Even Augustus Gloop ain't safe (Dahl being censored)

esmozz said:
Did'nt the 1970's cartoon version of Watership Down get slated recently? To be fair though - that was brutal. That probably did scar me when I saw it as a kid.
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Most kids TV of the era is horrifically scary lol. You only realise when you have a 2 year old. I just had to turn off Hercules as the Hades scenes are things of actual nightmares.
 
dLockers said:
Most kids TV of the era is horrifically scary lol. You only realise when you have a 2 year old. I just had to turn off Hercules as the Hades scenes are things of actual nightmares.
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Mostly we seemed to turn out alright - at least no worse than the generation before or the generation after.
 
Dahl changes started in the 60's - from this thread - history, that has already been forgotten, a bit before, stern emails, rather MalcolmX & Co.

not sales driven - ethics of the organisation , all self policed by the internal diversity manager, clever, paranoid stuff, not far from the BBC remit,
but, it extends to their portfolio population of fictional characters plus living staff.
 
esmozz said:
You really havent been paying attention have you - business are terrified of falling foul of the hysterical minority and hence will pre-empt in any way they can to avoid doing so. You want to know what that looks like - ask JK Rowling.

I suspect you've looked into it far too hard but anyway....


And what exactly is it that these 'trained educational professionals' (or you, for that matter) think is going to happen if a child reads an unedited version of Matilda?
And who are they? Where's the research suggesting if a child reads the word 'fat' in a book they are going to grow up to be what exactly?



Nope. Let me spell it out for you. You and people like you are the shrill hysterical minority. Most people find Roald Dahl's books to be completely innocuous. Huge numbers have read and enjoyed them - he's one of the most successful childrens authors of all time.

Have you actually read any of them (I suspect not) - what exactly offended you so horribly?

And seriously - let me ask this again. What do you think is going to happen if a child reads an unedited version of Matilda?
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TBH, I’m getting a bit bored with this :) trained education professionals, yaknow, teachers and the like. People who set school syllabus’.

and yes, I’ve read lots of Roald Dahl, including some of the stuff he wrote for adults. I’ve even got a box set of tales of the unexpected somewhere. You could call me a fan.

im not offended by any of it, but if someone tells me that they don’t want to teach it school unless it’s edited, I really couldn’t give **** and defer to their opinion on that, it is after all, what they do. And I can, given some of the themes and language, understand why they may want to. I’ve got better things to do than get hot under the collar about what’s considered suitable for 7 year olds to read at school. it’s not like there’s a shortage of it, which is the reason why the publishers will edit them. It’s nothing to do with some nefarious plot to stop kids being racist by calling each other Oompa Lumpas. Or fat.
 
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inogen said:
i don’t think anyone would disagree with that, the question is though, are those works of art suitable for children, and as such, should the rights holder change them in order to continue selling them in the numbers that they do.
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It didn't do generations of kids zero harm, so yes, they're more than suitable for children and will always will be. Only the pearl clutchers like Tony Edwards who are perpetually offended have issues with them and i won't associate myself with them in any fashion
 
dLockers said:
And imagine if they wanted the choice of non racist/colonial books of the same story/theme? Where removing such connotations literally left the story precisely in tact.
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How about they release both versions, making it clear of the changes, and let the parents decide? They won't because they know the woke versions with be left unsold on the shelves.
 
robgmun said:
How about they release both versions, making it clear of the changes, and let the parents decide? They won't because they know the woke versions with be left unsold on the shelves.
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How about they print what versions they think will sell the most copies? :confused: Like normal book publishers do?

Nobody is going around collecting the old ones and burning them. There's millions of copies around.
 
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inogen said:
How about they print what versions they think will sell the most copies? :confused: Like normal book publishers do?

Nobody is going around collecting the old ones and burning them. There's millions of copies around.
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And i'm thinking of purchasing a box set soon as time goes on they will become rare.
 
dLockers said:
Most kids TV of the era is horrifically scary lol. You only realise when you have a 2 year old. I just had to turn off Hercules as the Hades scenes are things of actual nightmares.
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Err...wut. a Disney cartoon, made for children, that has been watched by probably hundreds of millions of children is horrifically scary?
 
robgmun said:
How about they release both versions, making it clear of the changes, and let the parents decide? They won't because they know the woke versions with be left unsold on the shelves.
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To be honest I'm hoping to bring my daughter up better than the old gammons of today, so I'll probably go for the one that has oompa lumpas in that weren't explicitly called out as indentured labour from tribal colonies.
 
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