Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

Post by tohnjitor » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:13 AM UTC

bitwize wrote: post #110

bko wrote: post #15

Here's a good list of changes. Most are about removing any references to ugly or fat. But also other strange things like changing the author's Matilda likes to read to include Jane Austin and John Steinbeck, not calling people crazy, swapping screeching to annoying, removing brothers and sisters to favor "siblings" and using "folks" instead of "ladies and gentlemen" https://twitter.com/incunabula/status/1626860237104…

Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling wrote favorably about colonialism; they were replaced with more agreeable authors. Use of gendered language is marginalizing to nonbinary people. It's easy to figure out why these changes are being made in particular, once you take a position of empathy.

Post by s1artibartfast » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:14 AM UTC

monkpit wrote: post #417

s1artibartfast wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well yeah. It already is taken as fact in many circles that the primary purpose and intent of the American legal system and government was the subjugation of minorities. While I think there is some value and truth in critical analysis of race, gender, or governance that challenge prevailing assumptions, many people have lost the plot and positive context entirely. They mistake the exceptions for the rule and the flaw…

> It already is taken as fact in many circles You can really say this about anything. Not that I am disagreeing with you, but it’s a dubious way to frame anything you wish to state.

Post by teolandon » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:17 AM UTC

krona wrote: post #231

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered... Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. - George Orwell

Post by oska » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:17 AM UTC

hackinthebochs wrote: post #489

oska wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it as a totalitarian measure, rather than leaving it to school librarians to make those choices, while listening to the expressed feedback and requests from the students and their parents at that school.

That's fine until librarians or teachers consistently get it wrong. A school librarian's discretionary power isn't intrinsic, it is granted conditional on its proper use. I'm sure there are many topics that if a teacher or librarian presented to your children you would move to remove their discretionary power. The debate is merely on what topics cross that line.

Post by slibhb » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:18 AM UTC

josephg wrote: post #257

mcguire wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most cogent analysis I've seen is that the changes were made by the owners of the books in order to sell more books.

From the article: > The Dahl estate owned the rights to the books until 2021, when Netflix bought them outright for a reported $686 million, building on an earlier rights deal. The American streaming service now has overall control over the book publishing, as well as various adaptation projects that are in the works. I suspect they're hoping netflix will make movies based on his books. Netflix seems pretty sensitive…