If Augustus Gloop Can’t Be ‘Fat,’ What’s The Point Of Roald Dahl’s Kids’ Books?

Augustus Gloop is obviously fat. That’s the point. In “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” He is a man of unrestrained appetite, in the literalst sense. He is both a foil, and a lesson all in one.

Now, however, a group of iconoclasts and mediocre minds are offended. Netflix now owns Roald Dahl’s works, and Puffin has made this announcement. Hundreds of changes. Augustus, who is fat, is one of the casualtiesPlease do not cause anyone’s feelings to be hurt. So. “sensitivity readers” Have been Dahl’s books should be read according to the sensibilities of those who are whiniest. 

It’s tempting to draw a comparison between this revisionism and Orwell’s classic dystopia. “1984,” Every book had to be rewritten. However, this is a gentler (at least for the moment) method of thought control. It is corporations that are buying the rights to rewrite history and its works, instead of a violent government. The decision-makers are not motivated by profits, but by small-souled censoriousness as a service to some strange substitute religion. 

This is not the same as a cancellation. Dahl had personal sins that could easily get him canceled, such as his antisemitism (of course, he also fought bravely against Nazi Germany — history, like people, is complicated). However, a cancellation would be very costly and the corporations concerned want to make as much money as possible from Dahl’s works. This is the wake version of strategically adding leaves to dead artists’ nudes. 

The rewrites serve as a posthumous baptism of Dahl. They cleanse Dahl’s works of all jokes or barbs deemed offensive by the priests. “sensitivity readers”). There are many examples in history of religious sects trying to purify the world through appropriation and reworking everything, from buildings to songs. You can keep the church and break the statues. Cover the frescos. This is human behavior. In a declining religious participation, it should be expected that this will continue.

There is a religious impulse at work here. This explains why Dahl’s books won’t accept our criticisms. However, they are still valuable for everyone.

The woke scolds who are responsible for these changes are the same people who regularly assert that books are an essential way to broaden children’s minds. They mean that children who hold the wrong beliefs (e.g. They mean that children who are raised according to traditional Christian views on homosexuality should have their minds expanded and their beliefs challenged. They don’t want to challenge the liberal beliefs of children. But what appears as hypocrisy is in fact hierarchy — the beliefs of nonbelievers must be questioned and their sensibilities shocked, while orthodox beliefs must be protected from even minor slights in children’s books.

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