Activists are intent on rewriting the past.
Nothing is allowed to exist in its place and time.
Now James Bond is about to get a makeover by the “woke” mob.
Acclaimed children’s book author Roald Dahl recently had his books altered through the lens of left-wing “sensitivity readers.”
Now the same thing is happening with Ian Fleming’s classic James Bond novels.
The publisher is set to release no editions that remove racially insensitive language.
Bond disclaimers weren’t enough
Instead of editing the text, it makes more sense to leave it as is and let people understand the historical context in which people were writing.
The new versions will include the disclaimers: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.”
The disclaimers should have been enough, but it was not.
Among the changes, the description of a Harlem strip club was changed.
In the original “Live and Let Die” text, the passage read, “Bond could hear the audience panting and grunting like pigs at the trough. He felt his own hands gripping the tablecloth. His mouth was dry.”
That could be a description for any strip club anywhere.
Nevertheless, the revision read, “Bond could sense the electric tension in the room.”
The language is not nearly as colorful or descriptive, which is what happens when “sensitivity readers” get control of a text.
Needless to say, all references of the N-word—Fleming was writing in the 1950s and ‘60s—have been dropped.
Also, most racial descriptions were dropped altogether.
The UK Telegraph reported that “racial descriptors are entirely dropped in some instances.
In one example, some criminals escaping from Bond in ‘Dr No’ become simply ‘gangsters.’ In the same novel, the race of a doctor and an immigration officer now go unmentioned, as does that of a henchman shot by Bond.”
The problem with rewriting text in such a manner is that it could go on forever.
There will always be more politically correct language.
In the past, Fleming had signed off on changes, but now he’s not alive to do so.
Ian Fleming Publications said: “We at Ian Fleming Publications reviewed the text of the original Bond books and decided our best course of action was to follow Ian’s lead. We have made changes to Live and Let Die that he himself authorised. Following Ian’s approach, we looked at the instances of several racial terms across the books and removed a number of individual words or else swapped them for terms that are more accepted today but in keeping with the period in which the books were written. We encourage people to read the books for themselves when the new paperbacks are published in April.”
There’s no telling what will be altered next.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
