'Always behind Florida in crazy department': Jimmy Kimmel trolls school district's 'war on dictionaries'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jimmy Kimmel, the host of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', recently took a humorous swipe at the escalating book-banning situation in Florida.
The move has sparked criticism from organizations like PEN America, with concerns raised about limiting access to diverse literature.
The district cites compliance with a state law, HB 1069, which mandates specific teachings and restricts books depicting "sexual conduct."
Jimmy Kimmel pokes fun at dictionaries ban
During his monologue, Kimmel jokingly expressed that when it comes to the bizarre and unexpected, Florida always seems to outdo the rest of the nation.
The focus of his comedic commentary was the Escambia County Public School District in Florida, currently embroiled in what Kimmel described as the state's ongoing "war against reading."
In his usual witty style, Kimmel highlighted a peculiar development within the school district the consideration of banning dictionaries.
The reason behind this unexpected move? The dictionaries include a definition of the word 'sex'. Kimmel amusingly remarked, "They have a state law designed to protect children from education, and they're reviewing the dictionary. If the review holds, kids won't be able to get a dictionary at the library at school. If they want to look up a word, they're going to have to go on the internet, where there's no sexually explicit material at all."
From 'Cher-no-dick' jokes to serious ban on books in florida
The comedian playfully suggested renaming dictionaries as 'Cher-no-dick' to comply with potential bans and continued to mock the district's decision to pull not only dictionaries but also encyclopedias and 'The Guinness Book of World Records'.
Kimmel further added, "They're also scrutinizing the biographies of Beyoncé, Oprah, and the Diary of Anne Frank, which is filthy, by the way, pure pornog. What year is it? They're also planning to ban calculators so students can't type out 58008 and turn it upside down. In case you're wondering, this is how one of the offending dictionaries defines sex."
His commentary emphasized the absurdity of the situation and questioned the logic behind banning fundamental reference tools.
Transitioning to the broader context of book bans in Florida, Kimmel's satire seamlessly merged with the serious issue at hand.
He highlighted the extensive list of over 1,600 books, including dictionaries and encyclopedias, which the Escambia County school district is considering banning.
Kimmel's monologue addressed the impact of these decisions on students' access to diverse perspectives and educational resources.
