‘The Simpsons’ producer confirms Apu is being written out of the show
172 replies, posted
The documentary calling this out was fucking terribly made
They could just end the show all together, it had a good run, I haven't even bothered to watch the latest seasons...
Pretty sure this is going to start some kind of chain reaction where every character gets pulled from the show because its "offensive" until theres nothing left but stick figures
That really sucks to be honest.
Apu was always my favourite Simpsons character. Even when I was just a kid playing Simpsons Hit and Run, I remember always going back to one level because you played as Apu in it.
I fucking hate these weak attempts at looking progressive that various corporations or media entities keep pushing. It's so obvious that they don't actually care about the issues in question.
Shit I just think Hari Kondablu's (and other indian people's) criticism of the character is valid, at the core of it.
Perfectly fine. As long as it isn't used to mock said person based on race, no issue at all.
Please explain why you disagree if you do.
Shame to hear, since Apu was always my favorite character.
Though the Simpsons has been a dead show for years, puppeteered by shameless profiteers.
Nah, just your very subjective interpretation of "context" isn't worth a damn, and your belief that people don't give a damn about context because they are (correctly) being able to understand that there's so much more context than your cherry picked version of reality is what I'd expect from a teenage brat instead of a college educated privileged westerner - but then again it is you, and your skill for thoughtful discussion is a known element, so all this is par for the course I guess. I'll explain it to you as slowly as I can.
You could just as well argue that Apu's context within the Simpsons, just like many have said before me, is of a hard-working man that usually acts as the foil and voice of reason for a cartoon representation of America's stupidity, and while he's not the hero of the story, there's a lot of stories within the simpsons where he IS the hero. I actually can't recall if there is any episode that makes him look like a bad guy, even. I don't get it why you think that even saying that he became a stereotype in and out of itself is an argument for anything except to prove how Flanderised simpsons is, and that argument doesn't even belong here in my view.
Still, even considering that, there's no real reason as to why one "context" makes an "asian" (why you choose put both Apu and Jack in this same bucket is telling) character being voiced by an american more correct than other, since the problem here is that, as you put it, "him being a stereotype was an issue". Then again, isn't the real problem gamergate (???) or that that it feels really shitty to be told your misgivings or opinions don't matter because you're in the minority (???)? Just maybe you're in the minority for a reason? Your posts through this thread and your overall posting style isn't very good at communicating what you're about.
I just hope I never have to run into you in real life. It's not my job and I sorely lack the skills to diagnose what you have, but if it's airborne in some way I sure as hell don't want to catch it.
Well that's just mildly infuriating.
I hope in the very least that he gets a good sendoff. Would be great if they'd take the opportunity to make a joke of Hari along the way, assuming any writing talent is left 29 seasons in.
They really have taken the absolute worst possible route. Almost nobody whatsoever is satisfied with the decision - not even the guy who started the whole damn controversy.
they already did respond to the documentary and it was weird.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NftCjsmvK8
Giving it to Lisa of all characters, who in a previous episode was upset about the presentation of women to impressionable young girls, is staggeringly inconsistent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QcvZ9fX-Kw
But everyone knows the writing for the simpsons is crap now.
The title is misleading: a "Simpsons producer" did not say Apu is being removed. A producer (unrelated to the Simpsons) who held a contest for a spec script about the controversy has been told by "sources" that Apu is being removed.
Aha, no they didn't, at no point did anyone else reduce both characters down to the banner of "asian", they were discussing how any actor can/should be able to play any character, and how contrived the world would be if only matching actors could play minority characters. You were the one that decided to make that point, and that's why it was so telling. It speaks to your bigotry and ruthlessness in reducing characters/people to their basic attributes.
And out of all I stated in my post, that is what you choose to reply to. It's almost like you're not really interested in any real discussion, and just prefer to snipe away at nitpicks and details, just barely holding by. But we've walked along this road before, do you remember how it ends?
Stop it. Get some help.
Someone brought up Samurai Jack, I responded to why I thought that was different. Cause effect, one thing happened before the other.
Apu and Samurai Jack aren't real. Reducing fictional characters to their core character traits are really common I don't know what planet you're from.
Holy fucking SHIT, I've never actually screamed at my computer screen before, but this post pissed me off SO much. How did you flex your brain cells to reach the conclusion that one of them is ok but not the other? Because it "would have sounded weird otherwise"?
Do you find Mario offensive because he has an Italian accent portrayed by a French man?
He is barely a character.
Please. We all know the Mario universe has the D E E P E S T L O R E
I did explain why I don't take issue with one and not the other
I've never heard of anyone having an issue with Samurai Jack though but I guess anything is possible I think the characters are completely different. They're both asian, sure. But Jack is the main character in a hero story, Apu is a supporting character in a satire of American culture. Jack is basically Superman. Jack is pretty static, is basically morally correct in any given scene he's in and his world is one of absolutes, ultimate good vs ultimate evil. I think there's also way more thought put into the orgins of the character than Apu was ever given when he was created. Avatar: the Last Airbender and Korra is actually another good example of this because they put tons of thought into the worldbuilding of all the various cultures and actually hired a martial artist as a consulted so they could get the various elemental bending techniques right, because they're based on real life martial arts techniques. they did their research.
Like I said, I try to take things on a case by case basis.
I didn't know you were so into bowsette
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6YQFdH0_kU
I haven't watched 100% of Samurai Jack admittedly, I'm just going off what I remember watching the show as a kid.
I'm assuming he didn't turn into literal satan in season 5
He kills 6 women before the season is half way over.
#NotAllCanadians make crappy arguments like he does, well most of the time anyway ;)
It's all good, I was born in the states anyway
That's not what I'm calling you out for. I don't see any issue in the act of you responding, or comparing Jack to Apu, it's what you responded with that I have issues with. What I was talking about in that post you quoted was how you were so readily willing to put them on the same "asian" pedestal, when almost nothing warrants that. Sure, they're "asian" because they share a continent, but they are wildly different characters. You however felt necessary to group them together like that and argue for it - which is why I find telling.
Nobody else in this thread felt necessary to reduce those characters to those character traits except you. Once more, I'm not against using character traits as a way to compare them, In fact, many other posters reduced their traits to something much different, such as "hard working", or "likable" or whatnot. What's not common is to reduce such different characters down to a word that just means they were born on the world's biggest landmass, which is what you were gunning for.
The "context" you are talking about is that Apu lives as a representation of Indian people in American television, and because of that became a stereotype. I don't agree with this because, as many before me cleanly laid out, the issue with Apu being a stereotype doesn't live with the Simpsons, but with culture. Culture molds the Simpsons as much as the Simpsons molds culture, so to attribute the fault to the Simpsons themselves and EXPECTING them to "fix" the issue sounds like the ravings of a madman. It's not about the definition of context, but rather the context you presented as "truth" (that the simpsons lives within the culture and as such should fix itself to fix the problem that culture itself created), which me and many others deeply disagree with being used as proof for Apu being a problematic rendition of an Indian man in American society. Which again, is your point, right?
Once more, the issue at stake here that people disagree with you on is that there shouldn't be an issue with a white guy doing an impersonation of an Indian character, and that people that take issue with that are being immensely ignorant of the nuanced issues at play here, but I'll respect their way of thinking. This wasn't considered a problem before, and the strength of voice acting is that a single good voice actor can pretty much voice anything, because that's their trade and their job, and to single out Hank Azaria and Apu seems weird, unfair, and fairly slippery-slope, specially with much worse examples of representation in the Simpsons. It's hard to take this issue seriously when the standards are so double for the people who are defending that Apu must go.
Glad to hear you're understanding where I'm coming from! Thanks!
Then why suggest it? I know you were saying you were just trying to make a point (in the most asinine way possible!) but that dumb point, and your insistence on doubling down on such terrible arguments is why people call you "left tudd". Your entire line of thinking was a disaster, with no fundaments and a shitton of shitposts, and I strongly suggest you to reflect on why you felt the need to made the post (if you truly have no idea why some people believe you are a troll joke).
Are we using the length of a documentary as a measure of how good/informative/REAL it is? What about the multiple fellow Indian entertainers that still, to this day, vocalize they had no issues with a character and that what they're doing is erasing a very positive representation of Indian people in america? Don't they get a voice? Doesn't Hari Kondabolu get at least some flack or criticism on how his documentary totally chose not to address the reverse side of this coin?
Not actually what I was asking. I never said that I speak the truth, never ever. I just try to communicate my thoughts and ideas, however poorly it comes out. But I was never under the impression that I was saying the truth. What does context mean to you, yeah?
Post your sources my dude.
I think it was pretty misguided for Hari to focus on Hank Azaria specifically when he's really the last person to add anything to the character. The producers and writers are more responsible.
But Azaria isn't really all that comfortable with the character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrlpU99lGzI&t=194s
I really don't try to be snipes and nothing more. Genuinely. I'm sorry if it comes across that way.
Well yeah. I'm expressing what I think of the characters but I'm hardly the sole arbiter of the simpsons or samurai jack. And I'm not speaking truth, just expressing my own, personal opinion.
Art I believe, should be flexible towards criticism. But the Simpsons has been going on for so long that it's really difficult to change anything at this point. Which isn't even a problem exclusive to the Simpsons, TV doesn't change a whole lot from season to season by design. Removing the character entirely is technically a fix but it's one I've seen nobody actually happy with. I hope they reconsider removing the character.
Your posts are shit and those images are at least more consistent than you've ever been.
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