The Dam Busters and a dog called
Peter Jackson is already being dogged by one tricky aspect of the Dambusters story that he will turn into a $76 million film next year - a racial slur.
Wing Commander Guy Gibson, head of the British mission that destroyed German dams in World War II, had a dog called Nigger. The dog features in the 1951 book The Dam Busters and the 1954 film of the same name - both sources for Jackson's Dambusters to be shot in Wellington and Britain next year.
Jackson said his team would tread carefully over the name but had yet to decide what to do.
"It is not our intention to offend people. But really you are in a no-win, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't scenario. If you change it, everyone's going to whinge and whine about political correctness. And if you don't change it, obviously you are offending a lot of people inadvertently.
"We haven't made any decisions about what we'll do. Everybody asks about the dog. Everybody who we spoke to over in England was, `What are you going to call the dog? What are you going to call the dog?' We will just wait and see."
Incidentally the call sign for a successful raid was also Nigger.
My feelings? No offense was meant originally, even in the seventies - and possibly later you could buy clothes in 'Nigger-Brown'. To take offence for something in yesteryear's context by applying todays standards is just silly.
Wing Commander Guy Gibson, head of the British mission that destroyed German dams in World War II, had a dog called Nigger. The dog features in the 1951 book The Dam Busters and the 1954 film of the same name - both sources for Jackson's Dambusters to be shot in Wellington and Britain next year.
Jackson said his team would tread carefully over the name but had yet to decide what to do.
"It is not our intention to offend people. But really you are in a no-win, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't scenario. If you change it, everyone's going to whinge and whine about political correctness. And if you don't change it, obviously you are offending a lot of people inadvertently.
"We haven't made any decisions about what we'll do. Everybody asks about the dog. Everybody who we spoke to over in England was, `What are you going to call the dog? What are you going to call the dog?' We will just wait and see."
Incidentally the call sign for a successful raid was also Nigger.
My feelings? No offense was meant originally, even in the seventies - and possibly later you could buy clothes in 'Nigger-Brown'. To take offence for something in yesteryear's context by applying todays standards is just silly.