The Disney classic, “Mary Poppins,” has charmed and delighted parents and children since its 1964 debut. The musical, starring Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews, “follows the magical adventures of a nanny who comes to the rescue of the dysfunctional Banks family.” The film was a box office success for Disney, something they haven’t had in a while and won five Academy Awards.
The movie was added by the Library of Congress to the National Film Registry in 2013 and is one of the most beloved family classics of all time. Just don’t let your kids under 13 watch it alone. At least, that is what the British Board of Film Classification is suggesting. The industry group recently raised the age classification for the film over “discriminatory” language.
The rating was raised from “Universal,” the American equivalent of “G,” to “PG,” suggesting parental guidance is necessary due to the use of a word once used by white Europeans to describe native South Africans. A BBFC spokesperson said: “Mary Poppins (1964) includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots,’ While Mary Poppins has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U.”
It is likely questionable whether or not modern-day English children have any idea what Hottentot means, but if they didn’t, they do now. The film has been reclassified due to its impending theatrical re-release celebrating its 60th anniversary. The Daily Mail reported: “The dated term was historically used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, a group of nomadic herders in South Africa, but is now regarded as racially offensive.”
The outlet described the supposedly objectionable scene, “Admiral Boom, played by Reginald Owen, who believes he is a naval commander in charge of a ship, uses the word twice in the film. On the first occasion, he is seen dangling from the roof in a boat where he asks one of the Banks children if they are ‘going to fight the Hottentots.’ Later in the film when the chimney sweeps, whose faces are blackened from soot, dance on the roof the admiral exclaims ‘we’re being attacked by Hottentots’.”
The film board also claims the soot on the children’s faces represented blackface, making the scene even more offensive. The film board noted, “We understand from our racism and discrimination research… that a key concern for… parents is the potential to expose children to discriminatory language or behavior which they may find distressing or repeat without realizing the potential offense.”
One of the primary ways the BBFC judges a movie for reclassification as PG is for the appearance of “discrimination.” Considering how many movies are products of the time period they were made in regarding language and characters, many more movies could be reclassified as offensive by the British film censors. Max recently added a trigger warning to the Mel Brooks classic “Blazing Saddles” as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, angering many fans.
Many think the government is going too far with the trigger warnings and reclassification of classic movies. Presumably, most viewers should realize that older movies are products of their time period and may contain offensive or objectionable material. However, the need for warnings and labels assumes that viewers aren’t responsible enough to police themselves and their children.
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