Last year a documentary by an American of Indian descent trashed the Simpson's as racist for its portrayal of Apu. The Simpson's seems to have finally caught up to the controversy regarding the film, The Problem With Apu by touching on the issue in their latest episode. The episode begins with Marge forcing the kids off of their devices to read a book. When she introduces a book she enjoyed as a child herself she realizes that it is, by the modern standards of political correctness wholly offensive.
The episode even features a framed picture of Apu during the scene where Marge and daughter Lisa discuss how the re-edited version seems pointless and boring.
Lisa slyly refers to the Simpsons itself: "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?" Marge points out that these are issues that will be "dealt with at a later date, if at all."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Simpsons airs a huge F You to the Twitter people outraged about Apu being too much of a stereotype<a href="https://t.co/uU9ueLmA0v">https://t.co/uU9ueLmA0v</a> <a href="https://t.co/9x0GiJ61PK">pic.twitter.com/9x0GiJ61PK</a></p>— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/983524971145252865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Look, I get it man. You think it’s great for white people to put on accents mocking people they refuse to hire, & then lashing iur if we’re uppity enough to object. Hopefully there are people in your life who care enough to tell you supporting brownface or blackface is awful.</p>— Anil Dash (@anildash) <a href="https://twitter.com/anildash/status/983567184579489792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Of course, Twitter's head exploded at this point. An NPR critic even claiming the Simpsons writers were basically telling Hari Kondabolu, the comedian behind The Problem With Apu his documentary (or he?) should "drop dead."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Simpsons To 'The Problem With Apu': Drop Dead. <br><br>That whole response is ugly, ugly, ugly, not to mention profoundly illogical and straw-man-slaying.</p>— Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes) <a href="https://twitter.com/lindaholmes/status/983334315659612163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Ironically, all the characters are stereotypes, from the miserly, villainous "rich guy" Monty Burns to the saccharine, wholesome Christian Ned Flanders to Homer Simpson as the "typical fat, drunk, stupid American."
Turns out exagerration and playing on stereotypes and tropes is kind of one of the ways that comedy works.
Source:
https://reason.com/blog/2018/04/09/simpsons-apu-political-correctness
Twitter: #TheSimpsons #stereotypes #curry
I love Apu's comments in my Simpsons Pinball Party game.
Funny how the simpsons was so supportive with them yet they suffer the same bullshit as everyone
The left attacks anything that moves including itself
Indeed. These days everyone is all about well why are you doing X and attacking me?! Get over yourself. Frankly while an individual episode may lean more one way or another they're stereotyping and making fun of everything and everyone. The entire show is about a stereotypical family living in an incredibly stereotypical town which includes many different ethnicities and cultures. All of them stereotypes. There is nothing in this show that isn't stereotypes.
I'm old enough to remember when it was the conservatives getting triggered by Simpsons and Roseanne. Life's funny like that, I guess. If only the Simpson's and Roseanne were as funny.