'Hunchback' changed to 'Bellringer' in UK production (PC barf alert!)

CBC News ^ | 6.28.02

[mhking]

C B C   A r t s C a n a d a - A r t s   N e w s   :

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'Hunchback' changed to 'Bellringer' in UK production

The Arts Report
Last Updated 2002-06-28 00:00:00.000

London - A British theatre company has changed the title of its adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame so it won't offend people with the disability.

Producer Elli Mackenzie of Oddsocks Production said she changed the name to The Bellringer of Notre Dame after consulting with a disability adviser.

Mackenzie said Friday she didn't want the title of her show to upset people with scoliosis, a medical condition that causes curvature of the spine. In extreme cases, the condition can cause the development of a hunchback.

The Scoliosis Association of London applauded the name change. Association spokeswoman Libby Biberian said "hunchback" has been used as a derogatory name for people with scoliosis.

Quasimodo, the hunchbacked and deaf lead character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris, is the bellringer at the famous cathedral.

Mackenzie said their play still had the same themes as Hugo original work: inner beauty and the cruelty faced by Quasimodo, who is portrayed by an able-bodied actor.

In the Oddsocks production, Quasimodo appears as he is described in Hugo's novel, including the hunchback.

Mackenzie said didn't use the original French title because it wasn't very well known. She said "The Bellringer of Notre Dame" would be more recognizable and "ring bells" in people's minds.

For more arts news, listen to The Arts Report weekdays at 7:12 a.m., 8:12 a.m. and 5:55 p.m. on CBC Radio Two.

[Publius]

Everybody who has staged or filmed this novel has tampered with it. The silent film version feared stating that Frollo, who lusted for the girl, was a priest. Disney was willing to tackled that issue, at least.

But nobody has ever used the book's ending, where the girl is hanged slowly, where Phoebus rides by not seeing her dangling at the end of a rope, and where Quasimodo lies down with her body in the charnel house and dies.

Victor Hugo did not pull his punches. It's not a book for sissies.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Is this a joke?

[drew]

You know, that Hugo wasn't much of a writer. Let's alter his work because we know best!
Kind of takes away from the point of the story and its drama. But hey, we don't want to offend any hunchbacks out there (er, I mean, the stoop shouldered, or wait, the vertically challenged).

[Sender]

Now I suppose vampires will be known as "persons of in-vivo dietary orientation".

[AmericanInTokyo]

It is not a joke in Japan. The word 'hunchback' in Japanese is considered extremely politically incorrect and a term of 'hatred.' Hence the move over here is not the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

It is 'the Bell of Notre Dame' (Notura Damu no kane).

[j.havenfarm]

I was surprised this weekend to see the Battle Hymn of the Republic's title changed in a hymnal to "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory." PC nitwits abound everywhere.

[Re-electNobody]

I remember reading in the Atlanta paper before the 1981 Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame. There was good-natured jousting between fans from the two schools in New Orleans. One Georgia chant was, "You've got the hunchback, we've got the tailback" (for non-football fans, a reference to Herschel Walker.)

[martin_fierro]

Previous posts:

Political Correctness Rings Hunchback Death Knell

Political Correctness Rings Hunchback Death Knell

[Grit]

Eeekkk! They said 'hunchback' six times in that article! AH! Now I've said it! I apologize if I have offended anyone.

[N. Theknow]

where Phoebus rides by not seeing her dangling at the end of a rope, and where Quasimodo lies down with her body in the charnel house and dies.

Um....that would make Quasimodo.....a dead ringer!

[Charles Henrickson]

What about "Dame"? Doesn't that offend the feminists?

[Dakmar]

So "The French Person Living in France With Scoliosis of Notre Dame" didn't make it past commitee, eh?

[Dakmar]

And what about "Notre"? As a confirmed Frankophobe I'm extremely upset they let that stay.

[Charles Henrickson]

The Person with Scoliosis of Notre Womyn.

[DJ Frisat]

In the Oddsocks production...

Oddsocks!? Waaaaaaaa....!!!!

I'm offended! Are you making fun of me just because I often wear mismatched argyles to work??? It's a disease, I tell ya -- you shouldn't ridicule me! Who can I sue? Where's the ACLU on this?

[weegee]

They better get a handsome actor to play the role. The bellringer's always been portrayed with an ugly mishapen face.

Ugly people got rights too and Quasimodo shouldn't be reviled because of his looks!

< /sarcasm >

[weegee]

Anyone who segregates his socks by color is a bigot! < /sarcasm >

[weegee]

Only a matter of time before some "discovers" that Quasimodo was sexually molested by members of the Church (just as "scholars" have "discovered" that fictional figures such as Bugs Bunny and Robin Hood were really "gay").

[FirstFlaBn]

In chastising you for your blatant insensitivity, I will repeat my comment from the previous posts on this subject:

In accordance with modern PC thinking:

Out: Hunchback

In: People of Hump