Roald Dahl's books edited to be more 'inclusive'

Stick a warning on them or something. This is how messed up we used to be, this is no longer appropriate etc.

I don't agree with airbrushing our past, it should be left intact so that it can be remembered and learned from.

SuperBowserWorld

Every piece of digital media should give the consumer the following options:

- author's original work

- same as above, but consumer chooses to to be outraged while consuming

- version that the consumer can edit themselves and share among like minded people

- crayon option. Consumer can choose to digitally draw on the content with digital crayons

Podge_irl

It's also worth mentioning, that he is writing from the perspective of children in many of these quotes and children can be incredibly nasty and frank in their thoughts and descriptions. Probably part of what attracts/ed so many to Dahl in the first place.

Calahonda52

censor ship by the sensitivity readers, who are a minority, complete boXXol

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11769955/BEL-MOONEY-snooty-sensitivity-readers-censored-Roald-Dahl-robbing-children.html

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270953#Comment_120270953

But it isn't.

Take away the shyte Daily Mail journalism and the crux of it is absolutely correct.

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270872#Comment_120270872

While I admire the effort at deep sarcasm, the point must be reiterated, that any changes made to any publication without the consent or after the death of the author, is no longer a work by that author and can no longer present the author's name on the front of the book.

It must say, e.g., 'Matilda, a work of the Roald Dahl Story Company, based on a previous work by Roald Dahl.'

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270626#Comment_120270626

Best people have the choice to enjoy, support and read what they want… the original texts without the rewriting and editing…

you can go into Easons or any other book retailer and legitimately buy a copy of Mein Kampf….

yet Roald Dahl, gets targeted and edited…

what else gets targeted and edited next ? History book ? Human history after all hasn’t been inclusive enough… what if the dam buster pilots were suddenly to become..

LGBT people, mental health sufferers, people from diverse international backgrounds….. that’s how utterly stupid this stuff is.

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270855#Comment_120270855

You mean a 'Trigger Warning' as they are being called?

They are doing this with literature being studied by third level students, for fear that they won't have the emotional intelligence to cope with original works, contemporaneous with their time.

If people don't see the societal hazard of these steps, then perhaps their own emotional intelligence needs an introspective examination.

Third level students should be examining and debating and critiquing and learning from these original works, to enrich themselves as people.

When it comes to kids books, the whole point is for parents and teachers and guardians to read these with their kids and explain and teach them about whats right and wrong.

More lazy, abdicatory parenting on show here than anything else.

archermoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270772#Comment_120270772

So should the copyright holder get compensated for their loss of rights then?

Tony EH

Absolutely bloody absurd.

Who owns the rights to Dahl's books these days? Whoever it is needs to have it taken away from them as fast as possible.

archermoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270780#Comment_120270780

They are a company trying to sell children's books. If their research tells them that for the books to sell as well as possible they need to be updated, that's up to them. It isn't like these are important works of historical significance. They're children's books. The text in books gets modified all the time. People only noticed it this time because the copyright holder had a press release about it.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271073#Comment_120271073

I never said it wasn't "up to them"

Though they are now lying when they say they are books by Roald Dahl.

Larbre34

This is what happened folks, 18 months ago

This is between Netflix as the new rights holder and Puffin as the publisher.

If you wish to make purchasing choices, you know what to do.

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271024#Comment_120271024

you can go into Easons or any other book retailer and legitimately buy a copy of Mein Kampf….

In the children's section?

yet Roald Dahl, gets targeted and edited…

what else gets targeted and edited next ? History book ? Human history after all hasn’t been inclusive enough… what if the dam buster pilots were suddenly to become..

Calm down. No one has targeted Roald Dahl. There are far bigger targets in that mans history if people wanted him airbrushed.

It's Rage Bait to sell more merch. You are falling hook line and sinker for it.

The target audience will not give 2 flying fúcks.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271062#Comment_120271062

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271101#Comment_120271101

Fuck sake.

Strumms

…p

TheValeyard

I cannunderstand updating language so children can understand it, making it contemporary as such, but this is just absolute tripe. It's completely agenda driven nonsense.

Propsposterous.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270880#Comment_120270880

Maybe children would be less "incredibly nasty" if they weren't given books to read during their formative years that encourage nastiness?

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271107#Comment_120271107

No, not in the children’s section 😉 but children can go anywhere in Easons.

Roald Dahl has had his books sold in the children’s section for decades, without incident or any issues. :) 

im perfectly calm dude. I don’t intend buying anything so I’m falling for what ? Exactly ? An odd response by you.

No other people should have a remit or opportunity to edit or rewrite the works of dead authors. It’s despicably disingenuous.

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271158#Comment_120271158

Can you?

What would you do with Shakespeare, or Chaucer, or Verne, or Wells, or Kipling, or Dickens, or Hans Christian Andersen?

I'm not sure the Canterbury Tales would have the same impact as a study of ancient poetry or history of the 14th Century if you "updated" the language.

Do you not see the whole point of people's concerns here??

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271162#Comment_120271162

None of Dahl's books "encourage nastiness". They are cautionary tales AGAINST having nasty traits.

cruizer101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271036#Comment_120271036

No, they still have the rights to publish or not publish as they want they just don't have the right to change someone elses work and pretend like it is the original.

magicbastarder

loads of changes were made in enid blyton's books over the years IIRC.

am curious about the approach of the french publishers - surely if they don't own the copyright, it's not their decision? also, by definition the french version is a translation, so is already an interpretation of what the author wrote. if they want to be pure about it, they should be publishing them in english, not french...

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271213#Comment_120271213

But when it defines physical appearance as being one of the nasty traits, it implies that it's ok to be nasty to people who look that way. Which is what most of the tiny edits that were made look to address. Children shouldn't be taught that other children are nasty because they are fat, it's something that could encourage bullying.

This is a massive overreaction from the usual culture war types (unsurprising that the Daily Telegraph first broke the story) who get wildly upset by the most innocuous thing like a few words in a book being updated by the owners of said book. It's nothing new and extremely common for new editions of books to get brought up to standard with minor edits, this is just being brought up to stoke outrage from the easily offended. Enid Blyton books have been through the same process, and Roald Dahl's books themselves went through this decades ago as for example his original depiction of Oompa Loompas as slaves brought in from Africa was deemed pretty problematic during 60s and 70s.

The current update is not censorship, it's not redefining history or any of the other hyperbolic nonsense that's being pushed. It's a commercial decision being made by the owners of the IP to update the language very slightly to be more suited to modern audiences, which they presumably believe will help sales as today's children are brought up to be more tolerant and their parents are more aware of the influence of the material they read. The older books are widely available for those who are offended by any future updated ones.

buried

Next up - Snow White and the Seven Vertically Challenged Windfarm Engineers

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271352#Comment_120271352

It is yeah. Its all of those things.

The job of explaining whats offensive in 2023 is for the parents and teachers, as part of teaching kids of the realities and histories and changes of the World.

My brother and me talk with my 11 year old twin nephews about everything in the World. We play chess with them, we read and watch the films of our youth with them, we sit in the crowd at matches with them and what never ceases to amaze me is their desire for knowledge and their capacity to understand things, when they are explained to them in straightforward and honest terms.

If they read something in a book or hear a fella effing and blinding at a match or see a row on the street or some level of drama in a film or TV show that's otherwise OK for their age, its the simplest thing in the World to say, 'what you saw or heard there isn't nice or kind or respectful and you shouldn't speak like that to others', or even stronger in respect of something like the Dahl books, 'do you see what you just read / heard there, that was written a long time ago and even though it was made as a bit of a joke then, its not something you can say to or about people now and its not OK for even adults to do it.'

The World is a challenging place folks, teaching kids right from wrong is not easy, it takes work and good example, but the very worst thing you can do is not challenge or be honest with them or they will fail to make up their own minds and be able to cope with tough situations.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271162#Comment_120271162

If you think the works of Roald Dahl would be what might encourage a child to be nasty nowadays I can really only start roaring laughing.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271181#Comment_120271181

Not hyperventilating or lunacy, you are in fact, way off. :) disagree but since you can’t have civil discourse about it, I’ll leave it there… sheesh. 🙂

Be right back

It's maddening that they decide to change the writings of the books to appease a minority. Jog on. Wonder the Dahl family would say on the matter..

magicbastarder

your post was a little bizarre though. you're suggesting that the next step from editing a children's book of fiction is to start editing history books?

it's worth pointing out that someone owns the dahl stories, but no-one owns history. which is a key difference. people have been writing and editing history books to suit their own agendas for years, if not millennia.