There was an interesting thread on Twitter yesterday where someone was going over old drafts of early episode storyboards and Matt Groening was having to tell writers to take out racist / ableist jokes and make sure the show universe was inclusive.
Separately, Al Jean seems like an ass.
In case you had any doubt about where The Simpsons was coming from with its response to "The Problem With Apu" last night, this is what showrunner @aljean was retweeting afterwards. :( Count me as another once-devoted fan who has closed this door for good. pic.twitter.com/FRpHckk9Ak— jay smooth (@jsmooth995) April 9, 2018
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 06:49 (six years ago) link
Yeah Jean tweeted about the episode before it aired anticipating the outrage afterwards. So what was the point of addressing it if all you can offer is a welp shrug and resort to a cheap publicity grab for a show that's been stagnant and practically irrelevant for nearly twenty years.
― nashwan, Wednesday, 11 April 2018 11:43 (six years ago) link
second half of the last sentence answers the first half
― vermicious kid (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 11:48 (six years ago) link
also i would factor in what i assume is a massive sense of vanity and entitlement
anyway stop posting about it in THIS THREAD i keep forgetting
― vermicious kid (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 11:49 (six years ago) link
Can only speak up to season 10/11. The notion The Simpsons was right-wing doesn't land for me. Not was it especially left-wing. It just represented whatever the conversation might have been going on at the time. Homer is a moving target. Lisa is probably getting to left-wing, but is developing. Marge could be a version of a grown-up Lisa (she voted for Carter twice etc.)
pretending Apu was ever acceptable is bullshit isn't it? I mean here they are getting called out on it 11 years agohttps://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jul/16/theaputragedy― thomasintrouble, Monday, 9 April 2018 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― thomasintrouble, Monday, 9 April 2018 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I'd like to see the doc on Apu. Its a shame he was used to mock US/North American Asians as I do think he was overall a pretty positive depiction given the constraints of not being a main character, and then being a character on a cartoon show at that (Apu having a PhD is as much a part of the caricature as the accent. Its just what Indians do, you know.) Overall I was laughing with Apu back then.
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 11 April 2018 12:11 (six years ago) link
Let’s not invent some “always punching up” narrative about the show that gave us Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel
― scotti pruitti (wins), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 12:14 (six years ago) link
Al Jean has been running the show for 18 years. I imagine lost touch with reality some time ago
― Number None, Wednesday, 11 April 2018 12:20 (six years ago) link
It's definitely pro-gun in that seemingly every other adult (I think including Krusty and Bee Guy??) in Springfield is a responsible gun owner.
https://media.giphy.com/media/32V6UqfX4ffHO/giphy.gif
― like hell, but with more ketchup (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 13:21 (six years ago) link
pro-gun is the default stance in America, not something one party does and another does not.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 20:58 (six years ago) link
look at all the gun legislation during Obama's 8 years in office. we had a Democratic congresswoman shot in the head and she still supported gun rights.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 20:59 (six years ago) link
that's a pretty shitty way to frame her considering she has been adamant about pushing for gun control legislation for 7 years
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 11 April 2018 23:29 (six years ago) link
i love this thread's detour into high school architecture
― Lee626, Thursday, 12 April 2018 01:49 (six years ago) link
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/entertainment/hank-azaria-apu/index.html
― omar little, Wednesday, 25 April 2018 15:58 (six years ago) link
Don't know if this has been posted before.
https://la.eater.com/2018/4/30/17303328/yellow-fever-restaurant-backlash-over-name
― nickn, Monday, 30 April 2018 22:31 (six years ago) link
Omg that name
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Monday, 30 April 2018 22:35 (six years ago) link
Wtf
Even overlooking the racial aspect naming your restaurant after an illness is pretty dumb
― frogbs, Monday, 30 April 2018 22:48 (six years ago) link
"Dengue Dave's"
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 1 May 2018 01:10 (five years ago) link
Matt Groening Says Debate Around Apu Is 'Tained'
― ... (Eazy), Wednesday, 18 July 2018 20:57 (five years ago) link
er, 'Tainted'
Groening is being so fucking dumb about this, like anyone would care if they stopped putting Apu in a show that everyone agrees has sucked nuts for like 15 years
― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 18 July 2018 21:30 (five years ago) link
I don’t think anyone at the Simpsons saw my film #TheProblemWithApu so they make the same points over & over. Points I have already acknowledged & responded to in a 49 minute documentary that is readily available on iTunes. https://t.co/QDvNYTTZgo— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) July 18, 2018
― Centipedes? In this economy? (wins), Wednesday, 18 July 2018 21:52 (five years ago) link
For my interview, Netflix stipulated that I not ask Groening about Apu controversy. I asked Netflix, "Is Matt declining to comment on Apu?" They declined to answer that, so I went ahead and asked Matt about Apu. Netflix halted the interview immediately and disconnected the call. https://t.co/RCf3lpwjvI— Brad Wheeler (@BWheelerglobe) July 18, 2018
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 July 2018 21:58 (five years ago) link