Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
The more things change...
Roald Dahl's Books Being Altered
- Thread starter dshl
- Start date
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
on the basis that i'm not a parent and pretty unlikely ever to be one, i'm not sure i care too deeply
this is - as i understand it - a commercial decision being made by a profit seeking publisher? not something that's being enforced by the government department of political correctness? and the gammons are losing their shit about it? (see also greggs and their vegan sausage rolls or whatever it was)
as someone who was (some years ago) a child, and who got fed a lot of 'kids books' that were very outdated in the 70s - very middle class, families having servants, boarding schools and all that sort of thing, and that's before we get on to the racism, sexism, classism and so on (although didn't one of the enid bloody blyton series have a character who was somewhat non-binary at the very least? maybe the trans rights movement should adopt them as a hero and see if that makes the gammons explode?)
should kids books simply fade away for being out of date?
or get re-printed as a 'this is how life used to be' thing? there's a line somewhere where 'literature' should be read as it was written and there's scope to think about it as a historic thing (although aware that some of shakespeare's works have also been adapted to modern day) but not sure that kids' books really fit that.
or get brought more up to date (with the kids having internet access and that sort of thing, and maybe taking out some of the racism etc)?
or was this all just a publicity stunt?
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Well, there was George, who was described as a "tomboy", which I believe has always been a thing.
Riklet
procrastinación
Yeah lets write books about picking someones eyeballs out with a knife for adults and then write books for kids where you cant even call a fat person fat because everyone is beautiful bla bla bla.
If kids need protecting from Roald Dahls stories a lot of adults sure as shit need protecting from Bret Easton Ellis's.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
cos there is absolutely no difference between children and adults.
And who said anything about 'protecting' anyone? I'm pretty sure children have already heard the word 'fat' before
ouirdeaux
Caring, Understanding, Non-judgemental Type
A pedant writes: there is very little Aramaic in the Bible.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
well, not now there isn't
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
True but the entire Bible has been edited, redacted, debated, reinterpreted and then stitched back together more than Frankenstein and it sure as fuck wasn't written in English
ska invita
back on the other side
First thing Id alter is the poll options
Also bring back scary cover art for kids books made by proper adult artists. Cartoonish covers go in The Bin along with all the identical looking CGI kids films
I support these Dahl edits.
Also bring back scary cover art for kids books made by proper adult artists. Cartoonish covers go in The Bin along with all the identical looking CGI kids films
I support these Dahl edits.
gosub
~#
O
We have always been on the brink of war with Russia. Since the beginning of your life, since the beginning of the Party, since the beginning of history, war has continued without a break, always the same war.
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
I don’t have any issues with old books like Blyton, Dahl etc. being edited for newer audiences. My kids have read the Faraway Tree books and I doubt I would have wanted that if they hadn’t been edited (though the only obvious edit I noticed is Fanny is now Franny). But there’s a misogyny seeped into Dahl that I don’t think some minor edits would solve.
And don’t get me on to the subject of that fucking quote about inner ugliness shining through that everyone seems to love
And don’t get me on to the subject of that fucking quote about inner ugliness shining through that everyone seems to love
Ax^
Silly Rabbit
Karl Masks
Birds Angel Delight
If the owners of these works want to exercise free speech and change things that's up to them. I really don't care, other than to say I don't care. Now I don't care. Goodbye
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
What rubbish. Next you will be saying Jesus wasn’t white and blond…
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Matt has almost never been funny and somehow is one of the highest paid cartoonists. Stealing a living.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
I was a big fan of Kipling's "Just So Stories" when I was in primary school. So I bought them to read to my son when he was little. I was shocked by the occasional use of racist language an racist concepts. I self censored those bits when I read them out.
When I was little those words and concepts meant nothing to me. At that age I had never met any black people, nor encountered deliberate racism that I was aware of.
Books aimed primarily at children should not contain language which readers should find offensive. But the difficulty here, as ever, is to determine who is to perform any censorship. Fascists and Nazis get offended by different things to Communists and Socialists. Ditto atheists and Christians and Muslims. Etc. Etc.
When I was little those words and concepts meant nothing to me. At that age I had never met any black people, nor encountered deliberate racism that I was aware of.
Books aimed primarily at children should not contain language which readers should find offensive. But the difficulty here, as ever, is to determine who is to perform any censorship. Fascists and Nazis get offended by different things to Communists and Socialists. Ditto atheists and Christians and Muslims. Etc. Etc.
Raheem
Well-Known Member
I expect the publishers get around that by limiting the number of Nazis and communists they employ as editors.
LOL
I was out and about when I was creating it.
Just out of interest, how do you believe the poll should have gone? I want to know what wasn't represented properly.
Personally, I wanted to distinguish adult lit. from child lit. and I also wanted to only focus on past authors, particularly the greats.
I find people's replies/votes interesting as right-leaning people/press seem to want to pin this on the overcontrolling 'loony left'.
I would call this site predominantly left-leaning and there's a sizable amount of people here who basically voice the same concerns - meaning, on a fundamental level it's wrong to mess with past authors' work. Warnings may be fair play, but generally the past should be seen in the context of the past.
I'm not saying that's everyone's view but seems significantly represented here.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
More than Frankenstein’s monster.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
I was just using them as examples.
Bitch and The Great Switcheroo are both great stories. Can’t remember if they’re dodgy but no doubt they will be.
Have they released the proposed revisions to this one yet?
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
as the Great Switcheroo is about raping two women, I think we can safely say it is a bit more than 'dodgy'Bitch and The Great Switcheroo are both great stories. Can’t remember if they’re dodgy but no doubt they will be.
So all fiction including such topics should be air-brushed from history? Including film and TV?
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