[Jem Smith]

Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory_original_cover.jpg (22.56 KiB) Viewed 293 times

I was fascinated to learn that the character of Charlie from Roald Dahl's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, on which the movie was based, was originally black. Dahl was forced to change it by his publisher. It was supposed to make a point- Wonka tried to give poor kids an opportunity with the contest with the golden tickets, but it didn't work (rich kids were able to just buy loads of chocolate bars to have many more chances) because the system was unfair.

It surprised me to learn this because Dahl was quite racist in other ways, and the Oompa Loompas in the book were originally a tribe of pygmy people from Africa, whose skin and hair colour were later changed to make them fictional people from a fantasy land.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/16/551528425/roald-dahl-s-widow-says-charlie-from-the-chocolate-factory-was-originally-black

[Netherrealmer]

Kind of like how Katniss was originally olive skinned multiracial. Johnny Rico of Starship Troopers is Filipino and not White Argentine, Alladin is Chinese and not Arab and the lead male on Breakfast At Tiffany's is a gay man but they turn him straight on movie to turn it into romance

[Jem Smith]

Kind of like how Katniss was originally olive skinned multiracial. Johnny Rico of Starship Troopers is Filipino and not White Argentine, Alladin is Chinese and not Arab and the lead male on Breakfast At Tiffany's is a gay man but they turn him straight on movie to turn it into romance

Yes, it's kind of a shame they didn't cast a Latina actor as Katniss.

Yeah, I think people got Aladdin wrong because the story is part of the Arabian Nights. There was a cool live action version a few years ago (not the Disney Aladdin, a live action version of the Arabian Nights) that got it right.

Breakfast at Tiffany's was different from the book in a lot of ways. From memory it was already a romance of sorts.

[Netherrealmer]

The OG breakfast at Tiffany's book is friendship between an escort girl and a Gay man. The movie is a friends to lovers story between a serial dater girl and a straight man

[Jem Smith]

The OG breakfast at Tiffany's book is friendship between an escort girl and a Gay man. The movie is a friends to lovers story between a serial dater girl and a straight man

I've both read the book and seen the movie, and that's not exactly how I'd describe it. Holly is not exactly an escort in the book. It's a weird, intense friendship they have, with him seeking her out like she's almost a mythical creature. I don't remember it ever really making much of his sexuality.

[Netherrealmer]

Gay men have tendency to worship a woman they will call "Mother" of "queen" from diva popstars, Pageant contestants and women who are fashionable. He is fascinated to her the way drag queens worships Cher.

in the Book Carrie, Carrie is outcast because she is Chubby and has acne. In movies they always cast pretty girls

[ptrikha21]

At times, people connected with popular literature that is made to films are not as good as one assumes.
At times, they can be better than expected as well.
This example teaches us a lot.

[nela13]

I saw the movie and it looked very unrealistic to me. Maybe the original Charlie's color was related to the chocolate color but if Dahl was racist it makes no sense have a black protagonist.

[Netherrealmer]

In the Wizard of Oz movie, Dorothy cries a lot and she was rescued by her 3 friends. In the Book, She is a girl boss and she is sassy. She splash the water bucket to the witch not to save Scare Crow but because the Witch annoys her. Oz is a real place and not a dream

[Jem Smith]

but if Dahl was racist it makes no sense have a black protagonist.

It's a bit more complicated than "Dahl was racist". Racism was deeply ingrained in the society he lived in, and it's possible to be relatively progressive while still having prejudices in the back of your mind that you aren't even aware of. More than possible, I think it's actually that way for most people.

Like, speaking for myself, I'd consider myself to not be racist, and think that it should be self evident that people deserve the same rights regardless of the colour of their skin, but if I'm reading a novel and it doesn't specify what a character looks like I'll tend to picture them as white because that's what I expect and it's the default human in my head.

I saw the movie and it looked very unrealistic to me.

It's a children's fantasy film so it's not really supposed to be realistic.

Maybe the original Charlie's color was related to the chocolate color

I really don't think so.