Political Correctness gone mad?

[Harley Q]

To cut a long story short I am currently writing a pantomime, which for those of you who don't know, is a comical play aimed at children and usually performed at Christmas. Think along the lines of Shrek and The Muppet Show. Anyway, my panto is based on Nursery Rhymes, while I was researching I found out that some Nursery Rhymes have either been altered or are banned within educational institutions.

For example, you can no longer say the Nursery Rhyme, Three Blind Mice, and Baa Baa Black Sheep has changed to Baa Baa Fluffy Sheep or Baa baa Woolly Sheep. Jack no longer fell down the hill and broke his crown, but rather, bumped his head. Why? What terrible effect has been scientifically supported that over the last few centuries Nursery Rhymes have ruined children and turned them all into social deviants?

What's next? Is Snow White going to be banned because the wicked queen dies in the end, will Humpty Dumpty fall off the wall and get up going, "That was lucky" or will little Red Riding Hood have tea and scones with the wolf and granny?

With political correctness becoming tighter and tighter, what's next?

 

[Woodsey]

The majority of people I see using that phrase are usually extremely racist, homophobic and/or xenophobic - not that you are.

I never even notice so called political correctness to tell you the truth. It just seems to be something for people to whine about.

 

[KayvaanShrike]

Isn't the term "Politically Correct" no longer politically correct.

 

[titanium turtle]

I say we lure the political correctness nazis into a trap
and then bitchslap them until they learn not to be pricks

 

[Jack_Uzi]

In some ways, I am a bit pc too. But then again, I hate the whole fashism that is going on about what is good or isn't in expressing onself. I think Duckman is still a nice example of how things could be done to show that incorrectness can be shown as a point to the opposite by ridiculing and questioning what is right or wrong.

 

[tigermilk]

My thoughts on political correctness, put far better than I ever could. A couple of Stewart Lee clips. Really worth listening to at least the first one in full.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IYx4Bc6_eE (2 minute youtube clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGAOCVwLrXo&feature=related (9 minute clip that is less snappy for want of a better word).

I could be wrong but I am guessing me being in favour of political correctness on the whole is a good thing, but as I say the clips put it better than I ever could.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Jack and Jill was about the beheading of a French king, and Three Blind Mice of a conspiracy against Bloody Mary.

I wouldn't touch on Grimm's fairy tales, as the version you likely know are not the original.

 

[StBishop]

You're correct, they have gone way a little too far. I heard about Ba Ba black sheep,

In Australia there was alot of news about a principal changing the last line of a beloved, iconic Australian song from

"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra gay your life must be".

He substituted gay with fun.

There was complaints that he was demonising homosexuality, people saying he was justified because gay doesn't mean fun these days (Doesn't it??? =/), and people saying regardless of what he changed and why he shouldn't have changed a beloved song.

Regardless he changed it back and sang it with the original lyric on national TV so all is well.

On the topic of political correctness and songs, what do you all think of

Spoiler: this monstrosity

 

[Krythe]

Dated unfunny internet jokes aside, yes.

Political Correctness was mad to begin with. "Can't say/do this because it might offend some people somewhere."
("Special" people apparantly who start bleating and thrashing like a goat having a seizure if not kept in a state of babied bliss.)

Europe's been absolutely raped by the concept of being unable to do anything about islamization. And speaking as Escapists, HOW many games have the guardians of long-dead moralities totally wrecked?

 

[Erja_Perttu]

What's next? Is Snow White going to be banned because the wicked queen dies in the end?

Hey, that's already the toned down version, originally (so say) she was killed by dancing to death in a pair of red hot iron shoes.

Kids are cruel and they love violence, and things aren't racist unless you view them in that connotation (with regards to fairy tales and nursery rhymes that is... most of them.) I don't get how people seem to have forgotten that. kids are ruthless, little rhymes don't make them like that.

Should I ever have a kid, they'll learn the right words to those songs and people will think I'm a horrible parent. I just think it'll be a history lesson.

 

[Worgen]

really if you look into "childrens" fairy tails then you will see they have already been corrected a whole lot just to work for children, well to work for the adults around children since the vast majority of them are horrible, not bad horrible but, well take Hansel and Gretel.

The story is about 2 kids that are dumped in the forest since their parents couldnt feed them anymore, this wasnt an uncommon occurrence back then since just abandoning the children was less cruel then killing them since you could always wonder how they were and assume they had been taken in by a royal family or something.
well long story short, people suck and really anything calling itself a fairy tail nowadays has probably already been disney washed so much its only vaugly recognizable from its original form

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

Political correctness is a tool like any other. Although an important tool for social growth, it can't be trusted to fools. I think certain proponents of political correctness sometimes paint with a ridiculously broad brush, and end up looking simple and absolutist. It's a scalpel. It needs precision. Start waving it around and you'll piss people off. Society can be better than it is now, but it requires thoughtful consideration. I don't think intentions are enough.

 

[demoman_chaos]

Political correctness has gotten out of hand.I can understand trying to get some words out of daily use (like racial slurs), but it has gone too far.
Here is an example provided by George Carlin. In WWI, they used the term Shellshock for when the nervous system breaks down. In WWII it was renamed to Battle Fatigue. In Vietnam the same condition was called Operational Exhaustion. Not it is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If it was still being called Shellshock (which is a strong word, short and to the point), maybe the guys in Vietnam would have gotten the attention they needed but thanks to the softening of our language, they didn't.

"Toilet paper" has become "bathroom tissue", "steward(ess)" has morphed into "flight attendant" and sometimes "uniformed crew members", and many more things have been renamed to longer words for no reason.
You ask what does politcal correctness have to do with toilet paper? They both involve shit (TP is human, PC is bullshit).

One of these things doesn't belong: African-American, Asian-American, Latin-American, white, Native-American. One of those sticks out doesn't it? Why are whites called whites and not European-Americans (though that would be racist us whiteys having the most sylables, so we'd have to settle for Euro-Americans)? I'd rather not be called caucasion, it sounds like an insult to white male's man parts (cauc-asian, get it?).
But why are we bothering with all this verbal segregation? How many people that call themselves African-American have ever seen Africa other than on a map or TV screen? Almost none, so why aren't we just calling each other as Americans instead of dividing ourselves up?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

My thoughts on political correctness, put far better than I ever could. A couple of Stewart Lee clips. Really worth listening to at least the first one in full.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IYx4Bc6_eE (2 minute youtube clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGAOCVwLrXo&feature=related (9 minute clip that is less snappy for want of a better word).

I could be wrong but I am guessing me being in favour of political correctness on the whole is a good thing, but as I say the clips put it better than I ever could.

The problem with Stewart Lee's points on that is that he deliberately goes against what he says on a later clip where he talks about the taxi driver that claims Gay people brought down Rome.

So, because of PC people are less likely to give forth radical opinions, Mr. Lee?

Sorry...smoke and mirrors, and you're (Lee) just helping reinforce them. Bigots have now gone underground where they can't be seen and PC helps all the Jobsworths militantly stamp on people using those words/phrases for normal, healthy, non-aggressive purposes.

Now we're treated to a world where allusion is enough to place someone in legal danger, which sort of kills off the satire needed to show up the people actually using bigoted values.

Take the monster Nick Griffin for example.

Now, when he was going on Question Time, people were up in arms. HE CAN'T SAY THAT, THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY!!!!

Bulldrek, if it's free opinions, he's allowed to hate non-Britains as much as he wants.

However, as was shown, it also points us to what a mindless bigot he is when a black-skinned guy born in London asks him where he should go home to?

BUT, what was the panels reaction to this?

"Oh, we'd never agree with this." - Conservatives, who in 1970 were posting leaflets saying to keep ni**ers out. (Ironic I can write fuck but not ni**er)
Labour/Liberals also shouted at this TERRIBLE MAN AND HIS TERRIBLE WORDS, while the audience - smart as they are - just gutted the bigot.

But, how the worm turns:

Jade Goody: known for being a fat, ignorant, racist bigot : Not my words : gets cancer and is suddenly held as a role-model for helping people through cancer.

No, Mr. Lee, those racist views are still around. Just hidden away under the cover of your precious Political Correctness.

That's why Richard Littlejohn uses the phrase so much, it's what keeps him writing. Most other countries would create nicknames for people based on their most prominent feature: Big Nose, Four Eyes etc.

But mention race (even if its not the race you think) and RACIST!

Pfft. You've just replaced one Intolerance with another, and the original still exists.

I wouldn't touch on Grimm's fairy tales, as the version you likely know are not the original.

You mean Cinderella where the Ugly Sisters self-mutilate and then get pecked to death? Or Snow White...who really wasn't woken by a kiss.

 

[Serenegoose]

Political correctness gone mad? Did the forums turn into the Daily Mail when I wasn't looking? Are we still using that tired old phrase?

 

[Spacewolf]

i would be careful who your sources are for this sort of thing same with the "safety nazis" etc ussually its just made up to sell papers in fact i belive they did an QI episode on it.

 

[Staticous]

"The little engine that couldn't, but still got a participation award for trying"

 

[Mr Montmorency]

The more racist, homophobic and bigoted you are, the more "political correctness" you can pick fault at.

 

[Chewster]

The majority of people I see using that phrase are usually extremely racist, homophobic and/or xenophobic - not that you are.

I never even notice so called political correctness to tell you the truth. It just seems to be something for people to whine about.

This. PC is merely a way for certain groups to whine about not being able to be publicly prejudiced any more, without being called on it. And the phrase "________ gone mad" is usually hyperbole, designed to manufacture a specific answer. It sounds like a tabloid headline.

To the OP, it would depend on what the origins of the nursery rhymes were. There may be good reason for them to be changed, but I couldn't tell you as I don't work with nursery rhymes. Perhaps you should research their origins.

 

[Thaius]

It went insane a long time ago. Heck, for a while it was politically incorrect to call someone from Mexico a Mexican; which, as The Office once brilliantly parodied, is actually more offensive because it insinuates there's something wrong with being a Mexican. Political correctness has demonized a lot of perfectly inoffensive terms and phrases, and banned more than a few perfectly fine movies, and as you point out, even nursery rhymes. I understand the point of political correctness, but it went way too far a long time ago.