The recent changes to Roald Dahl's books for children

[Frustration]

Dahl's 'problematic' books? Which ones were those, exactly? I don't remember ever coming across a copy of "Willy Wonka and the Perfidious Jews".

[TGLS]

They've backpeddled already. Apprantly they've ''listened to the debate''. Which is management speak for ''When the King, the Queen Consort and the Prime Minister are objecting to this as well as prominant figures from every side of the political spectrum, maybe we should have ignored those five people on Twitter.''

My conspiracy theory though is that this was all a publicity ploy. Some of these changes were just a little too... odd.

If I understand correctly, they aren't backpedaling as much as they're releasing multiple versions of the same book, one with edits targeted to children, the other without. So half of one, six dozen of the other.

[Frustration]

Why would any sensible person buy the 'sanitized' version? What people would actually want it if it wasn't the only available version? The changes are idiotic.

[Nealithi]

Why would any sensible person buy the 'sanitized' version? What people would actually want it if it wasn't the only available version? The changes are idiotic.

The older I get the more the line 'from a certain point of view' actually makes sense.
Sensible and common sense seem rare because you see them by the exceptions not the followers. And it can literally be a different view by people. So in this case the 'sanitized' version follows the 'PC' idea of removing 'bad' influence to raise better children. So to people of a certain point of view the changes are an improvement.

[clearspira]

James Bond is getting the same treatment now. In fairness the case here is better than for Dahl: Bond is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, an anti-semite, smokes 50 a day, an alcoholic, a gambler, pro-colonialism, pro-imperialism and hates the poor.

To be equally fair, the books were written in the fifties and no one is forcing you to read the things.

[hammerofglass]

James Bond is getting the same treatment now. In fairness the case here is better than for Dahl: Bond is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, an anti-semite, smokes 50 a day, an alcoholic, a gambler, pro-colonialism, pro-imperialism and hates the poor.

To be equally fair, the books were written in the fifties and no one is forcing you to read the things.

It's been a while but wasn't Bond somewhere on the "villain protagonist" end of the antihero spectrum even by 1950's standards? Wouldn't you basically have to completely rewrite the books?

[Frustration]

And why do people feel it necessary to specify both 'racist' AND 'antisemitic'?

[stryke]

And why do people feel it necessary to specify both 'racist' AND 'antisemitic'?

Some people think that rascism is specific to people of colour only and so being against the jews falls into a separate category. It's a very american point of view. It's dumb but expecting people on the internet to use words correctly is like trying to push back an incoming tide with your hands.

[ProfessorDetective]

And why do people feel it necessary to specify both 'racist' AND 'antisemitic'?

Some people think that rascism is specific to people of colour only and so being against the jews falls into a separate category. It's a very american point of view. It's dumb but expecting people on the internet to use words correctly is like trying to push back an incoming tide with your hands.

We used to not count Italians or the Irish as "white", either. Each group had a mass migration to the States (Famine for the Irish, Nazis for the Jewish... and apparently A LOT of reasons (https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials ... t-arrival/) for the Italians) and the Wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestants (AKA WASPs) who are usually at the top of the chain around here always get spooked when ANYTHING remotely threatens their status quo. That why many differentiate: in groups and out groups.

No different today, sadly. Just that now they're Wealthy, Cisgendered, Heterosexual, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, Republicans... over sixty.... Not as good of an acronym, honestly...

[hammerofglass]

Antisemitism usually comes with bonuses like conspiracy theories about being behind shifting demographics or running global finace or secretly being alien lizard people or whatever. Its not just hating Jewish people.