The movie Mary Poppins is no longer considered to be appropriate for all ages in the United Kingdom because of the film's use of a racial slur. The 1964 Disney film was previously rated U for Universal, but the British Board of Film Classification decided that it is now rated PG (Parental Guidance).
On the BBFC website, a PG rating is described as being "general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children." In this case, the film was given a new rating due to "discriminatory language."
On two occasions in the film, an offensive term that white Europeans used to refer to Khoikhoi peoples of South Africa and Namibia, is used.
"Mary Poppins (1964) includes two uses of the discriminatory term 'Hottentots,'" a BBFC spokesperson said. "While Mary Poppins has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U. We therefore classified the film PG for discriminatory language."
The term is "now regarded as offensive with reference to people," as per Oxford Reference. The Khoikhoi (also spelled Khoekhoe) are a group of indigenous people in southern Africa.
A BBFC spokesperson said, as per CNN, that the BBFC recognizes that parents are concerned about potentially exposing their children to offensive language that they might repeat without knowing that it's offensive. For this reason, the BBFC found that many parents would like to know about the content in a film before sharing it with their children.
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The movie was submitted to the BBFC in February 2024 for another evaluation because it is set to return to theaters in the UK in March in celebration of the film's 60th birthday.
