Should We Burn Babar?

It's always amusing when newspapers hash over debates that have been basically beaten into dust by scholars time and time again. Today's piece of "news" comes via The Guardian. After rehashing the sins of Babar and Tintin (did you realize that some people consider these books to be racist? Gasp!) John Crace ends with this remarkably thoughtless piece o' tripe:

It's tempting to think that all these politically incorrect indiscretions belong well in the past: after all, the scary "gollywogs that live in the woods" have been excised from Noddy and Big Ears, and most modern children's books are full of positive role models and delicately nuanced sensibilities. And yet ... most people read the Harry Potter books as a straightforward battle between good and evil. But with its subtext of muggles and pure-bloods, you could say that - even in the 21st century - breeding will out.

Spoken like a man who has never really read the books. Sheesh.
Thanks to Big A little a for the link.