Last week’s edition of The Collegian contained a review of A24’s film “Babygirl” in the Culture section. Some readers were upset by the article, arguing that The Collegian’s coverage undermined the college’s responsibility to avoid “sponsoring pornographic or otherwise dehumanizing films,” as stated in the Hillsdale Student Handbook. 

But The Collegian did not sponsor a viewing party for “Babygirl,” nor did the author tell viewers to go watch the film. The author didn’t even like it. 

The Collegian owes the student body of Hillsdale College both a well-reported weekly account of its beloved community as well as a glimpse into the world beyond our ivory tower. 

If “true education of the mind and heart teaches and requires self-government,” then we should boldly engage with the world beyond our tightly-knit community. Culture at large does not have community guidelines — Collegian readers who take issue with this may simply flip the page.

Much of the Western canon hosts messy, ugly stories, full of sex, debauchery, and sin. Think of works like Plato’s  “The Symposium,” Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” William Byrd’s “The Secret Diary,” even Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian.” Different authors, different time periods, different moral undertones and assertions separate these works from each other, but they all possess deeper messages beyond their surface provocations. 

“Babygirl” isn’t in the canon and it never will be. To write about culture well is to wrestle with it, however, and to practice the defense of self-governance Hillsdale College seeks to instill within us. If we hope to critique or change culture, we must first engage.