Mary Poppins Changed From U to PG Because of “Discriminatory Language”
Mary Poppins has had its age rating lifted from U to PG because it contains “discriminatory language”. Yet the word in question is so obscure you probably never noticed it. The Mail has more.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) now considers the 1964 tale of Julie Andrews’s magical nanny to be not suitable for children to watch alone, despite the film enchanting generations of youngsters.
The reclassification is due to the use of the word Hottentots. The dated term was historically used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, a group of nomadic herders in South Africa, but is now regarded as racially offensive.
Admiral Boom, played by Reginald Owen, who believes he is a naval commander in charge of a ship, uses the word twice in the film. On the first occasion, he is seen dangling from the roof in a boat where he asks one of the Banks children if they are “going to fight the Hottentots”.
Later in the film when the chimney sweeps, whose faces are blackened from soot, dance on the roof the admiral exclaims “we’re being attacked by Hottentots”. He then aims fireworks at them.
The BBFC said: “We understand from our racism and discrimination research… that a key concern for… parents is the potential to expose children to discriminatory language or behaviour which they may find distressing or repeat without realising the potential offence.”
I think 60 years have conclusively shown that Mary Poppins has not induced an epidemic of children going round calling people “Hottentots”. So the BBFC can stop clutching its pearls now and relax.
Worth reading in full.
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Was it due to sweepophobia?
I’m more concerned about Sooty. He keeps whispering in people’s ears.
Not to be trusted.
Whilst having someone’s hand up his rearend !
So it’s not dick van-dyke blacking up?
It’s such an obscure word that nobody alive today would even recognise it. Except the professional offense seekers.
Time to set the fuzzy wuzzies on them. Oops, my bad. Straight to jail for me
“I think 60 years have conclusively shown that Mary Poppins has not induced an epidemic of children going round calling people “Hottentots”. So the BBFC can stop clutching its pearls now and relax.”
This has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone being worried that children will call people Hottentots and everything to do with the BBFC wanting to show how morally superior they are to plebs, and the general trend towards hating white people and wanting to destroy our civilisation, manipulated by evil rich powerful people and aided by useful “nice” idiots. It’s never what they say it’s about.
It’s mental isn’t it? At the same time, stick a kid in front of many ‘music’ videos ( i use the word loosely ) nowadays and see the amount of stuff that’d easily get a higher certificate as much is totally inappropriate for kids. Then there’s the delights of Tik Tok…Of all the dodgy stuff that kids with a device ( even just a telly ) can be exposed to now I think the timeless classic that is Mary Poppins is the least of our worries.🙄
Indeed. As Eminem puts it in “Who knew?”
And last week I seen this Schwarzenegger movie
Where he’s shootin’ all sorts of these motherf****rs with an Uzi
I see these three little kids up in the front row
Screaming, “Go!” with their seventeen-year-old uncle
I’m like, guidance?!
Ain’t they got the same moms and dads
Who got mad when I asked if they liked violence?
And told me that my tape taught ’em to swear?
What about the make-up
You allow your twelve-year-old daughter to wear? (Hm?)
They should add a trigger warning for Dick Van Dyke’s “cockney” accent.
I’d guess that using ‘Hottentot’ as an insult just received a massive boost.
Not to be confused with hot-totty.
So not for the use of ‘black face’ or Dick Van Dykes’ Cockney accent?
Is anything these days not regarded as racially offensive, unless a pejorative directed at White people?
“The dated term was historically used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, a group of nomadic herders in South Africa, but is now regarded as racially offensive.”
Who decided and why is it now regarded as racially offensive?
I think 60 years have conclusively shown that Mary Poppins has not induced an epidemic of children going round calling people “Hottentots”
Well they might now that it has been highlighted by some braindead idiots.
I hadn’t heard of Hottentots but now I know it is offensive to some I may well include it in my vocabulary!
There’ a German saying Hier sieht’s ja aus wie bei den Hottentotten! (It’s just as if we were among the hottentots here!) use to communicate that a certain place is seriously untidy/ messy, if I may supply some very nice and absolutely racist historical prejudice here.
🙂
It’s funny, isn’t it, that ‘hottentot’ could be considered offensive, yet every day on tv now the word ‘f**k’ (apparently so offensive I can’t use it here) can be heard uttered with great regularity. I am waiting for ‘c**t’ to become just as common. When I was a kid, words like hottentot, pickaninny and various others that refer to race (you know the one especially, it begins with ‘n’ and you are only allowed to say it if you’re black) were okay, but use swear words as mild as ‘bloody’ and you could get a clout…oh, but there’s another thing you’re not allowed to do anymore.
If it’s good enough for Wiki then it is good enough for me
Frankly, I feel deeply offended and I think the rating should be at least 18, if not ban the film altogether, for its lack of gender, sexuality and race inclusivity among other things such as casting only actors instead of an actual nanny, banker, admiral, chimney sweep, etc.
Regarded as racially offensive by whom? Professionally offended BBC politcommissars to whom anything white people other than themselves ever did must have been racist and who’ll readily condemn the past because it didn’t yet pay attention to the current political leanings?
Additionally, the map of Africa has been banned from being shown on TV before 9pm because it’s clearly racially offensive.
That reminds me…they changed the spelling of ‘niger’ (as in the bird seed) to ‘nyger’ to allegedly avoid offence. You would only think niger is offensive if you were illiterate.
Oh heck, does that mean Emmerdale will be vetoed as they frequently mention nearby Hotten? Surely the local nursery would be called Hottentots? What profanity in the Dales!
Remember when discrimination meant discernment?
It still does in some dictionaries. And the adjective “discriminating” is still used to mean:
“Able to recognize or draw fine distinctions or judgments viz
“a discriminating collector of fine books.”
(American Heritage dictionary of the English Language 5th Edition)
I’ll personally keep using it with that meaning whenever the opportunity arises
I know profanity is frowned upon but what f**ing idiots.
The H word had such a profound effect on me as a child that I have recurring nightmares.
Now, instead of kids not even noticing, they are required to have Guardians present to point out what Hottentot is – not that they will know or care.
“Racism and discrimination research”! 😂 What a bunch of plonkers.
However, PG does not mean it is “not suitable for children to watch alone”. It means:
“General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Unaccompanied children of any age may watch, but parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children.”
Did anyone else in childhood learn the longest word in the German language
‘Hottentottenpotentatentantenattentat’? The English translation requires 9 words ‘an attack on the aunt of a Hottentot potentate’. I just googled it to check the spelling and found it in the Urban Dictionary, so they’ll soon be on the naughty step. And it was a totally mad neighbour saying it, not the sainted Mary. But seriously, our video tape of Mary Poppins wore out it was watched so many times by our children then grandchildren and as others have already pointed out, the violence and sexualisation of children is everywhere on our screens.