Accident-prone nursery rhyme character Humpty Dumpty has been given a happier ending thanks to some controversial tweaking of his story by the BBC.
Britain's public broadcaster changed the words to the 1810 rhyme for one of its children's shows so all those who originally couldn't "put Humpty together again" after his great fall could now make "Humpty happy again".
Are we taking political correctness too far? Have your say below
The change, broadcast on the CBeebies program Something Special last Friday, outraged Scottish Labour MP Tom Harris who watched the show with his two young sons.
Mr Harris told The Independent on Sunday it was pathetic that the BBC had rewritten one of the most famous rhymes so children would not be upset.
The BBC said the changes were made for creative reasons but it is not the first time the BBC has sanitised a popular nursery rhyme.
A recent CBeebies cookery show changed Little Miss Muffet so the little girl no longer runs away from the spider but becomes its friend.
And Noddy will be without some of his best friends when a new book about his adventures in Toyland is released.
Noddy's golliwog mates have been omitted from what will be the first official new book about the little wooden boy for more than 45 years.
Author Sophie Smallwood, the granddaughter of Noddy's creator Enid Blyton, decided against featuring any black-faced golliwog characters for fear the book would be too contentious.
Enid Blyton Society spokesman Tony Summerfield said the removal of the golliwogs was unnecessary.
Happy end for Humpty after controversial rewrite
The West Australian
October 19, 2009, 5:47 am
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18 Comments
Man that is totally CRAZY!! It didn't worry us when we were kids. Haven't people got anything better to do than changing traditional kids nursery rhymes and stories. Let kids be kids and enjoy the things that WE their parents enjoyed as kids. If people don't like some songs or stories then DON'T read them to your kids!!
This is unbelievable, these are children's favourites, they are written to teach morals, not butter the kids up and pretend everything is going to be right. Sometimes things just can't be fixed or repaired and hence they remain broken as Humpty Dumpty does, you don't befriend spiders, some are lethal to children (Little Miss Muffett). What the hell are these people thinking when they try to incorporate political correctness. Yes we understand how cruel the minority of society can be, by associating images with certain societies, cultures, beliefs or ethnics. Each of these groups have their own childrens stories to share and learn from in many ways and again I'm sure someone would feel offended in some way from them, you can't stop that. Share these stories between groups, learn and benefit, don't ridicule something which has beneficial morals to teach our children. Hell, suck it up. Life is cruel if you believe it to be. It is not blatently singling individuals or groups, it is teaching our children in a fun/comical manner, which they understand. Political correctness has gone way overboard. If these people havn't got anything better to do with their time, find something more contructive like finding the solution to incurable disease, famine or war just to name a few, then fix these issues. Make your critical thinking beneficial to society and stop being a waste of space!
I was just wondering? Is it politically incorrect to separate the coloureds from the whites when you do the washing? :/
What the hell is the matter with people these days? Morons!
When people look back on this era they will call it as the 'Age of Paranoia.' There are people being paid to implement opinions like these. So, Noddy wont have any coloured friends. Does THAT make him a racist as well? I promise you that, "All the kings horses and all the kings men, couldn't put Humpty togther again" and however much you might try, not every ending in life is going to be a happy one. Suggesting anything else is highly irresponsible.
All the sides behind the scenes say yeh with victory yet all will see who really is the boss of thee!
And not forgetting 'Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep'...
When I found out that "Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses" was all about the black plague I never played that game again!!!! No siree, I made a stand!!!! (I was about 27yo when I found out tho, and a 27yo playing that game would appear a little odd lol). I can't sleep in the rain in case I snore and bump my head on the end of the bed a can't get up in the morning! I have always felt devastated that Jack fell down and broke his crown. I currently have a phobia about climbing hills with Jills to fetch pales of water. Could we fix that one as well please?.....and don't get me started about my psychological issues caused by trying to work out whether the Grand Old Duke Of York's men were neither up nor down. LOL
OK for all the Politically Correct wowsers out there, leave our classics alone! We do not need these sanitised, kids today can deal with it, we lived with it and didn't come out scarred! Or are they saying that Humpty being scrambled and Little Miss Muffett being scared of spiders is to blame for all of modern societies woes? Ok I will admit the Noddy/Gollywog thing I am a little more ambivalent on, especially as thats new books or material, not rewriting old stories... but even so...
Many have been changed including sesame street. Big Bird is not allowed to talk to imaginary friends. Cookie monster now eats fruit and veg, Oscar the grouch is not so grouchy any more. Even Bert and Ernie came under the microscope as being "Gay". No more bed scenes singing rymes for those 2 any more. Yep even kids G rated stuff comes under the politicaly correct banner now days.
TO ALL THE SPOIL SPORTS, Are we needing to ban;- 1." Mama's ,little babies love shorten shorten bread". ( regarding eating it) ! how stupid, it was regarding a nergo's story of feeding their kids... 2. The ants come marching, 1 by 1 ,2by2, 3by3,etc .etc .etc....( the little one said ? ) So shameful, the poor little ant, eh ! 3. Little Red Riding Hood ! Oh who get's the chop or whatever ? ( Animal Victimisation ) where is the RSPCA ??? 4. Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears ! Is she going to be charged for B & E ? Or treaspassing ??? 5. The Old Lady That Swallowed The Fly, i don't know why ???? What can we do ???? 6.Old Mother Hubbard;- that went to the cupboard to get her dog a bone... Did she gamble all her money away/ Or was it that there was no welfare?????? 7.And a major concern of mine is ( Ten Green Bottles ) We had better be careful Amatil or Pepsi might take offence........ 8.Three Blind Mice, ( visually impaired, do ? ) That nasty farmers Wife !!!! 9.The Old Lady That Lived In A Shoe,that had so many kids.She didn't know what to do ! Oh, she sent her kids to bed.... Hope it wasn't daylight saving time ??? 10.Chicken Licking, recall the sky falling in..... All cause of a acorn, its insulting eh ??? 11. Three Billy Goats Gruff, crossing the bridge with the old troll How can we fix this one ???? 12. The Kittens, that lost there Mittens ! ! ! ! Could have no pie, cause they lost them.... It's about time we stand up and tell them to get a life, and leave our so depressing (sic) stories alone ! Please feel free to add more to our list of untouchable un PC storys as we know them... Or, start giving us a fair go.... My email is mmac63@yahoo.com.au.
It goes to show that some people have nothing better to do, and get paid for re-writing history. What a waste of time & money,as if kids today can be fooled or guided by Nursury Rhymes... It is time Political Correctness is stopped; most of the edit from these people si pure clearly nonsence.
This is absurd, it's not Political correctness, it's "Comminism", it's "Tieanerman Square" never happened again. Political Correctness, made by 1%, forced onto 99%, like in W.W.1. "Lions led by Donkeys" how do these Looneys get in office?
WTF? It's a f*$%ing nanny state everywhere!!!
I am so sick and tired of all the controversy this world is making. we can't celebrate this or that because muslims don't like it and get upset. We can't have golliwogs because someone else gets offended. We can't have a broken humpty dumpty because why???? are we not taking this way toooooo far now. People if you don't like it don't read it, if you don't want to celebrate it then don't, but for hells sake let the rest of us enjoy these things in peace. Isn't that the main objective for this world ..... PEACE.
Are there not more important things in life to worry about than re-writing children rhymes. I was brought up learning them and was happy. What is the world coming to????
WTF?!? Okay, stop the world I want to get off. This place has gotten just a little to strange for my tastes!