I grew up reading Roald Dahl. I enjoyed the adventures of Charlie Bucket as he explored Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I enjoyed following James on his voyage on the Giant Peach. I was entertained by the shenanigans of Mr Fox and was charmed by the Big Friendly Giant.
However, it seems the witches are here to spoil the fun.
Yahoo news reports:
‘The Roald Dahl Story Company and Puffin Books carried out a review of Dahl’s classics which led to the removal or rewriting of content demmed offensive- including references to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race’
A publishing company which a writer trusted to publish his work, has now decided to alter that work because they are judging the man (whose work has made them rich) for writing things in the past that today are considered politically incorrect.
We are seeing this more and more in literature. Publishing houses that made billions on the works of authors later treating those same authors with contempt by holding their past works to the “standards” of the woke modern age.
The central tenet of progressivism is to look to the future in the belief that humanity can improve by moving away from the past and changing its attitudes. To address the perceived inequalities in society, they will also work to normalise what was once taboo which is why they judge the past based on modern opinions and views.
Publishing houses, like other woke corporations, are more concerned with their brand than anything else. Bad publicity is a serious concern for them so rather than standing up to the few vocal people who have motivated the mainstream media to manufacture controversy, they would rather destroy the legacy of a brilliant man who cannot defend himself.
There may also be a darker agenda to this. Roald Dahl’s books are children’s books, which means the changes will shape the perceptions and attitudes of children’s impressionable minds.
I have seen this before. In China, they are trying to change the Chinese translation of the Bible so that it is more supportive of the government.
Their reasoning is to ‘keep pace with the times’. The revisions will include ‘adding core socialist values’ and ‘removing passages that do not reflect communist beliefs’.
Children’s literature is the next thing to use to further woke indoctrination. And since the new groomer children’s books are being roundly rejected by parents they have decided to use trusted children’s franchises to achieve their aims instead.
Roald Dahl was not perfect. In fact, his family apologised for the comments he made in the past, but what he did should be kept separate from the joy he brought to many children.