The freedom of speech and expression debate is riddled with nuance, one that liberals will never seem to comprehend. They’re also suffering from an appalling lack of self-awareness in that regard. They claim to support this constitutional right, though they want all so-called offensive or triggering language banned, suppress contrary opinions, and, even worse, push for the wholesale erasure of past cultural works of all kinds. That’s not freedom of speech; that’s authoritarianism. Madeline wrote about how Roald Dahl’s books are being reprinted without the language some now deem offensive. James Bond is next, which isn’t shocking since the Left hates such characters. The only stunning part about the Bond woke rewrites is that it took this long (via Fox News):
Sensitivity readers have edited the classic James Bond series, rewriting racially insensitive or racist references, including instances of the n-word, from the 1950s and 1960s books after Ian Fleming Publications commissioned a review ahead of the 70th anniversary of "Casino Royale's" release.
The edits primarily focus on racially insensitive terminology and stereotypes geared toward Black characters.
The Telegraph reported Saturday that the books' reissue will contain a disclaimer, expected to read, "This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace."
[…]
One revamped scene includes a rewrite from "Live and Let Die" in which the original line referring to Africans reads that they are "pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much" is rewritten to say, "pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought."
Other lines are rephrased, cut or condensed in similar fashion.
[…]
The rewrite comes on the heels of news that "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" author Roald Dahl's books would also be rewritten to remove offensive language and adopt more gender-inclusive terminology.
The rewrites, according to the Telegraph, focused on toning down harsh character descriptions, particularly those describing characters as "fat" or "ugly."
Life is about getting one’s feelings hurt, and one doesn’t have to look far either on the Internet or through study that times were different. In many cases, it wasn’t for the best, especially for people of color, and yet there are numerous stories of these folks not only thriving but overcoming the societal obstacles that inhibited their growth. Many of these obstacles have been removed, and while progress has been achieved—this isn’t good enough for the Left, who need a perpetual state of cultural war to push these harsh ‘wartime’ orthodoxies they feel will bring unity. Some people could sit or take certain public transportation methods due to their skin color and were barred from certain institutions of learning and employment, but they worked and fought to put food on the table, raise their families, and, yes, change these odious laws. They succeeded.
Today, some woke snowflake hears the phrase “best person for the job” and throws a tantrum, calls for book bans of classic literary works due to vernacular at the time, and threatens all who don’t support this endeavor as being enablers of racism. Rewriting past works to be less offensive isn’t cultural sensitivity; it’s abject stupidity. The Left love to shove part of their insufferable busy-body persona down all our throats.
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