The book series “Pretty Little Liars,” which inspired the TV show of the same name, has come into recent attention after readers discovered one of its lines had been mysteriously changed in the e-book version. Instead of a reference to the show “Fear Factor,” the line now reads, “You guys want to come over and watch this cool TikTok I found?” This “update” seems to be an attempt to appeal to younger audiences who might be unfamiliar with the original reference. Yet, apart from the sheer ridiculousness of that idea, there is a more sinister undertone to the change that should not be ignored: its dangling threat of media control.
Of course, it is not as though altering media is inherently a bad thing. In fact, it’s common. Song lyrics get tweaked to remove offensive lyrics, news articles see corrections of mistaken information and books are reprinted in new editions to reflect evolving messages. Yet these instances are all accompanied by statements announcing the changes made and the reason for them, so there is no deception. What distinguishes the change to “Pretty Little Liars” is that it was made discreetly. The line seems to have been updated some four years ago, yet it only gained public attention in the past couple of weeks. This change was meant to fly under the radar, and that is an eerie prospect.
For one thing, it is critical to recognize that the mark of when a book was written is central to its significance. No one would think, for instance, to change the title of George Orwell’s “1984” to some future year like 2061 now that the year 1984 has long since passed. We cannot overwrite an author’s personal, timestamped account of history and make it “more applicable” to younger audiences. That would be absurd. Understanding any book’s message requires appealing to the unique political and societal influences of its time. In the same way, Sara Shepard, the author of “Pretty Little Liars,” knew that “Fear Factor” was a reference that placed the novel at a decided point in time, and she chose it for that reason. The plot of the series, which involves recurring text messages from an unknown and unfriendly “A”, only makes sense in that short moment in the history of technology where digital communication was emerging and enabling new malicious behavior, but at the same time digital literacy and cybersecurity were not advanced enough to protect the story’s victims against those cyberattacks. Changing the original line insinuates that the story takes place alongside smartphones and social media, transforming and largely nullifying the plot. The book, like so many, captures a snapshot of history which is neither irrelevant nor outdated, even if the reference itself may seem to be. In this way, books serve as cultural and ideological time capsules which underpin our understanding of perspectives and experiences throughout history.
While the change to “Pretty Little Liars” is damaging enough on its own, the precedent it sets looms even larger: It is acceptable for media to be altered at the sole discretion of the distributors of that media without notifying readers. The corollary to this is alarming. Undisclosed modifications could very easily give way to malign falsifications in the near future. In a digital age where fewer and fewer materials exist as physical copies, media is especially susceptible to manipulation. Today it is YA fiction. Tomorrow, who knows what else could be altered without us realizing.
The notion that media might be controlled is not speculative, but simply realistic. The U.S. is certainly not immune to Orwellian censorship, as is clearly proven by today’s harrowing political climate. The government has carried out or incited countless chilling invasions of free speech in the media in just the past year, including the temporary pulling of Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show and the full cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s, both of which followed their respective host’s criticism of President Trump. That’s not to mention the numerous instances of “woke” information on federal websites that Trump has modified or removed altogether, the FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s house, or the pulling from the air of the “60 Minutes” episode which was set to cover the CECOT megaprison in El Salvador where many detained by ICE have been sent. Today, as ever, the truth holds little value to those who wield the power of controlling it.
As simple as it would be to suppose that covert modifications of our media are benign, we should know better. Otherwise, the books that tell this story could just as easily be rewritten to fool an audience who can’t remember it.