Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, The BFG, and many more. All of these books have been written by the British author Roald Dahl, many of which you may have heard of or even read as a child. Born in 1916, he became famous for his children’s literature, before passing on the 23rd of November in 1990. However, recent changes made to these stories to make them more “acceptable” in the modern world have brought on a flood of conflicting complaints and support from critics, fans, readers, and writers alike.
The new editions of Dahl’s books have been published in the past year with changes made together by the publisher, Puffin Books, the Roald Dahl Story Company, and Inclusive Minds. The Roald Dahl Story Company (RDSC), which controls the rights for the books, was bought by Netflix in September of 2021. The two companies had at first formed a partnership where Netflix would be given the rights to produce films based on Dahl’s books. Since then, an animated series of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and a film called Matilda: The Musical has been released. For this reason, some accuse the streaming company of taking part in rewriting Dahl’s works. However, Puffin Books has said that the books had been under review since 2020 before Netflix acquired the RDSC.
The changes to the books are said to be “small and carefully considered” by Puffin Books, though others say there have been hundreds of changes made. Most of the changes were seen in words or phrases describing physical appearances, gender, race, and mental health. These new versions exclude words such as “fat”, “thin”, and “ugly”, and have changed terms like “mothers and fathers” to “parents” to make them gender-neutral. In other places in the text, new sentences have been added or rewritten.
Out of all the complaints and criticisms these changes received, some viewed it as censorship, including the non-profit organization PEN America, which works to protect freedom of expression. The chief executive of the organization points out that readers should be able to read the works of the author and have their own reactions to the content without others filtering for them. Some worry about where the line will be drawn, saying that if these books have been rewritten because of the prejudices and stereotypes (such as the antagonist being fat or ugly) from the mindset of the time it was written in, then other classics could be in danger of being altered as well. Others simply wished to preserve the original works of the author and enjoy them as they were written.
On the other hand, there are voices of support for the rewritten versions saying that the removal of offensive descriptions would protect the feelings of the children who read them, and allow them to enjoy these stories without exposing them to prejudices. Some have pointed out that the children would not understand the mindset and context of those times, and with Roald Dahl having admitted to being an antisemitic, there were people who appreciated the changes so that it would be safer for their children to read.
In short, differing opinions on the changes made to the Roald Dahl books have emerged through social media, though whether it is truly censorship can be subjective. With the publisher announcing that they will also publish the original editions, it is now up to the readers to choose.
— Writer Jia Lee can be reached at jial26@rism.ac.th.
