# Creative works that were later changed in the name of political correctness **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091 "2011-04-12T14:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/21 "2011-04-12T20:31:26Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > [You sure about that?](http://youtu.be/RIHEWeLbc0s) If anything, that’s more risque than the original, which was sung by three men. Ann Miller is definitely an upgrade. (Also note when she throws that ribbon at the camera – the movie was originally shot in 3D). ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/22 "2011-04-12T20:44:57Z")
There are editions of some Enid Blyton books where the character called Fanny (from the Faraway Tree books, not Aunt Fanny from the Famous Five) is changed to Franny. I think Dick was also changed to Rick. The racism in a couple of the Five and Adventure books was expunged, the Golliwogs were removed from Noddy, and there are even editions where they’ve updated the dated language to modern-day slang, which is a weird thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![wonder\_lust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wonder\_lust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder_lust)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/23 "2011-04-12T21:07:37Z")
In the shortlived American TV show _Greatest American Hero_, the main character’s name was changed from Ralph Hinkley to Ralph Hanley after John Hinkley’s attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/24 "2011-04-12T21:31:17Z")
Han shot first!! There, now that’s out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/25 "2011-04-12T21:47:17Z")
I read _And Then There were None_ last year or so. I was surprised that although the title had been changed, the text hadn’t! It was still set on “Nigger Island”, and the statue/sculpture was an unbowdlerised n------. It was a definite struggle getting through to the end of the book. Eurgh. ETA: This was a UK edition, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/26 "2011-04-12T21:53:31Z")
I dare say that it has been a while since anyone has performed or aired _Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport_ with the verse about letting me abos run loose. Or sung Stephen Foster songs with unedited references to “darkies”. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/27 "2011-04-12T22:06:14Z")
> [@wonder\_lust](#): > > In the shortlived American TV show _Greatest American Hero_, the main character’s name was changed from Ralph Hinkley to Ralph Hanley after John Hinkley’s attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan. Also, cartoon character Oswald the Rabbit mysteriously disappeared in November of 1963. (That other member of his species, Harvey, inexplicably remains popular…) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/28 "2011-04-12T22:36:00Z")
In the movie **Dr. Strangelove** , Slim Pickens reads off the items in the Nuclear Survival Kit, then says “A fella could have a pretty good time in Dallas with all that stuff!” They later dubbed it to Vegas due to the popularity of the TV Show, but you can still see him mouth Dallas. [sub]Just seeing if you’re paying attention :)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/29 "2011-04-12T22:55:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Agatha Christie’s **Ten Little Indians** (and that’s the politically correct name). Likewise with “Eenie, meenie, minie, moe, catch a monkey by the toe.” (In Britain the PC version is or was “catch an Indian.”) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/30 "2011-04-12T22:59:33Z")
Lyrics from “Minnie the Moocher”: She hung around with a bloke named Smokey She loved him, though he was cokey He took her down to Chinatown And taught her how to kick that gong around “Kicking the gong” or “kicking Old Buddha’s gong” means doing heroin or opium. Segues nicely into the next verse, where Minnie has a dream about the King of Sweden who gave her things that she was needin’. But, whenever I sing it in karaoke, the displayed lyrics (which I ignore) are always “he was jokey” and “taught her how to something something messin’ around”. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/31 "2011-04-12T23:06:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “Kicking the gong” or “kicking Old Buddha’s gong” means doing heroin or opium. “The sent a hundred thousand hoppies Over to China, pickin’ poppies They put 'em all in one bouquet For Minnie the Moocher’s wedding day.” ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/32 "2011-04-12T23:24:53Z")
‘_One of These Things_’ - Sesame Street When I was a kid, it was- One of these things is not like the other One of these things just doesn’t belong Now, it goes- One of these things is not like the other One of these things is not not the same So the different child doesn’t think they don’t belong, you see? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/33 "2011-04-12T23:35:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If anything, that’s more risque than the original, which was sung by three men. Ann Miller is definitely an upgrade. (Also note when she throws that ribbon at the camera – the movie was originally shot in 3D). I was only talking about words. I’m not knocking the dance. I saw her on Broadway 30 years after the movie and she was still intensely hot. (Can’t watch Youtube at work, so I assume the link was to the dance.) BTW, I never saw the Cole Porter bioflick (the first one) but I believe he was straight in it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/34 "2011-04-13T00:12:25Z")
The old Quaker hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing” includes the following verse, perhaps dating from the wars of the Reformation: When tyrants tremble, sick with fear And hear their death-knell ringing When friends rejoice, both far and near How can I keep from singing In prison cell and dungeon vile Our thoughts to them go winging When friends by shame are undefiled How can I keep from singing The Unitarian Universalist hymnal changes the first two lines to: When tyrants tremble, when they hear The bells of freedom ringing Because we UUs are all a bunch of pussywimps. :o ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/35 "2011-04-13T00:26:46Z")
At the end of the 1954 novel [_The Bad Seed,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Seed) mother Christine Penmark is dead and daughter Rhoda is alive; Christine having succeeded in killing herself but failed to poison Rhoda, who the reader knows _will_ kill again. And it was the same ending in the 1955 Broadway adaptation, I believe. The only reason why it’s the other way around in the 1956 movie – even though Rhoda’s death requires one utterly preposterous _Deus ex machina_ (Rhoda, who has never up to now demonstrated any stupid carelessness about her own safety, goes fishing off a dock in a thunderstorm, for a swimming medal she killed a boy to get, and a stroke of lightning knocks a big tree bough down on top of her) – is because of the [Hays Code.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays_code) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/36 "2011-04-13T00:31:25Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > “The sent a hundred thousand hoppies > Over to China, pickin’ poppies > They put 'em all in one bouquet > For Minnie the Moocher’s wedding day.” Is that a verse of “Minnie the Moocher”? Never seen it before. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/37 "2011-04-13T00:39:01Z")
My Dad remembers on the old [Green Hornet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Hornet_%28radio_series%29) radio show, Kato was the Hornet’s faithful Japanese valet; and when WWII broke out, Kato suddenly became the Hornet’s faithful Filipino valet. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/38 "2011-04-13T00:41:02Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Also, cartoon character Oswald the Rabbit mysteriously disappeared in November of 1963. (That other member of his species, Harvey, inexplicably remains popular…) Are you quite sure about that? Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, originally a Disney property, was animated in the 1940s and possibly the early 1950s by Walter Lantz, but he’d diasappeared from cartoons before 1960. The only place Oswald still appeared was in Dell Four Color Comics, sporadically thrughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. I have a comic from the 1960s, but I’m not certain if it’s from before or after 1963, but it wasn’t a terifically popular line to begin with. If it disappeared after 1963 you needn’t ascribe dislike of Lee Harvey Oswald for its demise. and according to wikipedia, the comic continued to be produced (outside the US) after the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/39 "2011-04-13T00:43:42Z")
The very early Hardy Boy books. Used common phrases like “nigger in the woodpile” for a suspicious event. I have a couple first edition Hardy Boys. Injuns, Japs were also used. Later editions sanitized the books. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091/40 "2011-04-13T00:45:51Z")
The original version of “Good Night, Irene” by Lead Belly is not the same, and more explicit, than the version recorded by the Weavers. Specifically, the line “I’ll see you in my dreams” was originally “I’ll get you in my dreams” - and may have been more explicit yet in live performances that the singer wanted to f\*\*\* the brains out of the object of his desire. Needless to say, there wasn’t a chance in hell the original would have had air time in the first half of the 20th Century. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-that-were-later-changed-in-the-name-of-political-correctness/578091.md?page=3)