works of art
Wes Anderson against political adaptation of ancient literature
Wes Anderson, director from the USA, with a photo
© Cinzia Camela/LPS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The British author Roald Dahl died in 1990. Today, some passages from his children’s books are perceived as discriminatory. Filmmaker Wes Anderson sees no reason to change this.
In the UK and beyond, recent changes to several classics of literature have sparked heated debate as to whether they overly alter the original work or whether the re-editions are appropriate. A number of formulations that certain social groups could perceive as discriminatory were deleted or changed from Dahl’s children’s books.
“I understand the motivation for this,” Anderson said, but he feels committed to a school of thought that wants to leave finished works unchanged after audiences have already known them. “And of course no one who isn’t an author should change someone else’s book. He’s dead.”