{"id":33155,"date":"2024-03-05T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T16:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=33155"},"modified":"2024-03-06T12:39:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T17:39:53","slug":"mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Mary Poppins&#8217; Ratings Changed Due to &#8216;Discriminatory Language&#8217; in Disney Film"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_33224\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33224\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2024\/03\/Marry-Poppins_credit-Walt-Disney.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-33224\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2024\/03\/Marry-Poppins_credit-Walt-Disney.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33224\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Walt Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMary Poppins\u201d is apparently no longer practically perfect in every way. The beloved Disney classic has been slapped with a rating change in the U.K., losing its \u201cU\u201d rating for \u201cuniversal,\u201d the equivalent of a \u201cG\u201d rating in the U.S., in favor of a \u201cPG\u201d rating, meaning parental guidance is suggested.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, the 1964 film, starring Hollywood legends Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, includes two fleeting references to the \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d term \u201chottentot,\u201d a spokesperson for the British Board of Film Classification\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2024\/02\/27\/mary-poppins-rating-increased-discriminatory-language\/72755548007\/\">told USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.loc.gov\/maps\/2019\/07\/paradise-in-the-realm-of-the-hottentots\/\">According to the Library of Congress<\/a>, the word first came into use when the Dutch encountered the Khoikhoi people in the 15th century. The Khoisan language employs clicks to denote consonants, which was difficult for Europeans to understand. \u201cHottentot\u201d is derived from a Dutch phrase that means \u201cstutterer,\u201d and, as such, it became a moniker for those who lived in southwest Africa. The now-slur was in common use from the 15th through the 19th centuries.<\/p>\n<p>In the movie, Adm. Boom, played by actor Reginald Owen, twice employs the phrase,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/mary-poppins-movie-has-age-rating-lifted-over-discriminatory-language-13081571#:~:text=Later%2C%20when%20chimney%2Dsweeps%20with,launching%20fireworks%20in%20their%20direction.\">Sky News reported<\/a>: once when he asked one of the children, Michael, if he was going on an adventure to \u201cdefeat Hottentots\u201d and again when he spots soot-covered chimney sweeps and shouts, \u201cWe\u2019re being attacked by Hottentots,\u201d before shooting fireworks in their direction from the roof of his home on Cherry Tree Lane.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gXyOTO5242k?si=oH5nItFk7m-kQ43f\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The BBFC said in a statement on the rating switch, \u201cWhile \u2018Mary Poppins\u2019 has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at \u2018U. \u2018We, therefore, classified the film \u2018PG\u2019 for discriminatory language.\u201d The group went on to state the Disney mainstay contains \u201csome scenes [that] may be unsuitable for young children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statement continued, \u201cWe understand from our racism and discrimination research \u2026 that a key concern for \u2026 parents is the potential to expose children to discriminatory language or behavior which they may find distressing or repeat without realizing the potential offense. Content with immediate and clear condemnation is more likely to receive a lower rating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The decision from the BBFC comes as \u201cMary Poppins\u201d is slated to be re-released in the U.K. to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the iconic film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMary Poppins\u201d is apparently no longer practically perfect in every way. The beloved Disney classic has been slapped with a rating change in the U.K., losing its \u201cU\u201d rating for \u201cuniversal,\u201d the equivalent of a \u201cG\u201d rating in the U.S., in favor of a \u201cPG\u201d rating, meaning parental guidance is suggested. Apparently, the 1964 film,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":33224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,4],"tags":[3786],"class_list":["post-33155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-movies","category-pop-culture","tag-mary-poppins"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Mary Poppins&#039; Ratings Changed Due to &#039;Discriminatory Language&#039; in Disney Film<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cMary Poppins\u201d is apparently no longer practically perfect in every way. 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The beloved Disney classic has been slapped with a rating change in the U.K.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Mary Poppins' Ratings Changed Due to 'Discriminatory Language' in Disney Film","og_description":"\u201cMary Poppins\u201d is apparently no longer practically perfect in every way. The beloved Disney classic has been slapped with a rating change in the U.K.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html","og_site_name":"Idol Chatter","article_published_time":"2024-03-05T16:57:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-06T17:39:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2024\/03\/Marry-Poppins_credit-Walt-Disney.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren McKeithen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html","name":"'Mary Poppins' Ratings Changed Due to 'Discriminatory Language' in Disney Film","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/03\/mary-poppins-ratings-changed-due-to-discriminatory-language-in-disney-film.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2024\/03\/Marry-Poppins_credit-Walt-Disney.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-05T16:57:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-06T17:39:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/67183b7ec4ffc995620174c78f9cc68a"},"description":"\u201cMary Poppins\u201d is apparently no longer practically perfect in every way. 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