# The original Mary Poppins has had its {UK} rating raised over discriminatory language **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [February 27, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160 "2024-02-27T12:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/1 "2024-02-27T12:09:11Z")
Do people still use the term “hottentots”? Not that that should be a reason to change or not change, I’m just wondering. > **[Mary Poppins film age rating raised over 'discriminatory language'](https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68402362)** > > The classic film is changed from a U to a PG rating because it features "discriminatory language". ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/2 "2024-02-27T12:18:29Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used in real life, but I do recognize it as a pejorative. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/3 "2024-02-27T12:26:15Z")
I had to read the article to see where the word was used. I gather it was Admiral Boom, referring to the chimney sweeps dancing. He certainly wasn’t referring to the Khoekhoe people, but to “rowdy people in general”. No doubt they used the term because it sounds absurd. In this context, I point out that Berkeley Breathed’s penguin Opus used the same term much more recently in the Bloom County comic strip. Of course, there IS a point to ostracizing “Hottentot”. Like many absurd-sounding names, it was imposed by the Europeans. Its true origin is in dispute, but it’s certainly not what the Khoekhoe called themselves, and this joins other such terms as “Ubangi” (for lip-pierced people with plates), Eskimo, pygmy, and the like. There’s a definite racial part to such words, and I think in most cases the “weird” and absurd sound of them was accepted as an unspoken put-down. (I have a suspicion that a similar motivation underlies many anglicizations of foreign places names, as in Ireland) > **[Hottentot (racial term)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hottentot_(racial_term))** > > Hottentot (British and South African English /ˈhɒtənˌtɒt/ HOT-ən-TOT) is a term that was historically used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, the indigenous nomadic pastoralists in South Africa. > Use of the term Hottentot is now deprecated and considered offensive, the preferred name for the non Bantu speaking indigenous people of the Western Cape area being Khoekhoe (formerly Khoikhoi). > Hottentot originated among the "old Dutch" settlers of the Dutch Cape Colony run by United East India Com... ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/4 "2024-02-27T12:30:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I gather it was Admiral Boom, referring to the chimney sweeps dancing. He certainly wasn’t referring to the Khoekhoe people, but to “rowdy people in general”. No doubt they used the term because it sounds absurd. I’d think more, no doubt they used the term because of the particular skin color of the dancing chimney sweeps. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/5 "2024-02-27T12:46:26Z")
A perfect example of how prejudice creeps in. I hadn’t heard the term since childhood, and back then just assumed it was the name of an actual tribe. My Grandmother would call us that whenever we were being rowdy. Another bit of unexamined propaganda that needed to be exhumed and discarded. Thank you Rhombus! ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/6 "2024-02-27T12:52:34Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > My Grandmother would call us that whenever we were being rowdy. My grandmother used to call me a [porch monkey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qc0akWRBQk) all the time when I was a kid because I’d sit on the porch and stare at my neighbors! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/7 "2024-02-27T13:01:27Z")
I think the only other use I was aware of was from The Wizard of Oz. “What makes the hottentot so hot?” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/8 "2024-02-27T14:43:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I point out that Berkeley Breathed’s penguin Opus used the same term much more recently in the Bloom County comic strip. That’s the only time I’ve run across the word, and just assumed it was something he (Breathed) made up. I’ve seen Mary Poppins a few times but didn’t remember the word being used there. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/9 "2024-02-27T14:51:38Z")
There was a SDMB poster who originally registered under the name **Venus Hottentot**. She changed her name to Nzinga\_Seated after complaints were received. She was a member for about 13 years, but hasn’t posted in a while. https:// [boards.straightdope.com/t/](http://boards.straightdope.com/t/) so-are-racial-slurs-in-usernames-ok-now/ 397798 [https://boards](https://boards). [straightdope.com/t/](http://straightdope.com/t/) may-i-explain-my-user-name/ 397906 And the [origin of the name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Baartman) explained. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/10 "2024-02-27T14:55:39Z")
There’s also the “longest German word” routine: > [@Has anyone heard this tongue-in-cheek example of Germans stringing words together?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-heard-this-tongue-in-cheek-example-of-germans-stringing-words-together/697180): > > In high school the German teacher presented an amusing example of how Germans make new words by stringing words together. The gist of it was that there was a black-and-white checkered cannibal girl whose name was [something], and she owned cages for holding kangaroos she got from the Hottentots. (Or maybe she was a Hottentot.) The word was built up in steps, each step becoming longer than the last, and the story was told in German. The composite word was partially ‘Hottentottenbeutelratenkäf… ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/11 "2024-02-27T15:37:09Z")
Has the Dambusters been re-rated too? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/12 "2024-02-27T15:42:45Z")
“I was raised by Hottentots and Zulus! I couldn’t even contemplate drinking a glass of milk with my salami sandwich without giving serious offense to God Almighty.” — Philip Roth, _Portnoy’s Complaint_ ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/13 "2024-02-27T15:45:55Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > they used the term because of the particular skin color of the dancing chimney sweeps. This is the key point to me. I mean it’s still pretty dodgy given this: > [@TruCelt](#): > > My Grandmother would call us that whenever we were being rowdy It’s a derogatory racial term used (with origins in brutal colonial oppression and genocide of indigenous people\*) to refer to misbehaving children (I’ve also heard of it used this way, though only in a very antiquated way). But also it’s being used to refer to white children in black face. Yeah that deserves a bump to PG IMO. I mean if they edited out the daily mail readership would be equally yo in arms. `*` - the Khoi are the indigenous population of southern Africa who still had a nomadic semi-pastural life style. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/14 "2024-02-27T15:59:16Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Has the Dambusters been re-rated too? Don’t know about that, but the film is regularly edited when shown on US TV so they don’t have to give the name of the dog mascot. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/15 "2024-02-27T16:13:49Z")
In Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Spencer Tracy has a line that includes “Fuzzy Wuzzies” which I thought was especially peculiar and backward in a movie about liberalizing race relations. He wasn’t referring specifically to his daughter’s fiancé or that family, but it was very uncomfortable to listen to, even in 1967. I don’t recall that it generated any comment, however. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/16 "2024-02-27T16:17:41Z")
**Moderating** : Please be more careful in linking to old posts. Both links previewed to problematic posts. One with the use of the N-Word and the other insulting a poster. Neither is needed for this Cafe thread. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/17 "2024-02-27T16:31:09Z")
I’m curious, what board changed the ratings? As I understand it, once the Motion Picture Association rates a film it’s pretty much set in stone. A film’s MPA rating won’t change so long as the same edit of the movie that was rated is being released. i.e. If _Gremlins_ went back into theaters today the studio wouldn’t have to resubmit it to the MPA for a rating unless they added additional footage or otherwise made edits. Perhaps I’ve been grossly misinformed about how the rating system works. _Mary Poppins_ was released in 1964 and the modern MPA rating system we’re familiar with wasn’t created until 1968. But I’ve got to think _Mary Poppins_ has had a few theatrical releases since then, but perhaps I’m wrong. I’ve always found it a bit odd how people were concerned about how we should rate movies. But I’ve never seen a concerted effort to apply a rating system to books. (Not that people don’t try to censor books of course.) At the tender age of 15, I could walk into a library, pick up a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories, and be hit over the head with the racism language in stories like “The Horror at Red Hook” or “Herbert West- Reanimator” that make Hottentot look downright quaint. Edit: And don’t I feel silly? The article says right there who changed the rating of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/18 "2024-02-27T16:33:23Z")
My family go-to for rowdy kids was “Hunyak,” from their German contempt for Eastern Europeans. My Eastern European professor’s mother’s word was “bazi-baxouk,” after the jailbirds used by the Ottomans as cannon fodder. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/19 "2024-02-27T16:33:57Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m curious, what board changed the ratings? The British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC. Which is clearly stated in the link. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160/20 "2024-02-27T16:34:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC. Which is clearly stated in the link. Darn it. My realization came too late! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-mary-poppins-has-had-its-uk-rating-raised-over-discriminatory-language/998160.md?page=2)