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November 19, 2007
Risks Censored from Children's Books
British publishers have been censoring children's books to remove anything deemed risky by politically correct totalitarians.
Children's author Lindsey Gardiner reveals that youngsters could not be depicted as walking alone in one novel, and sharp objects were removed from another.
In one story, she had to rewrite a scene where a dragon toasts marshmallows with the flames from his nostrils because "it looks dangerous and goes against health and safety." Another story had to be changed to prevent a boy from climbing a ladder.
Even colors can be banned. A cooker that glowed bright red had to be changed to green.
The censorship is applied inconsistently, and even nonsensically — all the better to keep authors on their toes.
On a tip from Cheetah.
Posted by Van Helsing at November 19, 2007 8:32 AM
Comments
Does anyone in Brittaniastan realize that this is insane?
We got the movie '28 Weeks Later' this weekend. Basic plot, Britain gets over-run by rabid zombies. One gets the impression that if something like that actually happened, the Government's response would be to create laws to protect Rabid Zombies from persecution. Multi-cultural coordinators would explain to the citizenry that eating human flesh was part of Rabid Zombie Culture, and people who object to it should be ashamed (or jailed) for their intolerance.
Posted by: V the K at November 19, 2007 9:02 AM
I guess they are going to ban nursery rhymes such as "Three Blind Mice", after all, we can't sing about the abuse of handicapped animals.
And forget stories such as "Swiss Family Robinson" or "Lord of the Flies".
And as for "Jack and the Beanstalk". Did Jack have any approved climbing gear when he climbed that beanstalk into the clouds? Did he have any sort of safety harness? Did that beanstalk belong to an endangered species and was any harm caused during climbing? And the way he abused that poor giant! And to end it all, he chopped down the beanstalk, robbing it of its opportunity of flowering and producing the seeds needed for the next generation of its species.
Posted by: joe-6-pack at November 19, 2007 1:50 PM
This reminds me of the hatchet-jop done on American cartoons in the seventies and eighties.
Well, goodbye Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Superman, Batman, early Micky Mouse comicstips, Sherlock Holmes, W. Shakespear, Greek Tradgedies, Archie Comics, ect......
Posted by: KHarn at November 19, 2007 2:23 PM
That is a load of carp™.
Posted by: Steve at November 19, 2007 4:45 PM
Protecting children from any semblance of real life is the best way to prepare them to meekly bow their heads so that their necks may be either:
A) Yoked by the coming Socialist-Communist State of Britian, or
B) Smited by the new masters of the Dhimmi Republic of Ingland.
Posted by: Scott at November 19, 2007 6:47 PM
What kind of story can you write where the main character does not engage in risky behavior? Even Peter Rabbit would be too dare-devil for this crowd.
Posted by: James F McEnanly at November 19, 2007 7:07 PM
this reminds me of when ours were small and they'd go get one of their books, climb onto my husbands lap asking him to read them a story - so they'd get all cozy and my husband would open the front of the book and say, "once upon a time..." then he'd immediately turn to the back of the book and say, "they lived happily ever after!"
then, they'd all just sit there roaring with laughter until one would say, "no, the middle too, papa!"
Posted by: nanc at November 20, 2007 6:41 AM
