Six Dr. Seuss Books To No Longer Be Printed!

[gaastra]

What the heck!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/six-b ... cid=msnews

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
If i ran the zoo
McElligot’s Pool
On Beyond Zebra
Scrambled Eggs Super
The Cat’s Quizzer

What the heck? If i ran the zoo s banned! Cat in the hat was almost banned as well!

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wi ... t-76198355

[Ben]

Official: world gone mad!

[droosan]

'banned' connotes a governmental order to forbid sale of -- or any access to -- these books. That's not what this is.

This is the publisher -- and the Seuss estate -- deciding not to re-publish these books, for reasons that mostly come down to drawn portrayals of POC that would be absolutely unacceptable to print, if submitted by a modern author or illustrator.

They are also -- TBH -- titles which don't sell nearly as well as others by Dr. Seuss. Even so, most are likely on their 50+th reprint .. and those hundreds of previous editions are not being rounded-up and burned.

---------------------

When I was a kid, there was the 'Censored 11' .. a list of cartoons which -- american broadcasters decided -- were absolutely unacceptable for air on television.

Over the years, I've managed to see each of them .. and found that I fully agreed with their decision.

But that was in the 1970s. If a similar list were codified today, it'd likely be the 'Censored 111'.

.. but 'censored' only from general public broadcast, IMO. Cartoons & books of this sort should be preserved, and -- if made available to view -- presented in a responsible manner: what was 'okay' then, isn't 'okay' now .. and that's not entirely a bad thing.

[Ben]

The funny thing will be "what is okay" in another 50-100 years, when hopefully people are more enlightened than the numbskulls we largely are now and can look at all this stuff — including the looney times we are living in currently — with much better understanding, context and probably humor at how silly we're being.

Especially I was amused and bemused by the idea of censoring Babar The Elephant and Curious George!

What’s gonna happen when everyone works out Mickey Mouse has been pulling "whiteface" all these years?

[droosan]

I'd honestly be quite surprised if And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street doesn't eventually see a reprint, if only because it was Dr. Seuss' first published children's book.

I'm definitely hanging-on to my copy of The Seven Lady Godivas, though..!

[ShyViolet]

I REALLY hope they don’t stop publishing Horton Hatches the Egg!! How can anyone dislike that book? In my opinion the pro-adoption message, the notion that love is love no matter who you are or what you look like, is as timeless as it is beautifully rendered. I’d really be sad if someone wants it gone for whatever reasons it’s no longer deemed “acceptable.”

[Dacey]

Getting rid of Mulberry Street over one (not even that extreme) illustration is silly.

And I can't for the life of me figure out what is "wrong" with The Cat's Quizzer. I read that one all the time as a kid because it was funny.

[Randall]

This article breaks it down more per book:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2 ... st-imagery

I really have mixed feelings about this, but Droo has it right. Those images would not be published new today. Even reading a couple of those books to my kids a few years ago, I remember noting that they might be in line for being culled from bookshelves soon. While there are certainly more egregious examples of racist imagery elsewhere, those images ARE generally racist (the extent to which is debatable, granted), from the standpoint of utilizing stereotypes or harmful caricatures in the absence of any other imagery of the races in question.

I long ago accepted that it doesn't matter whether I am personally offended, because I do understand why POC may be offended and even victimized by harmful stereotypes and caricatures. And as a white male, I further grasp that my understanding and appreciation of that is necessarily limited. And if I can't totally be empathetic, I can at least be compassionate.

I don't expect any more books of his to be pulled, aside from maybe The Cat in the Hat, which has been saved so far due to its immense popularity and its status as THE Seuss icon. Dr. Seuss Enterprises already carried out a pretty thorough look at the books, and these are the six that were deemed problematic. The world still recognizes that his books overall had positive messages, and have had a wonderful effect on children for generations.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Dr. Seuss will be with us for a long time. There are dozens of his other books in print. And just maybe we'll get revised editions of the "retired 6" eventually. I hope we do. Also, books for the most part are not kept in print forever. Thousands of books go out of print every year, for various reasons. And this is the ESTATE (essentially) making the decision. No one made it for them.

So, I do really hate the use of "banned" in this thread title. It is inflammatory and incorrect. Also, Seuss is spelled wrong, and should be capitalized, for Pete's sake! Really? The one word you didn't capitalize in the thread title is the man's name?!? Geez, get it right, man.

[gaastra]

Title better?

[Randall]

Pics from the books in question:
https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/ ... -cancelled

None are truly horrible, in my opinion (we've all seen worse). And at least a couple are a little mystifying as to why they should be considered racist (particularly when the cultures depicted are imaginary). But Seuss Enterprises obviously thinks that they are better off pulling them from publication, and that is their decision to make. I expect that they may make a decision later that sees them come back in either classic (collector's edition) or revised (children's market) form, or both.

[Dacey]

And now Universal is considering changing their Seuss attraction...

https://deadline.com/2021/03/universal- ... 234705720/

[gaastra]

They are removing the books from the shop and "may" change a small childs playground and street sign based on those books. That does not change much there.

[EricJ]

And this is the ESTATE (essentially) making the decision. No one made it for them.

And Audrey Geisel wasn't alive to stop them, hence the timing.

[Randall]

Yeah, I had wondered what she'd make of it. She was likely aware of discussions before her death, depending on her cognitive health.

[Bill1978]

When I heard the news I admit I thought that if the issue was the images why can't they just change the images, but after seeing the pages in that inked article I now understand that some of the issues actually stem from the rhymes written as well.

I do think some of the choices are a bit questionable when not linked to any word issues, like the people wearing hooded warm clothes in a very cold environment - to me they look like anybody rugged up for an adventure in the cold. But maybe there is something stereotypical that I am not aware of.

I would like to think that the estate is looking at ways to tweak the books to make them more acceptable in today's society. I mean they did it with the Noddy books, I remember the outcry when they redrew certain characters but today no one even questions the redos (That I'm aware of anyway)