Old Yeller

Just how politically correct have we become? We bend over backwards to eliminate anything that might offend anyone. The Muslims are the latest example of thin skinned people, and I for one am getting rather tired of it.

It started some time ago and the Muslims have merely perfected the genre, much the same as the HIV/AIDS lobby manipulated the media for their own purposes.

The other day, the little girl my wife babysits spent the day in our house with some of her favourite things. Board games, game boys and films that she needed to see her through the day. One of the films was the Walt Disney classic "Old Yeller". I plunked it into the tape machine and sat down to watch it as I haven't seen this movie since I was her age. (Which is a long time ago, I might add)

The PETA people would have a heyday with this one. I'm not sure if Old Yeller was a Golden Lab or a Golden Retriever, but that's neither here nor there. Old Yeller is a big, scraggly mutt that endears itself to a farming family during the days of the American Civil War. The perfect poster dog for PETA to put a fish hook through its mouth and then ask you if you do this to a fish, why not do it to your dog?

The movie starts off with the eldest boy throwing rocks at the dog and threatening him with a shotgun if he ever comes around again. The younger brother comes home with lizards, frogs and snakes in his pants and the mother threatens him "with a switchin'." The older boy obviously hates dogs and carries his hatred out on horses as he actually rides one in the movie. While he seems to love nature, shown by the scenes where he watches the deer and the chipmunks play, he is an enemy of the PETA state when he shoots a stag for food. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before PETA protests this movie and has it taken away from our choices at Block Busters.

But going back a bit, we see the same thing happening in literature. Some folks got their noses out of joint over the tales of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. I've never understood why someone would apply today's standards to something that was written a hundred years ago. Mr. Twain wrote in the language of the time and monikers such as 'Nigger Jim' or 'Injun Joe' were commonplace and accepted at the time. Sadly, the thin skins won and these books are no longer suitable for our youngsters to read. Preferred reading today is "Monica Has Two Mommies" or "Danny Has Two Daddies". Funny how I might object to these books, but everyone seems to agree that they are important and should be compulsory reading. Give me Mark Twain any day.

A while ago there was an incident in town where an importer of UK goods was taken to task for selling 'Golliwogs'. A Golliwog is a rag doll much like our Raggedy Ann or Andy. It was also a symbol used by a jelly and jam maker, much like our Aunt Jemima. Unlike Raggedy Ann, a Golliwog is black, just like Aunt Jemima. Some thin skin walked into the store selling them, took one look at them and instantly got offended. The store owner was forced to take the dolls off display, the thinking being, I suppose, that to continue to sell them would lead us back into the evil arms of slavery.

The Muslims have perfected the art of being insulted. From editorial cartoons to chastising the Pope for words he used, which they somehow couldn't understand, they cry that theirs is a religion of peace while they bomb and set fire to anything Christian. And we put up with it because we are so in-tune with the multi-cultural nonsense that, while we don't want to offend anyone, we will gladly suffer the abuse they throw at us.

Sad.