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Dambusters dog to be renamed Digger for remake of iconic film... because N-word...
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 10th June 2011

Posted on 06/10/2011 4:57:20 AM PDT by naturalman1975

The Dambusters dog N****r will be renamed Digger for a modern remake of the iconic film to avoid offending American viewers, it has emerged.

Script writer Stephen Fry, 53, has confirmed that pilot Guy Gibson's faithful black Labrador will be renamed for the forthcoming Peter Jackson movie.

In the original 1955 film Gibson's dog's name was spoken 12 times as a code word to report successful dam breaches to RAF Bomber Command.

But Fry, who is writing the script for the long-awaited remake, has revealed he will now be renamed Digger to avoid offending American viewers.

He said: 'There is no question in America that you could ever have a dog called the N-word.

'It's no good saying that it is the Latin word for black or that it didn't have the meaning that it does now - you just can't go back, which is unfortunate.

'You can go to RAF Scampton and see the dog's grave and there he is with his name, and it's an important part of the film.

'The name of the dog was a code word to show that the dam had been successfully breached.

'In the film, you're constantly hearing 'n-word, n-word, n-word, hurray' and Barnes Wallis is punching the air.

'But obviously that's not going to happen now. So Digger seems okay, I reckon.'

The iconic 1955 film tells the story of British Second World War scientists who developed a bouncing bomb as a means of attacking Germany's dams.

During the film a special squadron of Lancaster bombers, 617 Squadron, is formed and trained by Wing Commander Guy Gibson.

His black Labrador dog N*gger is present throughout the film and his name repeatedly used as a code word to report successful breaches of dams.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; United Kingdom
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How about if I, as an Australian, say that I find the use of the word 'Digger' - a term applied to Australian troops since the First World War - offensive if applied to a dog. Do you think anyone would listen to me?
1 posted on 06/10/2011 4:57:23 AM PDT by naturalman1975
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To: naturalman1975

Why are we being reminded what age Stephen Fry is?

Do other scriptwriters get their age appended?

Agere Contra (45)


2 posted on 06/10/2011 4:59:24 AM PDT by agere_contra ("Debt is the foundation of destruction" : Sarah Palin.)
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To: naturalman1975

Why don’t they just call the dog “Politically Correct” ?


3 posted on 06/10/2011 4:59:37 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Amber Lamps !"~~)
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To: naturalman1975

What, “nigger?” Fugawdsakes it’s all you hear when you’re in a crowd of blacks in this city.


4 posted on 06/10/2011 5:00:21 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (Hating *me* won't make *you* handsome, intelligent, straight, male *or* white.)
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To: naturalman1975

So now we are changing history in the name of political
correctness, THAT I find offensive!


5 posted on 06/10/2011 5:01:20 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: naturalman1975

Sorry, patriotic Australians with a sense of history are not an Accredited Victim Group. (Maybe they could have renamed the dog, “Chigger” ;-).

It’s funny, because I heard two black men in the gym on Wednesday calling each other “nigger,” and referring to other blacks as “that nigger,” and then on the way home, I heard Andrew Wilkow, on his radio show, refer to “the n-word.” He can’t say the word, even if he’s simply quoting someone, or he’ll lose his job.


6 posted on 06/10/2011 5:01:36 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("WWSP?" - What Would Sionnsar Post?)
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To: naturalman1975
You know - I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe that Guy Gibson was a racist, or that he was racist in naming his dog.

But what about if he was? There still wouldn't be any good reason to change this.

If Wing Commander Guy Gibson, Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Bar, Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar, was a racist, then I think the positive aspects of his character and personal history, are more than enough to balance out one unfortunate personal characteristic being shown in a film. He didn't need to be a saint to get the job he had to do done. He didn't need to be perfect, so what would it matter if he wasn't? We don't need to sanitise history or historical figures - we need to show them as they were.

7 posted on 06/10/2011 5:02:09 AM PDT by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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To: naturalman1975

No.


8 posted on 06/10/2011 5:06:53 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: naturalman1975

Digger, please.


9 posted on 06/10/2011 5:08:00 AM PDT by Salo
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To: naturalman1975

M__A__R__K____T__W__A__I__N


10 posted on 06/10/2011 5:08:10 AM PDT by PieterCasparzen (Conservative Christian Capitalists - I encourage you to visit my Profile)
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To: naturalman1975
That was not an unusual name for a black dog in that era, even into the 1950’s. Nothing much was thought of it, simply a name ...
11 posted on 06/10/2011 5:09:29 AM PDT by BluH2o
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To: naturalman1975
How about if I, as an Australian, say that I find the use of the word 'Digger' - a term applied to Australian troops since the First World War - offensive if applied to a dog. Do you think anyone would listen to me?

Do you have dozens of "your people" or rap "artists" calling each other "Digger" every other sentence? If so, then you can be offended.

12 posted on 06/10/2011 5:12:52 AM PDT by The Theophilus (Obama's Key to win 2012: Ban Haloperidol)
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To: naturalman1975
...the long-awaited remake....

By whom? Certainly not me.

13 posted on 06/10/2011 5:13:39 AM PDT by onedoug (If)
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To: naturalman1975

Remember when movie makers used to create original films instead of recycling past works?


14 posted on 06/10/2011 5:14:24 AM PDT by Hoodat (Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. - (Rom 8:37))
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To: naturalman1975

Actually “Digger” would be a splendid nickname for the present recumbent in the WH. It will take us the better part of decade to dig out of the hole this SOB has dug us into, making us all I suppose, “Diggers,” which I am sure was part of his plan.


15 posted on 06/10/2011 5:14:30 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (We live in America's "Awkward" Era. Too late to fix the country. Bit too early to start shooting.)
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To: onedoug

I’m looking forward to it (now that I’ve heard about it).


16 posted on 06/10/2011 5:15:06 AM PDT by agere_contra ("Debt is the foundation of destruction" : Sarah Palin.)
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To: Tax-chick
(Maybe they could have renamed the dog, “Chigger” ;-).

You can't call them that anymore. You have to call them "Chigroes" (just to be safe you know)

17 posted on 06/10/2011 5:15:24 AM PDT by John O (God Save America (Please))
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To: naturalman1975
"The Dam Busters" was a great movie. I can hardly wait to see how political correctness totally screws the story to the wall.

The book, "633 Squadron" is a fascinating read and covers all of the special missions the squadron conducted from the dam busting mission through the destruction of the Turpiz and the V-3 launching sites.

The irony is that the program for the dinner honoring the Squadron after the first mission called them "The Damn Busters"!

18 posted on 06/10/2011 5:16:30 AM PDT by Redleg Duke ("Madison, Wisconsin is 30 square miles surrounded by reality.", L. S. Dryfus)
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To: naturalman1975

right! cause people of color do not exist in jolly old England, right?

(do I really need to post ‘SARC’?)


19 posted on 06/10/2011 5:16:48 AM PDT by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: onedoug

I actually am looking forward to it - when the film was made in 1955, some important details were still classified, and I’m hoping they will be included in the new film.


20 posted on 06/10/2011 5:17:15 AM PDT by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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