Roald Dahl: Ruth Langsford slams 'dangerous' changes to books
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It was recently revealed by The Roald Dahl estate and book publisher Puffin have made the decision to edit some well-loved books by the children’s author to be more in touch with modern audiences. However, during Tuesday’s instalment of Loose Women, Ruth Langsford slammed the idea of rewording phrases as she called the concept dangerous for future generations.
Dahl is behind some of the most well-loved books of all time and has been entertaining children across the globe for decades.
Responsible for the likes of Matilda, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and The Witches, Roald Dahl wrote a total of 20 novels with many getting turned into movies.
However, The Roald Dahl estate and book publisher Puffin have decided to make a series of changes to references and characters’ appearances to be less offensive.
Words such as ‘ugly’ will be replaced with ‘beastly’, ‘fat’ will now be ‘enormous’ and ‘small men’ will be ‘small people’.
Although the announcement has sparked a wave of backlash from people who have blasted the decision to make changes to the classics.
On today’s edition of Loose Women, the panel of ladies shared their thoughts on the topic.
Panellist Ruth Langsford commented: “Kids actually find these books funny and amusing, we all did, our children read them. Good always reigned over evil in the end
“My point is, we are just starting to wrap up our young people in so much cotton wool they’re going to be frightened of their own shadows soon.
“You have to allow them to make their own minds up about something, I have no problem with possibly a warning on a book saying, ‘This book contains language that some people may now find offensive, it was written in 1967.’
“Then you have a choice, but to start re-writing and taking things out from such a famous author who is so loved the world over by children, I think is wrong.
“I think it’s dangerous and I think it’ll lead to people being scared to go out of their house soon in case something offends them, it’s too much.”
Her co-stars agreed with Ruth’s comments as Janet Street-Porter said if nobody wants to read something and they don’t want their children to read it, it’ll eventually go out of print.
Weighing in on the debate, Frankie Bridge believed kids at the moment were being brought up in a world adapting to offensive words.
She added: “Kids aren’t silly nowadays because they‘re being brought up around this so they’re kind of learning what is right and wrong.
“For me, I grew up saying ‘fat’ and I now am aware in my household if Wayne or I say, ‘I feel really fat today’, I’m really trying to stop that between the two of us.
“Hearing that word come out my children’s mouths, whether it’s about themselves or about someone else, just sounds horrible.”
A spokesperson for the Roald Dahl Story Company touched on the proposed edits as they stated the company wanted to ensure the stories can be enjoyed by all children in this day and age
They said: “When publishing new print runs of books written years ago, it’s not unusual to review the language used alongside updating other details including a book’s cover and page layout.
“Our guiding principle throughout has been to maintain the storylines, characters, and the irreverence and sharp-edged spirit of the original text.“
“Any changes made have been small and carefully considered.”
Loose Women continues on weekdays on ITV from 12:30pm
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