The legendary James Bond books by Ian Fleming, which inspired the longest-running film franchise in history, are being heavily edited to remove language that some far-left activists have deemed “racist” or “insensitive.”
As reported by Fox News, the edits by the series’ publishing company, Ian Fleming Publications, launched a review of all of the author’s material ahead of the 70th anniversary of the release of the first novel in the series, Casino Royale. The vast majority of edited content focused on references to black people.
The newly-edited books will feature a disclaimer, according to The Telegraph, which will read, in part: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.”
The books will still largely include language that some have found offensive towards women, homosexuals, and Asians, including phrases such as a “blithering women” failing to do “man’s work,” and the characterization of homosexuality as a “stubborn disability.”
One example of an edit is from the novel Live and Let Die, where all of the story’s villains are black. In one scene, Bond ponders how Africans are “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much;” the line about drinking is completely omitted. Any uses of racial epithets are replaced with “black man” or “black person.”
The decision to censor the beloved Bond series comes just days after another publisher backed down on a similar censorship threat after widespread backlash. The publishing company Puffin originally announced its intentions to heavily edit the works of children’s author Roald Dahl, but reversed course after widespread outrage from fans and critics alike.