James Bond Books Are Being Rewritten To Remove ‘Offensive’ Content

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According to reports, “offensive” material is being edited out of the James Bond novels.

The action was taken as a result of Penguin Publishing’s sensitivity experts’ request to have specific terms removed from Roald Dahl’s works.

The phrases “fat” and “ugly” were among the things that had to go.

Penguin will now publish “classic” versions of Dahl’s works with his original, unedited text after a backlash that even saw the Queen Consort, Camilla Parker-Bowles, weigh in on the debate.

Currently, however, it is rumoured that Ian Fleming’s renowned spy novels are being modified to eliminate material that would be deemed “offensive.”

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Watch news show host discuss changes to Ian Fleming’s James Bond books below…

Writing in the 1950s and 1960s, Fleming’s books are alleged to include racial slurs.

According to The Telegraph, descriptions of Black characters have been “reworked” or “removed” as of late.

References to other ethnicities and Bond’s ideas of Korean sidekick Oddjob from Goldfinger, on the other hand, are thought to be keeping in place.

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Phrases like the ‘sweet tang of r***’, ‘blithering women’ failing to do ‘a man’s work’ and homosexuality being a ‘stubborn disability’ are also set to remain in the books.

A disclaimer will be included at the start of the revised novels, which will be published in April to celebrate 70 years since Fleming’s first Bond novel, “Casino Royale.”

The disclaimer will read: “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 was set.”

Similar to how many people criticised Penguin’s proposed Dahl edits, many people have criticised the changes on social media.

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One person wrote on Twitter: “What’s next? The Bible? Any book tampered with should not in any way be sold under the original title!

“Wokeness needs to be stamped out, and replaced with common sense.”

Another said: “You realise that this is what Orwell warned us of in 1984?”

Prior to their U-turn, Penguin tried to get rid of the word “fat” from all of Dahl’s writings, referring to Augustus Gloop from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” as “enormous.”

Modifications would have also been made to language used to describe groups of people, as many of these groups were simply referred to as “men” in earlier editions of Dahl’s writings.

The Oompa Loompas would have been referred to as “small people” instead of “small men” and the “Cloud-Men” in “James and the Giant Peach” would have been “Cloud-People,” thanks to Penguin’s efforts to use more gender-neutral and inclusive language.

Yet the outcry was so intense that the publisher decided against the revisions.

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Dahl, who passed away in 1990, famously declared that if his language was changed by publishers, he would never write another word.

According to The Guardian, he reportedly said: “I’ve warned my publishers that if they later on so much as change a single comma in one of my books, they will never see another word from me. Never! Ever!”

Dahl allegedly threatened to send the “enormous crocodile” from his book of the same name to “gobble them up” in the comments, which were reportedly posted more than 40 years ago.