I cannot believe this, but then again, in this day and age, I can. All of these wonderful classics are being destroyed for the sake of … for the sake of what?
I am sad, angry, and disgusted at the contingency of individuals who are making this happen. It appears the true art inherent in these classics is being destroyed for no other reason than to placate a group of senseless, clueless, and demanding bullies.
Consider this:
In Agatha Christie’s novels, terms like “Oriental,” “Gypsy” and “native” have been taken out, and revised versions of Ian Fleming’s “James Bond” books will be scrubbed of racist and sexist phrases. Classics by Roald Dahl have been stripped of adjectives like “fat” and “ugly” along with references to characters’ gender and skin color.
According to this article, the driving factor is financial — do what you have to do to sell, therefore remove offensive language.
But also consider the writers: Many will now be afraid of every word they write that could be offensive, therefore taking away the freedom of an artistic exercise.
When I taught in the college environment, we needed to be extremely careful of everything we said, which was important to show respect for differences, but it got to the point where at times I was afraid to open my mouth.
madmuser 