Even Hollywood has gone PC

jaysay · 02-10-2008, 09:06

Nothing is safe from the PC brigade, not even Hollywood. At the moment Hollywod is in the middle of the remake of the 1955 film of the Dam Busters, the epic story of the 617 Squadron's daring raids on the Ruhr dams. The Leader of the squadron was Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who had a dog which played an integral in the pot of the original film, but unfortunately the dogs name has fallen foul of the politically corect American Market. The dog, a black labrador was called Nigger, but the Yanks have changed history and rename the dog Nidge. Well I supose thats nothing new really, as the Yanks and John Wayne have always claimed they won the second world war on their own anyway.

shakermaker · 02-10-2008, 09:47

I don't think the film makers/producers/whoever it is making the call can be accused of being 'too PC' for omitting that disgusting word. No one in the right mind wants to hear it, and with it being such a small insignificant part of the story I doubt it will alter the credibility of the movie (it'll probably be crap anyway).

cashman · 02-10-2008, 09:55

thats whats wrong with the world, too many small minded people, its no different to when they banned the "Golly" on robertsons jam, its neither offensive nor disgusting,its a bloody name. when i used to go oer the "Moss" many moons ago, west indians used to address each other as nigger. so it was not disgusting to them.

MargaretR · 02-10-2008, 10:13

It is slang for negro which is a technical term in the same way that caucasian is.
I was once 'forgiven' on this forum for using it - think I was referring to a shade of brown which was in common use in my childhood.

cashman · 02-10-2008, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

It is slang for negro which is a technical term in the same way that caucasian is.
I was once 'forgiven' on this forum for using it - think I was referring to a shade of brown which was in common use in my childhood.

exactly, slang nothing more, i used it once in chat fer pakistani n had me knuckles rapped,when quite a few of em use the same word,to say its disgusting is pathetic to say the least

jaysay · 02-10-2008, 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakermaker

I don't think the film makers/producers/whoever it is making the call can be accused of being 'too PC' for omitting that disgusting word. No one in the right mind wants to hear it, and with it being such a small insignificant part of the story I doubt it will alter the credibility of the movie (it'll probably be crap anyway).

They are making a film of events that took place in the 1940's not 2008, and the dog was actually called nigger, so why change it, in those days it was just a name as Margaret said Nigger Brown was often used for colour. Its often said that these decisions are often made by people who are not affected, yet the people they are trying to stand up for are not in the slightst way bothered, like Muslims and Christmas

cashman · 02-10-2008, 10:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

They are making a film of events that took place in the 1940's not 2008, and the dog was actually called nigger, so why change it, in those days it was just a name as Margaret said Nigger Brown was often used for colour. Its often said that these decisions are often made by people who are not affected, yet the people they are trying to stand up for are not in the slightst way bothered, like Muslims and Christmas

the thing is though jaysay, these fools get publicity enough times n some of the immigrants end up thinking- yeh thats right, its called "Brainwashing"

entwisi · 02-10-2008, 10:42

heh, when I was little(late 70's) we got a dog and called him "Sambo" not being very PC back then and not really knowing what it meant.

when I went to uni in teh late 80's I was sharing halls with a load of lads from Cameroon. Mum and Dad came to visit one day and brought the dog. I was sat in my room and hadn't noticed the dog go walkabout. when I noticed I went to teh door of my room and shouted at teh top of my voice

"HERE SAMBO!!!!"

Then realisation hit home...... I made such a big play of teh dog being called Sambo before I got lynched or something

Benipete · 02-10-2008, 11:04

Doesn't bother me,I'm a White Honky and proud of it.

The only people I hear using the word nigger are, dare I say It niggers.
I much prefer Ginger.

Negro is also Spanish for black.

West Ender · 02-10-2008, 13:04

Who's going to play Guy Gibson in this remake, do you know? Bet it's some tall, dark handsome American. Gibson was a short, dark, average-looking Englishman and played, perfectly, by the not-so-average-looking Richard Todd.

I don't like remakes, they very rarely come up to scratch against the originals and, anyway, why bother? I won't be watching this one, especially since they've changed the dog's name. It's pathetically silly and historically wrong.

entwisi · 02-10-2008, 13:21

plus no doubt it will of course be USAF that do teh bombing

Tealeaf · 02-10-2008, 15:00

[quote=West Ender;637211 It's pathetically silly and historically wrong.[/quote]

Not so. When the original film was made, the Bouncing Bomb was still on the secrets list so the film makers had to guess on what the thing looked like and how it actually worked. The film was good for it's day but the special effects now look pretty wooden. The event it depicted was probably the most spectacular single action of WW2.With the film technology we now have, that can now be recreated far better than in the 1950s.

As for the flyers who took part in the actual raid, not only were they British but Canadian, South African and ANZAC. I cannot see any reason,therefore, why the New Zealander Peter Jackson, who succeeded so well with Tolkein's fantasy, cannot do a similar job ths time. He is, of course,a self confessed anglophile.

jambutty · 02-10-2008, 15:36

John Wayne and others may have won the war in films but then so did many British film stars. On the other hand Audie Murphy also did it in real life. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

This politically correct business has got out of hand.

If you are making a film set in a period in the past you use the language of that day. If it means using words that are unacceptable today, then so be it.

After all many modern films contain foul language, which seems to be the norm these days.

West Ender · 02-10-2008, 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

Not so. When the original film was made, the Bouncing Bomb was still on the secrets list so the film makers had to guess on what the thing looked like and how it actually worked. The film was good for it's day but the special effects now look pretty wooden. The event it depicted was probably the most spectacular single action of WW2.With the film technology we now have, that can now be recreated far better than in the 1950s.

As for the flyers who took part in the actual raid, not only were they British but Canadian, South African and ANZAC. I cannot see any reason,therefore, why the New Zealander Peter Jackson, who succeeded so well with Tolkein's fantasy, cannot do a similar job ths time. He is, of course,a self confessed anglophile.

When I said "historically wrong", I was referring to changing the name for the remake. The dog's name, as much a historical fact as the "bouncing bomb", was Nigger.

Benipete · 02-10-2008, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by West Ender

When I said "historically wrong", I was referring to changing the name for the remake. The dog's name, as much a historical fact as the "bouncing bomb", was Nigger.

Does it matter what the dogs name was/is or maybe.I mean before the bomb was designed and the mission thought up and all the preparations were made and the team picked and trained.Did the powers that be sit round a big table at the war Ministry and decide the mission could only go ahead if they had a dog called Nigger?