Pippi Longstocking is being improved by Swedish Television (SVT) reported Expressen in an article with the headline of
“SVT Removes Racism from Pippi Longstocking.” In the 1969 version of the children's classic, Pippi referred to her seafaring father affectionately as "negerkung," which literally translates to "negro king," though the Swedish vernacular more or less means "king of the natives." This term and also Pippi's pulling on her eyes pretending to be Chinese is being reedited.
The children of Astrid Lindgren,the popular and prolific Swedish children's book author,who exercise tight control over the profitable Lindgren brand Saltkråkan, have approved the changes. They must have psychic powers because they maintain that their deceased mother would be all for these changes.
This latest revisionist maneuver by Swedish television represents yet another frightful show of political correctness and force. This summer Americans got a taste of Swedish Television's offerings on NBC primetime with the new Poehler sitcom series of
Welcome to Sweden, originally produced for and shown on Sweden's TV4. As a Swedish-American I engaged in the unpleasant viewing experience of what was not a funny comedy and
wrote several reviews of the show and show's episodes.
Perhaps it is funny in Sweden that the main character, played by Greg Poehler, who is the brother of Amy Poehler, who is also producing the show, appears ashamed and afraid of being an American so that when he encounters a character of Iraqi descent he begins a friendship in which he maintains he is Canadian and certainly not American. The show features several guest stars, among them Gene Simmons of KISS fame, Patrick Duffy (you remember J.R Ewing's little brother), and Will Ferrell (ever the anchorman), and it is not clear if their philosophy of life welcomes Americans being ashamed of being Americans.
The latest Pippi Longstocking debacle and appreciation for the Poehler
Welcome to Sweden comedy by Swedes is part of a disturbing trend of the de-Swedification of Sweden. Like tall, proud timber Swedes have had a history of being cut down. After a long rule by the Social Democrats that included the disabling makeover of the country by Olof Palme, the country's ruling parties swung to the right, though in Sweden that would mean being to the left of the Kennedys and Nancy Pelosi, who no doubt would be flattered to be mentioned in Camelot company.
Swedish general elections were held on September 14, 2014, and while the Social Democrats will be able to maintain some power in a coalition government, the Sweden Democrats came in third. It should be explained here that the Sweden Democrats are a conservative party that has logically argued that Sweden cannot sustain mass immigration financially.
Unfortunately, the Sweden Democrats have been called racist and the Swedish people have been silenced or labeled racist if they even dared discuss the inability of Sweden to absorb a large immigrant population in need of immediate and substantial welfare, as they are entitled to by Swedish law. An editorial on Swedish elections in The Guardian should make it clear that even if Swedes want political freedom they will have to deal with
propaganda such as this: "All of the action was on the right, where the xenophobic and reactionary Sweden Democrats more than doubled their share of the vote at the expense of the internationalist and technocratic Moderate party.The right wing that marches under a flag triumphed over the right wing that governs from its spreadsheets."
Any national pride of native Swedes continues to receive the harshest of criticisms and Swedish schools are giving in to have the meat their children eat
butchered according to Islamic practices.
This butchery is a metaphor that serves well to illustrate what Swedes continue to encounter in their own country. But at least they appear to have a temporary stay of Islamic rule and the proposal of establishment of such a state within its borders, which cannot be
said for its neighbor, Norway. Swedes and Norwegians have long been rivals like the Texas Aggies and the University of Texas, but we can only hope that these two nations get together when both the famous bonfire and Bevo equivalent are threatened with extinction due to capitulation in what is a misguided understanding of what inclusiveness means.