Nearly 60 years after its release, “Mary Poppins” has been reclassified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) because it features “discriminatory language,” the BBC reported.
The film, which stars Julie Andrews in the titular role, has been raised from a U rating (synonymous to a G rating) to a PG rating. The change is due to the film’s usage of “Hottentot,” a derogatory term for the Khoikhoi — the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa — originally used by Dutch settlers. The term is said twice by Admiral Boom, who first mentions it while conversing with one of the Banks children, and then uses it as a descriptor for the chimney sweeps with soot-covered faces.
