Content Most Foul: the British Library's Nanny Filter Blocks 'Hamlet'

An anonymous reader writes "A man using the British Library's public wi-fi found that access to an on-line copy of 'Hamlet' was blocked for 'violent content'. Now, it is true that 'Hamlet' is pretty violent (8 murders, including one before the play starts, plus one suicide). But the heavy-handed irony of a guardian of British cultural heritage censoring the greatest work of British literature is just too blatant to be ignored. Library staff initially didn't seem too interested in fixing the problem, but in the end they adjusted the filters."

Comments

Not So

[Anonymous Coward]

... the greatest work of British literature ...

Not. Both King Lear and The Tempest are better plays. Hamlet is, however, likely the best vehicle for an actor to present himself.

1st Psot?

Re:Not So

[mbkennel]

JULES
My coinpurse is the one
With "Blasted Oedipus" stitched upon it.
I pray you, open it and count its hoard.
How much find you?

PUMPKIN
I guess at ten times five score sovereigns.

JULES
That sum is yours; add it to thy purse.
Consider, if you add to that
The balance from our innkeepers' till
And the tally of what is in the others,
It may be thought a sum
That any would be glad of.

VINCENT
Sirrah, I pray,
Let not these ruffians rob thee,
Or I may slay them for the spite.

JULES
O, thou shall not, thou cur!
Be still, be silent and stand down!
They do not rob me, nor is it a gift;
It is payment for a purchase.
Knows’t thou what I purchase, friend?

PUMPKIN
I know not.

JULES
Your life. If I give it to you thus,
Then thou and I are spared
My need for vengeance for thy thievery.
I pray, do you often read the Bible?

PUMPKIN
Not regularly.

JULES
There is a Scripture verse; I did commit it to my brain.

Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

I have for years recited thus. If thou didst but hear,It was as clear a sign of your demise As found in any witches' scry.
Yet never had I ponder'd its intent; T'was simply fiendish sounds I could thus speak/ Before I dealt my foes the final stroke
That sent them on to God's Own Realm../ But just this morrow hence, I saw such things/That lead me to reflect upon my words
And divine what the meaning was therein./Perchance, I guessed, you are the evil man,And I the righteous man. As for the shepherd, Methought it could have then stood for my blade../Anon, perhaps the righteous man is you;I then may be the shepherd, and the evil and the selfish Is all that stands about us in this world. Such is a pleasing thought. But such is also false.
In truth, you are the weak. And I, the tyranny of evil men.Yet, henceforth, I assure you, I shall try In all my ways to now become the shepherd.

[Jules lays down his sword. Pumpkin and Yolanda run off. Jules takes a sip of his ale.]

JULES
Anon, my ale is warm.

[He pushes it aside.]

VINCENT
My friend, mayhap we should depart.

JULES
An excellent idea, my friend;
And so, let us be gone.

[Vincent throws a coin on the table and Jules grabs the chest. They exeunt.]

No doubt they just "adjusted" to pass Shakespeare

[Ungrounded Lightning]

But the heavy-handed irony of a guardian of British cultural heritage censoring the greatest work of British literature is just too blatant to be ignored.

So, we got the story about Hamlet, then they start talking about censoring Blackadder and provide no link.

I'd bet they just "adjusted" the nannyware to pass Shakespeare. So The Bard's work will be seen, but any new talent whose work's quality might approach or surpass his will not.

(Not to say that Blackadder and Hamlet are even in the same league. But that IS something to be decided by tens of generations of readers and viewers, not a piece of software written by a handfull of people from this one.)