Inclusivity is a good thing. No one in our society should be made to feel left out because of who they are. We should all be mindful of gratuitously offending anyone. But increasingly this thoughtful principle has turned into a thoughtless obligation — and this has severely damaging ramifications for our cultural landscape.
An investigation last week found that hundreds of changes have been made to the words and expressions in Roald Dahl’s children’s books by his publisher, Puffin. A new message is tucked into the latest editions of these books: “This book was written many years ago, so we regularly review the language to ensure that it can continue to be enjoyed by all today.”
The Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach are now the Cloud-People. Nothing can be described as “black” or “white”; a character “turning white” is now “turning pale”. The word “fat” is now taboo.
When the author Philip Pullman was asked on BBC Radio 4’s the Today programme on Monday whether these changes were too excessive, he responded by telling the presenter Justin Webb, “If Dahl offends us, let him go out of print.”
Others have asserted that this issue is not about censorship. It is ordinary business savvy. This is the view of Joanne Harris, Chair of the Society of Authors, who tweeted this: “Note to anyone who needs it today: Publishers updating a book — with the approval of the author’s estate — to ensure its saleability is not censorship. It’s just business.”
In 2021, Netflix bought the rights to Dahl’s books from the Dahl estate for £500 million. One commentator views the editorial decisions as a “a hardheaded business decision to protect those Netflix rights” and to ensure that Dahl, a hot financial property, doesn’t get cancelled in the future.
But a spokesperson for the Roald Dahl Story Company told a newspaper that “the current review began in 2020, before Dahl was acquired by Netflix” and that “it was led by Puffin and Roald Dahl Story Company together.” And in any case, a company that dilutes the work of an author because it is scared of being cancelled is still diluting the work of an author. This is not genuine sensitivity. This is acquiescence to an increasingly aggressive cultural mood that sanitises anything “offensive” without regard for what genuine purpose is served in doing so. The note in the new editions proclaims the decisions have been made to allow everyone to enjoy Dahl’s books. But nastiness is an integral part of Dahl’s appeal for children in the very first place.
This is not just about Dahl, though. This is also about what we mean by inclusivity. It is a good thing insofar as we recognise it for what it actually is: a compassionate attitude to human differences. Bowdlerising Dahl’s work in this heavy-handed way is not compassionate. It is an abdication of artistic and moral responsibility to the whims of a nebulous category of people: the potentially offended. It is cowardice.
Keoghanis an inspiration
I was delighted to see that Barry Keoghan, the 30-year-old Irish actor, won the Bafta for Best Supporting Actor on Sunday for his role as Dominic Kearney in The Banshees of Inisherin.
His victory not only testifies to his acting abilities, it also speaks to the strength of his character. He grew up in an impoverished home in Dublin. His mother died when she was 31 and he was 12, and he lived with his brother in 13 different foster care homes during childhood.
In an interview on the Irish talk show The Late Late Show in 2018, Keoghan said, “13 homes — if that was on paper you’d say he’s destined to mess up. But I went against it, I didn’t dwell on it, used it as ammunition almost.”
When he won his Bafta, his last dedication was to “the kids that are dreaming to be something from the area that I came from. This is for you.”
