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Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Ubiquitin, Feb 18, 2023.

  1. Ubiquitin

    Ubiquitin Member
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    This is very dishonest by the publisher. Put a foreword or a disclaimer if you want. Pull them entirely even. But don't rewrite them.

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...rewritten-to-remove-language-deemed-offensive

    Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive
    Augustus Gloop now ‘enormous’ instead of ‘fat’, Mrs Twit no longer ‘ugly’ and Oompa Loompas are gender neutral

    [​IMG]

    In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Oompa Loompas are now ‘small people’ instead of ‘small men’. Photograph: Clive Thompson/Alamy

    Hundreds of changes were made to the original text – and some passages not written by Dahl have been added. But the Roald Dahl Story Company said “it’s not unusual to review the language” during a new print run and any changes were “small and carefully considered”.

    In The Witches, a paragraph explaining that witches are bald beneath their wigs ends with the new line: “There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.”

    In previous editions of James and the Giant Peach, the Centipede sings: “Aunt Sponge was terrifically fat / And tremendously flabby at that,” and, “Aunt Spiker was thin as a wire / And dry as a bone, only drier.”

    Both verses have been removed, and in their place are the rhymes: “Aunt Sponge was a nasty old brute / And deserved to be squashed by the fruit,” and, “Aunt Spiker was much of the same / And deserves half of the blame.”

    References to “female” characters have disappeared. Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a “most formidable female”, is now a “most formidable woman”.
     
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  2. FranchiseBlade

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    Absolutely horrible and should be criminal. Writing has a rhythm. It is wrong to do that when the author created those words and the way they go together.

    I'm fine putting a note at the beginning of the books explaining the time they were written and adding context. But altering the words is just horrible.
     
  3. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    Dahl himself rewrote passages from the book in a 1973 release to change what was considered a racist depiction of the Oompa Loompas as enslaved African pygmies:

    https://theconversation.com/amp/fro...ed-oompa-loompas-in-modern-adaptations-166967


    Before the film’s release, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the US threatened to boycott cinemas, while the producers worried if they represented black characters in a derogatory way, they would lose revenue.

    Dahl eventually buckled to public criticism. In a revised 1973 edition of the book, he reimagined the Oompa-Loompas as “little fantasy creatures”.

    In this new edition, the Oompa-Loompas are hippies. Their skin is rosy white; their unkempt hair is golden brown; they frolick in the factory gardens, picking wildflowers, playing hand drums, and chasing butterflies. They symbolise 1970s counterculture and its rejection of materialism, conservative values, and social and political conflict

    The rewritten book should included disclaimers about the rewritten parts. Having a “sanitized” version of the book available for children is nothing new. My worry is that the original work will be lost. That would be a shame, whatever we may think of how some of the content has aged. Literature, including children’s literature, should be preserved and available.
     
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  4. Ubiquitin

    Ubiquitin Member
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    Dahl can edit his books all he wants. But he died in 1990.
     
  5. hooroo

    hooroo Member

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    this is what happens when a marketing company takes over an ip.

    what kids like about roald dahl's stories is also what teachers and parents hate.

    this is why all the film adaptations have sucked. dahl's stories are meant to be cruel, nasty, and gross.
     
  6. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Member
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  7. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    Sounds like they own the intellectual property and can do whatever the eff they want with it. I don't approve, but whatever.
     
  8. tallanvor

    tallanvor Member

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    You cant claim words are authored by dahl when they aren't. Intellectual property doesn't even come into play, thats just lying.
     
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  9. AkeemTheDreem86

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    Good lord, are we ****ed.
     
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  10. Xerobull

    Xerobull ...and I'm all out of bubblegum

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    Better to just ban all the books.

    DeSantis 2028
     
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  11. juicystream

    juicystream Member

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    Don't care. Doesn't change the context of the stories. It isn't like the original text is going to disappear.
     
  12. AkeemTheDreem86

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    Wow. Funny how censors haven't actually managed to read any history books, or they'd know how Nazi this **** is.

    ... But whatever?
     
  13. AkeemTheDreem86

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    Would you care if they drew a mustache on the Mona Lisa with sharpie? Doesn't change the context of the story.
     
  14. tallanvor

    tallanvor Member

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    They are going to tell people dahl wrote this awful ****.

     
  15. juicystream

    juicystream Member

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    Personally? No, but big difference between an orginal painting and new copies of books that there are already millions of.
     
  16. juicystream

    juicystream Member

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    Private ownership VS government control...
     
  17. AkeemTheDreem86

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    Shut up, bigot. It doesn't change the context of the story.

    Un ****ing believable.

    They can't appreciate art and refuse to learn history, so they take both away from everyone else.

    Y'all should at least give thinking a try first before you go around telling the rest of us how to do it, perhaps?
     
  18. AkeemTheDreem86

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    So you find no value in art or poetry or history? Changing someone else's work and pretending it's still theirs is literally changing history.

    You ok with changing Socrates to make him more inclusive?
     
    #18 AkeemTheDreem86, Feb 19, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2023
  19. juicystream

    juicystream Member

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    There's value in it, but I don't see a change in value. Mona Lisa is basically the Kim Kardashian of paintings. Famous for being famous.

    History will remain. Do I think they should note editing Dahl's original work? Yes. Do I have a problem with it being changed? No. Would I change it? No.
     
  20. AkeemTheDreem86

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    Hey @AroundTheWorld, if you ever get off those crossword puzzles :) and are out looking around for the actual good Nazi stuff, here ya go!
     

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