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

Dis86 said:
Err...wut. a Disney cartoon, made for children, that has been watched by probably hundreds of millions of children is horrifically scary?
Click to expand...
You have kids? If not you have no idea. Go watch the Little Mermaid and then come back to me. Hell, even Simbas dad gets eaten by Scar.
 
dLockers said:
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.
Click to expand...

So...you think because she sees that she's suddenly going to start drinking mint tulips and using the black kid next door to clean her room and put her toys away?
 
inogen said:
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.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I suspect most teachers couldnt give a toss either - a minority might. So why do they get to drive policy? My son will soon be of an age where he can enjoy the books just as I did as a child, why all the fuss to change them. I very much appreciate the effort teachers put into my son's education but it's my job to raise him to be a decent person. And rewriting RD's books, or any childrens books from any era (Nazi Germany excepted maybe) is'nt going to change or help with that.

If nothing else, its little more than window dressing - if you want to talk about some of the big problems in our society, especially around issues that young people face, I'm sure we would find many points of agreement. But RD's childrens books are not amongst them. At best the supposed problem with them is fluff and pointless nonsense.
 
Last edited:
esmozz said:
Fair enough. I suspect most teachers couldnt give a toss either - a minority might. So why do they get to drive policy? My son will soon be of an age where he can enjoy the books just as I did as a child, why all the fuss to change them. I very much appreciate the effort teachers put into my son's education but it's my job to raise him to be a decent person. And rewriting RD's books, or any childrens books from any era (Nazi Germany excepted maybe) is'nt going to change or help with that.

If nothing else, its little more than window dressing - if you want to talk about some of the big problems in our society, especially around issues that young people face, I'm sure we would find many points of agreement. But RD's childrens books are not amongst them. At best the issue is fluff and pointless nonsense.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tend to agree... but then my GF is a teacher and I hear what kinda stuff they come out with, pretty innocuously mostly, and I can completely understand why there would be a clamour to only teach stuff that doesn't normalise certain attitudes and behaviours. And it won't be minority either. Teacher's have enough on their plate without having to spend time explaining to kids why calling brown kids Oompa Lumpas isn't okay to kids who think it's funny because "it's in the book, Miss".
 
dLockers said:
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.
Click to expand...

I think I'll go for the version where the oompa lumpas are on zero hour contracts, paying sky high rent and saddled with debt. It least it will be relevant.
 
inogen said:
Yeah, I tend to agree... but then my GF is a teacher and I hear what kinda stuff they come out with, pretty innocuously mostly, and I can completely understand why there would be a clamour to only teach stuff that doesn't normalise certain attitudes and behaviours. And it won't be minority either. Teacher's have enough on their plate without having to spend time explaining to kids why calling brown kids Oompa Lumpas isn't okay to kids who think it's funny because "it's in the book, Miss".
Click to expand...

I'm seriously going to have to re-read Willy Wonka again then. I was a child of the 70s/80s and I'll freely admit - society was a lot more racist back then. But I never heard anybody call a black kid an oompa lumpa.
 
Dis86 said:
So...you think because she sees that she's suddenly going to start drinking mint tulips and using the black kid next door to clean her room and put her toys away?
Click to expand...
No.
Dis86 said:
Having watched it several times, without hiding behind the sofa, i can confirm he is killed by a wildebeest stampede. Not consumed.
Click to expand...
Google it. There was a rumour scar ate him afterwards.
 
inogen said:
my guess is something along the lines of the publishers getting a few stern emails from some do-gooder leftist tree-huggers so they’ve decided to alter their multi-million pound product out of fear of escalation.
Click to expand...

Nah, the people working in publishing these days *are* the leftist tree-huggers - mostly white women.

Note the subjectivity around what is or isn't deemed problematic, it can be OK to describe a character in unflattering ways but they deffo want the reference to a double chin removed as "fatphobia" is a big culture war thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom