Blackface
The latest episode of British institutional fragility comes courtesy of the British Board of Film Classification raising the age rating for Mary Poppins, from U to PG, because a derogatory term [hottentots] originally used by white Europeans about nomadic peoples in southern Africa is used to refer to soot-faced chimney-sweeps
. (snowflake)
The BBFC said its research about racism and discrimination showed that a key concern for people, particularly parents, was "the potential to expose children to discriminatory language or behaviour which they may find distressing or repeat without realising the potential offence".
Helen Bushby, culture reporter, BBC News
I don't know of anyone who's been contacted by the BBFC in the course of its research
, so I can only assume that they've not consulted widely outside of a limited demographic.
What concerns me about modern reviews of historical cultural works—re-evaluating them through a contemporary lens
for modern audiences
, to use the sociocultural vernacular—is that there's always someone to find offence at anything, and they will complain. The hand-wringers acquiesce so as not to cause further offence; or, more realistically, as an easy way out. Meanwhile the silent majority—who're unaware of, and uninvolved in, the discussion
—have our culture rewritten; moderated; or, worse, expunged.
Still, at least in this case Admiral Bloom didn't refer to sooty chimney sweeps as niggers. So I think we all got off quite lightly under the circumstances.
The strange thing is that I doubt anyone other than a few these days would understand the reference to hottentot if it hadn't been brought to our attention by the BBFC and BBC. And perhaps that's why the BBFC has limited its sanctions to raising the age limit, rather than full-on censorship. (shrug)