Orson Scott Card, in a review of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:
quote:Finding out what the Oompah-loompahs were supposed to be in the racist original takes a lot of fun out of the movie
Roald Dahl:
quote: "I created a group of little fantasy creatures.... I saw them as charming creatures, whereas the white kids in the books were... most unpleasant. It didn't occur to me that my depiction of the Oompa-Loompas was racist, but it did occur to the NAACP and others.... After listening to the criticisms, I found myself sympathizing with them, which is why I revised the book" (Dahl in West, 1988).
What OSC said in his review bothered me, but I decided to check; it was possible Roald Dahl was a racist. However, I found this quote. I believe it misinterprets and misunderstands the allegations of racism brought against Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
Where is this review?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I think by "supposed to be," OSC isn't commenting on Dahl's original racist intent, but on his original actual description of the characters.
And more power to Dahl for rethinking his own views on the subject.
There's not much more of the review than I copied that is applicable, though. It was just this one sentence that I think misinterprets the allegations.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Although Chocolate Factory is Dahl's best known work, 'Danny, Champion of the World,' is much, much better.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I love them all, ScottR. All of them.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Even better are his short stories for adults.
They tend a tad bit towards the gruesome (though not usually graphically so).
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
*shrugs* There is going to be racism in books, and Dahl's response seems considered. The original version would have been untimely, but not wholely inappropriate, and the revised version is even better. Dahl strikes me as a class act.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I still have my copy from the 70's. Did he change it after that?
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I wonder what copy I have. I always just assumed the Oompa Loompas were some weird characters he made up.
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
In my version, a first edition book my mother has, I never ever thought about the Oompa Loompas as anything but pigmies, really. It never struck me as racist, although I guess that would be because they were treated fairly by Wonka, and they loved him dearly. Sometimes I think people enjoy reading a little too much into things.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
When I read it in junior high school, I thought it was pretty odd that an entire race of people had been enslaved by a corporation and that everybody was OK with that.
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
mr_porteiro_head: yeah! Finally someone who think like me about the whole "loompas"!
Posted by Snowden (Member # 1660) on :
quote:In my version, a first edition book my mother has, I never ever thought about the Oompa Loompas as anything but pigmies, really. It never struck me as racist, although I guess that would be because they were treated fairly by Wonka, and they loved him dearly. Sometimes I think people enjoy reading a little too much into things.
Mayday, there are still issues of individual soveriegnty and free expression. I imagine a parallel may be drawn between children and over-protective parents.
More pertinent, take the run-up to Iraq. There is no doubt that the Admin loves this country, but if we find out that we weren't given the whole story concerning WMDs, then we were still inappropriately at the government's mercy.
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
Sometimes I think people enjoy reading a little too much into things.