zlacker

>>GavCo+(OP)
Of every change the ones to Augustus Gloop not being called "enormously fat" and instead being called "enormous" are the most jarring as his story is a moral parable about the dangers of gluttony. Even if you think such moral parables are wrong, the phrasing change isn't simply just aesthetic, it's fundamentally changing the story's narrative.

>>faerie+dT
You're making a general argument against revisionism but you seem to miss the point that the specific critique of gluttony / being fat / "fat shaming" is an aspect of the current morality that is imposing itself in many corners of culture.

It is forbidden to say being fat is unhealthy, undesirable or to pathologize it at all.

>>PKop+K41
> It is forbidden to say being fat is unhealthy, undesirable or to pathologize it at all.

Does that seem sensible?

>>Comput+Xc1
There was a time, back about five hundred to a thousand years ago, when being fat was a positive trait because it was a social sign that you had the means to surplus nourishment.

But whether it's acceptable to be fat or not, it's ultimately a social measurement that changes like the wind.

Objectively and biologically, being fat is not good for one's health. Period. There is no room for argument here. Being fat is unhealthy. Being too skinny is also unhealthy, incidentally.

>>Dalewy+Bf1
Tedious counterpoints from everyone here. Very one dimensional.

It's not about the relative merits of more or less body fat, it's about overweight people constantly being told they need to do something, either in person or in the media. Worse, people will try to shame them into action, probably on a weekly basis, taking the moral high ground that they didn't allow themselves to gain weight, despite having no idea what conditions or mental issues have led to that state.

It's just tiring for people who are a little different (height, skin, fat, ability, etc.) to constantly be reminded of it and ignored as a person because of it.

The old books will continue to exist. But just like we don't tell our kids everything their beloved grandpa said, we do the same with the media they consume. Publishers making these changes are just adding value through convenience, making a calculated bet that it's in demand.

I read these books as a kid in the 80s and was definitely happy in my early years to join in with jokes about differences in people. Took longer than necessary to realise that wasn't funny for them.