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[[File:Nigger (dog).jpg|thumb|200px|Nigger with members of No. 617 Squadron. His owner, Wg Cdr [[Guy Gibson]], is crouching on the right with a pipe in his mouth.]]
[[File:Nigger (dog).jpg|thumb|200px|Nigger with members of No. 617 Squadron. His owner, Wg Cdr [[Guy Gibson]], is crouching on the right with a pipe in his mouth.]]


'''Nigger''' nigger nigger nigger i fucking hate niggers they always be sayin shit about white guys. niggers dont even have big dicks. they get goddamn surgery to make their dicks bigger. they deserve to be slaves. was a male black [[labrador retriever]] belonging to [[Wing Commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] [[Guy Gibson]], V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C. of the British [[Royal Air Force]], and the mascot of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No.&nbsp;617&nbsp;Squadron]]. Nigger died on 16 May 1943, the day before the famous [[Operation Chastise|"Dam Busters" raid]], when he was hit by a car. He was buried at midnight as Gibson was leading the raid. "Nigger" was the codeword Gibson used to confirm the breach of the [[Möhne Reservoir|Möhne Dam]]. Nigger's grave is at [[RAF Scampton|Royal Air Force station Scampton]], [[Lincolnshire]].<ref name=Toms2006 /> He had often accompanied Gibson on training flights.<ref name=Toms2006 />
'''Nigger''' was a male black [[labrador retriever]] belonging to [[Wing Commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] [[Guy Gibson]], V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C. of the British [[Royal Air Force]], and the mascot of [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|No.&nbsp;617&nbsp;Squadron]]. Nigger died on 16 May 1943, the day before the famous [[Operation Chastise|"Dam Busters" raid]], when he was hit by a car. He was buried at midnight as Gibson was leading the raid. "Nigger" was the codeword Gibson used to confirm the breach of the [[Möhne Reservoir|Möhne Dam]]. Nigger's grave is at [[RAF Scampton|Royal Air Force station Scampton]], [[Lincolnshire]].<ref name=Toms2006 /> He had often accompanied Gibson on training flights.<ref name=Toms2006 />


==Portrayal on film==
==Portrayal on film==

Revision as of 00:54, 30 April 2013

Nigger with members of No. 617 Squadron. His owner, Wg Cdr Guy Gibson, is crouching on the right with a pipe in his mouth.

Nigger was a male black labrador retriever belonging to Wing Commander Guy Gibson, V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C. of the British Royal Air Force, and the mascot of No. 617 Squadron. Nigger died on 16 May 1943, the day before the famous "Dam Busters" raid, when he was hit by a car. He was buried at midnight as Gibson was leading the raid. "Nigger" was the codeword Gibson used to confirm the breach of the Möhne Dam. Nigger's grave is at Royal Air Force station Scampton, Lincolnshire.[1] He had often accompanied Gibson on training flights.[1]

Portrayal on film

Censorship

Nigger was portrayed in the 1955 British war film The Dam Busters, in which he was mentioned by name frequently. The word nigger, which was in general use as a dog's name at the time, has since become culturally unacceptable. In 1999, British television network ITV broadcast a censored version of the film, with all instances of the name removed. ITV blamed regional broadcaster London Weekend Television, which in turn alleged that a junior staff member had been responsible for the unauthorised cuts. When ITV again showed a censored version in June 2001, it was criticised by Index on Censorship as "unnecessary and ridiculous" and because the edits introduced continuity errors.[2][3][4] The code word "nigger" transmitted in Morse Code upon the successful completion of the central mission was not censored. More recently, in 2012, ITV3 have shown the film uncut a few times, but with a warning at the start that it contains racial terms from the period which some people may find offensive. However, in January 2013 the film was shown by Channel 5 uncut and without any warning.

Some edited American versions of the film use dubbing to change Nigger's name to Trigger.[2][3] However, recent[when?] American showings on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel do not censor or change the name. Scenes in which Nigger is referred to by name appear in Pink Floyd The Wall.[5]

Animal wrangling

Nigger's grave
Area around the grave

The animal used to portray Nigger was an RAF dog, on loan to the production. Richard Todd was the animal wrangler, and later recalled that the dog was an exemplary actor who hardly ever required a re-take. On two occasions, however, the dog caused difficulty. On the first occasion, the dog could not be persuaded to wait when filming the scene when Nigger answers a knock on the door in Gibson's bedroom. The second occasion was when filming on location at RAF Scampton, where Nigger and Gibson were to stroll through a group of RAF men waiting outside of a building for a briefing. The dog could not be persuaded to move off one spot, or even dragged past it on a leash. It later transpired that the spot was the site where the real Nigger had been buried, some 8 years before, whose gravestone had been temporarily removed for filming. In the end, the scene was filmed without the dog.[3]

Symbolism

Film critics have observed that Nigger is used in the film as a symbol of the men's emotional attachment to one another, an attachment that is not directly expressed between the film's characters. Sarah Street notes that the film, whilst full of emotion, does not articulate it except through secondary devices such as the affection that the characters are shown giving to Nigger.[6] Christine Geraghty, a lecturer in media studies, observed that "Gibson's suppression of feelings is presented as appropriate rather than problematic, and the use of the dog as his most explicit emotional attachment is in keeping with the way in which class and masculinity are brought together in this isolated but self-sufficient figure.".[7][8] James Chapman, lecturer at the Open University, adds to that the observation that the scene where Gibson is shown choking back his grief at the death of Nigger, silent and blinking awkwardly, is an example of the stiff upper lip behaviour characteristic of British war films of the genre.[6][7][8]

Renaming

Richard Todd, along with Jonathan Falconer, author of a book about the film, were interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2005 about the name of the dog and whether any remake of the film should retain the name.[9] Todd, in a pre-recorded interview, said:

With political correctness which is a new concept of a way of life in this country and I think all over the world it didn't exist when we made the original film so Nigger was Nigger, but nowadays you can't say that sort of thing.[9][10]

In response to being asked whether the name should be censored in a remake, Falconer said:

No. I think it's a question of historical accuracy here … the film and obviously the events are very much part of the time they were made in and took part in and so I think tinkering with the historical accuracy of the film and of the story is a very dangerous and slippery slope to start down.[9][11]

In response to being asked whether he thought people would accept this as historical accuracy, Falconer said:

Well they ought to. If they are being objective about it then I think they should accept it as historical accuracy, but I can understand why some people may find it offensive.[9][11]

In the same interview, George Baker, who also acted in the film, in response to being asked whether any opinion had been expressed on the name at the time that the film was made, said:

No, none at all. Political correctness wasn't even invented, and an awful lot of black dogs were called Nigger.[9][12]

Peter Jackson, producer of the remake that later began, said in 2006 that "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."[4][13] Stephen Fry, writer for the remake, was asked to provide several alternative names for the dog, and came up with several suggestions. Executive producer David Frost rejected them all, saying "Guy sometimes used to call his dog Nigsy, so I think that's what we will call it. Stephen has been coming up with other names, but this is the one I want."[4][14] Jackson's assistant contradicted this a week later, however, saying "To stay true to the story, you can't just change [the name]. We have not made any decisions yet. The script is still being written; and that decision will be made closer to the time."[4]

Phantom sightings

According to Bruce Barrymore Halpenny in his books Ghost Stations, the ghost of Nigger has been seen on numerous occasions around RAF Scampton and also around the Dambusters Memorial at Woodhall Spa.[15][16]

Conspiracy theory

It has also been alleged by some sources that Nigger was deliberately run over by an enemy agent in an attempt to attack the morale of No. 617 Squadron, as it happened on the same day that Operation Chastise was launched. However, it is widely accepted that the driver of the car was an ordinary civilian who accidentally ran the dog over, though he or she had committed a criminal offence by not stopping or reporting it.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jan Toms (2006). Animal Graves and Memorials. Shire Album S. Vol. 452. Osprey Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7478-0643-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b Dan Milmo (11 June 2001). "ITV attacked over Dam Busters censorship". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited.
  3. ^ a b c John Ramsden (2003). The dam busters. Turner Classic Movies British Film Guides. I.B.Tauris. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-86064-636-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Kathy Marks (6 May 2009). "Nigsy? Trigger? N-word dilemma bounces on for Dam Busters II". The Independent.
  5. ^ The Wall. 1982.
  6. ^ a b Sarah Street (1997). British national cinema. National cinemas. Routledge. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-415-06736-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b James Chapman (2003). Cinemas of the world: film and society from 1895 to the present. Globalities. Reaktion Books. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-86189-162-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
  8. ^ a b Christine Geraghty (2000). British cinema in the fifties: gender, genre and the 'new look'. Communication and society. Routledge. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-415-17158-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e Caroline Bressey (2008). "It's Only Political Correctness — Race and Racism in British History". In Claire Dwyer and Caroline Bressey (ed.). New geographies of race and racism. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-7546-7085-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn10= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Richard Todd (13 December 2005). (Interview). {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  11. ^ a b Jonathan Falconer (13 December 2005). (Interview). Interviewed by Carolyn Quinn. {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  12. ^ George Baker (13 December 2005). (Interview). Interviewed by Carolyn Quinn. {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Stax (6 September 2006). "Jackson Talks Dam Busters". IGN.
  14. ^ Tanya Katterns (5 May 2009). "Takeoff looms for Dambusters". The Dominion Post. Fairfax New Zealand.
  15. ^ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (2008). Ghost Stations Lincolnshire. L'Aquila Publishing. pp. 39–42. ISBN 978-1-871448-06-1.
  16. ^ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (2009). "The ghost dog of RAF Scampton". Lincolnshire Life. Lincoln, England: Country Life Ltd. pp. 120–121. Retrieved 29 March, 2012. {{cite magazine}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  17. ^ Topham, Ian (30 January 2010). "RAF Scampton". Mysterious Britain & Ireland. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  18. ^ Charles Turley. "The Voyages of Captain Scott". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 1 June 2012.

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