Day 108: I wouldn't dare repeat it.-- Bernard

I wouldn't dare repeat it.-- Bernard, The Rescuers

This little morsel comes to us when Bernard momentarily becomes an air traffic controller and tries to help Orville, the Albatross who runs Albatross Air, land ontop of a snowy roof. Because Orville said some things that Miss Bianca couldn't understand, Bernard said this sometimes used quote.

It is never made clear what Orville said, but whatever it was was pretty bad and should not have been repeated infront of a lady like Miss Bianca or a child. Have you ever said this quote or had it said to you? Was it because someone was saying something out of anger (such as Orville did because of the traffic around him) or was it someone just repeating something someone said because you were passing along information or telling a story? Perhaps someone told you a secret and made you promise not to tell, so you said it. Whatever the cause was, I hope it wasn't repeated.

Back when The Rescuers was being animated (the 1970s), there were still some things that were not socially acceptable to say infront of a woman or a child, such as using cuss words/swearing, being pregnant in the media, talking about politics or religion, even spitting on the ground was not acceptable.  Unlike nowadays where it's normal for people cuss infront of children and be pregnant in the media, some things that were acceptable (such as smoking infront of children and in businesses or being unkind to someone because they looked diffrent than you), are not anymore. 

It's neat to see how a phrase that has been used in the past still finds itself in use today in some form. Some people would say this quote is censorship, and they'd be right it is to some extent. Yet sometimes censorship should be used, depending on the company that surrounds someone. For example, Bernard, the New York mouse who was a janitor, wanted to show the upmost respect for Miss Bianca, the Hungarian delegate and his teammate. So he censored what Orville was saying, keeping in time with the times of both the animators AND the setting of the film. Sometimes not repeating things is for the best, and in this case it was, even though it makes one wonder what was said.

So until next time, remember it's ok not to repeat what you've heard and as always Keep Cooking with Character!