Posted on 04/09/2018 1:40:26 PM PDT by EdnaMode
Fox's The Simpsons is under fire for the way in which the show responded to controversy around one of its most recognizable and oldest characters, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
The outcry over the stereotypical portrayal of Springfields Kwik-E-Mart owner, voiced by Hank Azaria, was addressed Sunday night in the episode No Good Read Goes Unpunished" when Marge Simpson reads a book to daughter Lisa that has been changed from its original version to something not so controversial.
Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?, says Lisa. The show then panned to a picture of Apu.
While some viewers were fine with the response (before the show aired, showrunner Al Jean tweeted, "New Simpsons in five minutes. Twitter explosion in act three," and he retweeted numerous positive takes afterward), there were those who felt like the moment was a slap in the face.
Comedian Hari Kondabolu, who last year released the documentary The Problem With Apu, was among those displeased.
"Wow. 'Politically Incorrect?' Thats the takeaway from my movie & the discussion it sparked? Man, I really loved this show. This is sad," Kondabolu tweeted. "In 'The Problem with Apu,' I used Apu & The Simpsons as an entry point into a larger conversation about the representation of marginalized groups & why this is important. The Simpsons response tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress."
Comedian and TV personality W. Kamau Bell also blasted the Fox cartoon.
I think the fact that they put this argument in the mouth of Lisas character, the character who usually champions the underdogs and is supposed to be the most thoughtful and liberal, is what makes this the most ridiculous (as in worthy of ridicule) and toothless response," Bell wrote among numerous tweets on the issue. "The 'argument' the episode makes is basically things used to better before political correctness when nobody cared about all these groups. It ignores the facts that ALL THESE GROUPS ALWAYS CARED ABOUT ALL THESE GROUPS. But these groups' complaints weren't respected/supported."
Al Arabiya English journalist William Mullally wrote, "The Simpsons response to The Problem with Apu: a callous and resentful shrug."
Representatives for Fox and 20th Century Fox Television said that producers prefer to let the episode "speak for itself."
Never heard or thought of that before though I was a devoted viewer for about 15 years, but, now that you point it out, of course you’re right! LOL!
My favorite Itchy and Scratchy episode is, “Why do Fools Fall in Lava?”
It’s a cartoon. Cartoons poke fun at people. App is the mideastern caricature, Ned Flanders is the Christian caricature, Smithers - the brown nosing office boy, Mr. Burns the idiot business president, Homer - doofus husband/father .... and the list goes on. It’s comedy. Laugh at it.
If you like that, you'll love Happy Tree Friends.
All of “The Simpsons” characters are stereotypes.
Apu: “Thank you and comment again”
It's only a matter of time until this story.
This show has been on for almost 30 years and now the Left is bitching about something they don’t like about it?
The reason theres no controversy is because Homer is NOT stereotypical of white men. He is an aberration and everyone knows it. Thats what theyre so p*ssed about, its what drives the whole white privlege myth: jealousy.
Good. That's how the liberals' SJW complaints should be handled.
“So then, we are supposed to be politically correct, but arent supposed to talk about political correctness??”
The PC’s want absolute devotion. You are never to discuss the dynamics of PC, what is really is, how it works. or that there was a time when he had true freedom.
Wasn’t Mr. Orwell smart?
Apu is a hard working business owner and family man.
What a terrible stereotype.
I don’t know. Seems like a real dick move from the writers. Simpsons has trucked in stereotype characters from day one, and they’ve often addressed that in the stories in good way. And they’ve had a couple of good episodes where they talked about Apu being a bad stereotype and worked with it. This bit seems to really to be a bit of a middle finger, once again acknowledging the stereotype but this time just right out saying they’re not going to do anything about it (studiously forgetting they have in the past) is kind of rude.
They seem to WANT Indian Americans to be marginalized minorities. They’re not. They go where they want, do what they want and are very successful in America. Apu as a character isn’t depicted any worse than Irish or Italians were.
total bullshit. Apu is presented as a kind-hearted and lovable character. He’s also an entrepreneur who owns his own business and obviously a hard worker.
Zero sympathy. Left eating its own. I swore off Simpsons about 16 years ago.
The Simpsons response tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress.”
He does get it.
L
LOL, to be honest, I have always felt he IS stereotypical of white guys...that was the whole point.
So he’s an idiot. Most men are at some point (some of us more or less often) And we like bacon. And donuts.
But as a “white guy”, I can laugh at him, because...I can laugh at myself when I have to...:)
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