Ryan Niman
Maria BustillosOn the bowdlerization of Roald Dahl
https://popula.com/2023/02/20/leave-roald-dahl-be-for-inclusions-sake/
#bookstodon #literature #fiction #publishing #books #censorship #bowdlerization #culture
Kim Scheinberg@maria
Great piece
"I dislike the alterations … but they were made for business reasons”
I'm near certain my take is wrong, but part of me wonders if the changes weren't done for spite. I watched a rich guy buy a fallen rival’s treasured home for the sole pleasure of bulldozing it to the ground
I'm sure the publisher and the estate want the money, but maybe there's a tiny bit of “Fuck you, Roald” in turning his work into something he’d hate.
No way of knowing... but that sure would make an amazing movie!!
Thanks so much for reading, and for kind words.
Antipope Superstar@maria this is a good take. Also, in terms of public domain - there are some editions of The Patchwork Girl of Oz that eliminate the infamous Tottenhots chapter, and some that leave it as published. And since there's no copyright on it anymore, parents can choose
that's how it should be! so people can see all that happened, and what everyone thought and wrote.
@maria yeah, I see the value of both having the original warts and all version for its historical value, as well as a version you can just read to your kid without having a Teachable Moment
And not even about copyright but about physical media vs streaming, back in the day Disney had different lines of DVDs, some for families and some for grown up animation nerds, which weren't pushed as widely, all the problematic older stuff could go out on the second line. But it's harder to do that with Disney+
Emily Rossi@maria I really enjoyed the piece. I have such fond memories of his books but I also threw out a copy of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator after reading a couple of chapters to my oldest. It's fine! There are plenty of other amazing books in the sea!
SAME my gosh, thank you.
Later on they might like to look into some crazy things from the olden time! Like us reading Jane Austen or whatever, stories where women don't exist until they find a handsome prince? etc.
@maria oh yes exactly, I don't mind once she's old enough to include it in some critical reading, maybe an in-depth exploration of why all of her elders have brain worms?? Could be very edifying lol