Simpsons respond to Apu controversy

EmployeeAMillion

EmployeeAMillion

Season 13 Time!
In case you don’t know, last year there was a documentary called “The Problem With Apu”, calling the Indian Kwik-E-Mart clerk character out for being a racist depiction of American-Indians. To many Simpsons fans, it was a sign of how political correctness can affect the show’s sense of humour.

Now the first thing the show has done wrong about it is address the controversy head-on in an episode, instead of actually doing something about it, whether it be to retire Apu or tone down his stereotypical mannerisms. The second is that it just shrugs off the whole controversy as political correctness.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/simpsons-apu-stereotype-controversy-new-episode-lisa-marge-a8295516.html

This really is an example of how lazy Zombie Simpsons’ writing can be. It doesn’t try to make light of the issue, it doesn’t put a comedic spin on it, it isn’t even in-character for Lisa to be criticising political correctness. The current writers really need to think before they add in “jokes” like this, but that ability has been waning for far too long now.
 
Honestly, I can't agree more. Had this controversy happen in the early 90's, I have a feeling the writers would've perfectly handled a response towards this nonsense (Akin to how they responded to George HW Bush's criticism of the show). Also, this controversy is absolute nonsense. Has Apu ever been depicted in a negative fashion? Not unless the character himself was written to have a negative personality, no. Yes, it is a stereotype to have an Indian worker at a convenience store. However, who really cares? The Simpson's don't go out of their way to treat Apu differently from the rest of the characters just because he's Indian. He's treated like all the other characters on the series, if anything these people making a fuss about the use of Apu's character being racist are bringing racism into the situation themselves! There was nothing racist about Apu's portrayal to begin with, yes there are some stereotypes, but it's the Simpson's! They made fun of everyone back in it's prime. Heck, a story dealing with racism within the town of Springfield was considered many years ago, but it ended up being scratched. In all honesty, these chumps should spend time on something more productive. Huh, sounds hypocritical from a guy who has spent hours working on SpongeBob reviews, right? Well, that is to enhance my writing skills by understanding what works and what doesn't work when writing a story. It teaches me how to properly handle a storyline. These guys are just making a fuss over something that doesn't need to be given a fuss. Stereotypes are fine, as long as they're done with a comedic intent rather than out of pure hatred.
 
The clip wasn’t very funny and Lisa seemed like the wrong character to use.

Apu is not offensive at all, though and anybody whining about him is wasting time that could be spent focusing on things that actually matter. There’s a lot bigger problems in the world than a cartoon having a character you don’t like; it’s not a real social issue.
 
That joke was Sportz tier. And why is Lisa the one being against political correctness when she's portrayed as an extreme liberal in new episodes?
 
EmployeeAMillion said:
This really is an example of how lazy Zombie Simpsons’ writing can be.
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You know, this nickname is just as tiresome as ScumBob. Can't there be any other?
 
RomNick said:
You know, this nickname is just as tiresome as ScumBob. Can't there be any other?
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zombie Simpsons is a million times more accurate than ScumBob because for the last 15 years or so, this show has been going through the motions and shuffling along and stuffing it’s episodes with dead air, with only a few signs of intelligent life on the long path it’s taken to get here

this toothless, fourth wall-breaking, borderline offensive response to controversy is just the latest in a long trail that Zombie Simpsons has been meandering along for the better part of two decades.
 
Apu is a wonderful character that is treated with respect. It's true that he's a stereotype but like, who isn't a stereotype in The Simpsons? At the very least, The Simpsons stereotypes have some personality and respect from other characters. I haven't seen the new episode because I really got tired of watching the show, even though I did like some of the season 9-present episodes but Lisa being politically incorrect is so out of character for a character who has always been a equalist and a a liberal.

Honest Slug is a Bunny now said:
That joke was Sportz tier. And why is Lisa the one being against political correctness when she's portrayed as an extreme liberal in new episodes?
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she has always been liberal in the early seasons but it's true that it's very unlikely for Lisa to be like this.
 
It would have been much better if they hadn't responded at all. But if they did want to respond, a quick post online from one of the writers saying "Look, we're sorry people are using Apu to bully American-Indians, and we don't condone that behavior, but the point of the show is to be satirical so we're not going to get rid of a character because some of his jokes are offensive to some people" would have been a better idea.
 
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