever really end?<\/p>\n

Here is what was strangest about the incident at the deli. After the vigilante environmentalist received her bag and, somewhat mollified, proceeded to sail out, an old man, who had been eyeing her with distinct admiration, sprang forward to get the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllow me, madam!\u201d he said, his extravagant bow completely untinged with mockery. The lure of the forbidden, I suppose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do people still read The Stupids, that classic series of children\u2019s books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall in the seventies and eighties? They must, right? They\u2019re too good. Making fun of fools may not be officially acceptable these days, but few books are so perfectly calibrated to a child\u2019s sense of humor. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[12555,13332,13333,13334,13331,10172,13330],"class_list":["post-68697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-childrens-literature","tag-delis","tag-harry-allard","tag-james-marshall","tag-sofas","tag-stupidity","tag-the-stupids"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStupid Is by Sadie Stein<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 26, 2014 \u2013 Do people still read The Stupids, that classic series of children\u2019s books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall in the seventies and eighties? 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