I was channel surfing over the Memorial Day weekend and came across a movie called The Dam Busters, a 1955 British war film set during the Second World War.
Turns out the lead character’s black Labrador was named Nigger. That got my attention.
The Dam Busters is based on the true story of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron and the development of the bouncing bomb. The Squadron used the bombs, which bounced across the water to avoid torpedo nets, in Operation Chastise during the attack on the Ruhr dams in Germany.
The movie stars Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis, designer of the bomb, and Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
I didn’t watch the whole movie, by 12 midnight I was fading fast. But I did do a Google search afterwards and found out that, indeed, Gibson’s dog was named Nigger and he was the unit’s mascot. He was hit by an automobile and died shortly before the mission, an incident that is depicted in the film.
A remake of the film is reportedly in production. It is being produced by Peter Jackson, directed by first time director Christian Rivers and scripted by Stephen Fry.
Jackson hasn’t made a decision on what to call the dog. He’s in a no-win situation. If he doesn’t use the name Nigger then he risks not being historically accurate; if he does, he runs the risk of offending countless numbers of people.
Sir David Frost, the executive producer, has reportedly said that Gibson also called his dog Nigsy, so he prefers using that name.
Turns out the lead character’s black Labrador was named Nigger. That got my attention.
The Dam Busters is based on the true story of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron and the development of the bouncing bomb. The Squadron used the bombs, which bounced across the water to avoid torpedo nets, in Operation Chastise during the attack on the Ruhr dams in Germany.
The movie stars Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis, designer of the bomb, and Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
I didn’t watch the whole movie, by 12 midnight I was fading fast. But I did do a Google search afterwards and found out that, indeed, Gibson’s dog was named Nigger and he was the unit’s mascot. He was hit by an automobile and died shortly before the mission, an incident that is depicted in the film.
A remake of the film is reportedly in production. It is being produced by Peter Jackson, directed by first time director Christian Rivers and scripted by Stephen Fry.
Jackson hasn’t made a decision on what to call the dog. He’s in a no-win situation. If he doesn’t use the name Nigger then he risks not being historically accurate; if he does, he runs the risk of offending countless numbers of people.
Sir David Frost, the executive producer, has reportedly said that Gibson also called his dog Nigsy, so he prefers using that name.
I’m of the opinion that they should keep the name for historical accuracy. That was the name of the dog and it does say something about the mores and thinking of the time. Incidentally, I have seen some blog comments that ask, “Why do a remake at all?” There are too many remakes and less original content these days, they argue. I would say hear, hear, but that’s for another blog.
I don’t know what Gibson was thinking or if in his book on the mission he explains how he came about naming his dog. But I do think that the reason behind the name is not as simple as the dog was black. Some blog comments I have seen say that nigger means black and, at that time in England, the reference is to the dog’s color. Therefore the name is not racist, they claim.
Mmmm. “Negro” from the Spanish and Portuguese means black. However, nigger as a derogatory word to describe black people dates back to at least the 1800s. So, I’m quite sure people in 1940s England -- whose empire was once so vast that the sun never set on it – were familiar with the pejorative connotation of the word.
The trick for the producers and writer of the remake is how to keep the name but convey to a contemporary audience that the mores of the time were insensitive to the feelings and humanity of brown and black people.
That’s why they’re getting paid the big bucks.
I don’t know what Gibson was thinking or if in his book on the mission he explains how he came about naming his dog. But I do think that the reason behind the name is not as simple as the dog was black. Some blog comments I have seen say that nigger means black and, at that time in England, the reference is to the dog’s color. Therefore the name is not racist, they claim.
Mmmm. “Negro” from the Spanish and Portuguese means black. However, nigger as a derogatory word to describe black people dates back to at least the 1800s. So, I’m quite sure people in 1940s England -- whose empire was once so vast that the sun never set on it – were familiar with the pejorative connotation of the word.
The trick for the producers and writer of the remake is how to keep the name but convey to a contemporary audience that the mores of the time were insensitive to the feelings and humanity of brown and black people.
That’s why they’re getting paid the big bucks.
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