News broke in the last day, that Hank Azaria has either offered to step aside, or has stepped aside from voicing Apu, from The Simpsons. Because it's racist. Wow.

First question.. people still watch The Simpsons?

After nearly 30 years on the air, however, I would suggest the pressure from, and the weight of politically correct culture has forced Azaria to address.

This is just one example.

In general are we more easily offended today, or is there more to be offended by?

It seems that everything our parent's generation fought for, our generation is tearing apart. Free Speech and creative license only exists if it suits a narrative. Tokenism is mistaken for diversity and now films are being judged on whether they properly address social justice issues rather than tell stories.

What is happening?

I seriously think Earth was a mistake.

To answer your question with one word: Liberals.

They are the worst.

Are we more easily offended? No. It’s just considerably easier for someone who is not a straight white male to have their issues be heard now than it was then. Surely though the internet has desensitized us to a world of things that people 30 years ago would’ve been upset by. Just imagine in 1987 we learned that President Reagan had paid off two porn stars to keep stories about his multiple affairs out of the press.

Though the newer trend of men’s rights advocates do seem like pussies.

I saw an interview with him and he was doing his voices/impressions, then asked about doing Apu and he awkwardly side stepped it. So that was a sign this was coming.

While Apu is a stereotype like most cartoon characters are, it’s not like he isn’t a fleshed out character with development etc. After seeing Lena Dunham appear on the show on the very few new episodes I’ve seen, not surprised the shows becoming liberal trash.

Be disappointing to lose such an iconic character for being a stereotype in a show in which everybody is some sort of stereotype. Apu's been a well fleshed out character, not just a one dimensional mockery. And the thing about the accent is...it's pretty damn accurate to a certain portion of that populace.

The Simpsons actually took a stab at Hari Kondabolu in a recent episode, standing their ground on Apu being an important character in their universe. So I don't think those 'damn liberals' have ruined The Simpsons, just bad comedians and the demand of TV executives to appeal to the lowest common denominator. For what it's worth, I saw Hari's doco as a swipe at Hollywood in general for not representing his culture accurately as opposed to The Simpsons. Apu was just a nice controversial topic that makes folks like us feel uncomfortable.

The story reminds me of Speedy Gonzales which was pulled from syndication for four years due to it's cultural insensitivity. The problem was, Latin-Americans actually LOVED the cartoon, so the decision backfired on Warner who thought they were doing the right thing.

The Apu thing may sound silly, but I remember the Australian episode of The Simpsons wasn't well received on release. A lot of people were offended by the inaccurate representation of the country and the awful accents. It sounds silly because the episode is considered a classic and has been adopted as apart of popular Australian lexicon but that wasn't the way 20 odd years ago.

That's a bloody outrage it is!

Apr 26, 2018 8:46:45 GMT Big Pete said:

It sounds silly because the episode is considered a classic and has been adopted as apart of popular Australian lexicon but that wasn't the way 20 odd years ago.

I remember absolutely hating that episode as a kid, thinking “wth Australia isn’t anything like this?” before later releasing it was a long running theme of the show to go to other countries and portrayingtj the way some ignorant Americans perceive them.

This thread personifies a large world problem. People instantly leaping to blame the side that disagrees with their views without doing any research. Look at how long it took Kid to label "liberals" as the reason for the problem here.

Are people more easily offended these days... yes

Do a large group of people act more offensively in general in this day and age..... yes. The internet and social media in particular has given rise to keyboard warriors who under the layer of anonymity reveal the worst parts of their personality, saying and doing things online they'd never dare say or do in person.

Liberals are the leading force behind labeling absolutely anything as racist though, that's an undeniable fact.

Apu is more American than Homer. People need to leave things alone. Simpsons will end after season 30 anyway.

Apr 26, 2018 12:44:36 GMT System said:

Liberals are the leading force behind labeling absolutely anything as racist though, that's an undeniable fact.

“Absolutely anything” isn’t remotely fact though.

He’s not too off, though.

Once I saw them saying that cigarettes are racist, that pretty much summed up everything. Then there was Black Friday being racist. The word “anything” is pretty factual.

I gathering the up-rour around The Simpsons, is potentially because it's the most high profile animation and it's easy to pick the lowest hanging fruit.

I would think if this offends anyone of any race or religion, or anything from the realm of The Simpsons.. I would suggest not to watch Family Guy or South Park.

Then again, the writing for The Simpsons has been awful for nearly 20 years so, I can understand when the wit, the warmth and the smart writing fades away, what left are bad caricatures and weak plot points. Off-topic, I subscribe to the idea that the golden years were 3-9 and recently saw a newer episode with Homer casually doing drugs. It was then in another episode he was smoking weed again. While, this doesn't offend me at all - this isn't The Simpsons I know - and is obviously an attempt to create edgy television or get a much needed reaction.

Apr 26, 2018 14:39:04 GMT KING KID said:

He’s not too off, though.

Once I saw them saying that cigarettes are racist, that pretty much summed up everything. Then there was Black Friday being racist. The word “anything” is pretty factual.

Sandwiches became racist - because some cultures don't eat sandwich bread. Yeap.

All jokes aside, the more these words like 'racist' are thrown around for everything, they devalue the real weight of these words. When everything is 'racist' or 'sexist', or when people are in need of 'trigger warnings' etc - when it comes to having a real conversation about any of these topics, half the audience automatically discredits the complaint because of the sea of bullshit and limp-wristed lunacy.

Apr 26, 2018 14:39:04 GMT KING KID said:

He’s not too off, though.

Once I saw them saying that cigarettes are racist, that pretty much summed up everything. Then there was Black Friday being racist. The word “anything” is pretty factual.

I mean if you’re talking “liberals” in the broad sense of liberals, I guarantee that a solid 90-95% don’t think either of those things are racist. Sandwiches are delicious, not racist.

There’s a difference between saying that liberals say everything is racist and crazy people say everything is racist. What you’re saying is the same as saying every Republican is a white supremacist. Crazy is on both sides.

I do think people are too easily offended these days , I do think it tends to skew more towards the liberal side when it comes to the overly policed PC and outrage culture who are more concerned with getting their hot takes out there and taking someone down than learning the facts.

It comes from the other side as well though , conservatives have plenty of things to be offended about that it pretty fucking ridiculous. It's not so much about PC with them though. I mean we just spent an entire NFL season seeing that.

You just seen it in sports with the girl interviewing Lebron about Erin Popovich's death , the outrage culture was so quick to jump all over her , attempt to deamen her and call her all sorts of vile things for having the "nerve" to just drop that bomb on Lebron. Little beknownst to anyone that she actually talked to him before hand and asked if it was okay to bring it up.

People would rather seem in the right , than actually be right and it makes everyone , from all sides unbearable at times. I'm sure if half the people of PW heard the way me and my friends talk to each other on a daily basis they would get offended. Especially the flaming gay guy at work who is one of my favorite people on the planet , because he is a blast to talk shit with/to.

I've watched the documentary and I get it. But at the same time I don't, while a white guy doing the voice is a bit off.  The character of Apu is well rounded. He is sometimes a moral compass, sometimes brings Indian culture into the universe. Sometimes it is exaggerated. But the Simpsons are equal opportunity offenders. The intent isn't there and I think that is what people really see.

The first half of the documentary was targeted at the lack of Indian representation on screen. But let's be factual, in 1980 there were 206K Indian immigrants in America. In the 90s when the show started there were 450K. To find a voice actor who was Indian in America at the time would have taken some serious culling. Arguably I would say the number of Indian Americans on screen was correct to the ratio of Indian Americans in America. This a common thought of arguing representation of minorities on screen. Should it be an accurate mathematical representation? If so, minorities would be on a minority basis.

The second half seems to focus on the modern trend of trying to get someone fired because you don't agree with them.

To me, Hank Azaria did a virtue signal in killing the voice off. He did it just to look good in front of others. Anyone who sees this as a victory is suspect to me. He took the path of least resistance. Just to shut some people up.

The whole generalizing of liberals and the right and feminists, social justice warriors is a fun watch without me in it for once. Keep going.

I never thought of Apu as being offensive. Just kind of true to life. There is nothing wrong with having an accent, being an immigrant, and running a successful convenience store. It's silly.

And yes both sides are crazy when it comes to being offended. Most of this shit people are "offended" by is just fake rage and we live in the trolling generation and I think this bleeds over into that. Also people just seemed to be offended by what other people are offended by which is hilarious. None of that is to say that you should go out of your way to be a politically incorrect asshole which every douche on facebook seems to take pride in or that there aren't real issues to be upset over but now pretty much any issue you are passionate about gets you labeled as a SJW or snowflake or whatever.

Apr 25, 2018 23:14:05 GMT @ness said:

I seriously think Earth was a mistake.

It does require a good punch in the mouth.
My issue with the way the world is now goes something like this:

To create anything in this world requires energy, to build, to make to strive for excellence... All takes energy.
And to pull something down and shit on it takes precisely 1/1000th of that same energy.
People like to get offended and tweet, but it is beyond nothing in terms of effort.
As far as I am concerned if you have contributed nothing to this world then you have no right to judge anyone who has.

I hate misogyny and sexism, but  movements like #metoo are dangerous for this same reason, some vengeful spurned sexual partner with delusions of grandeur is able to decimate a career with a few taps on a keyboard... That's not right. Of course sexually assaulting women is far worse, but that doesn't mean that we form lynch mobs based on uncorroborated evidence.

I spoke about bubbles in the Facebook thread. Regardless of programmed algorithms, we create our own social and political bubbles online. We like what we like, we follow like minded individuals, we interact with those who share the same views, because all in all, it re-enforces and validates our own point of view.

The dangerous part is, for so many, especially at a young age, social media shapes our entire world view. And for many, eventually being confronted with an alternative point of view highlights just our ignorant most of us are, especially when we are young. Regardless of Right v Left.

I think people like to believe that if something isn’t offensive at one point and time, it should always remain okay ... as if culture doesn’t move on a sliding scale.

The Apu thing may seem “harmless” to many, and I honestly never even gave it a second thought. But when someone at the center of the stereotype comes out and raises the issue, it’s worth listening to him. And the marginalized culture’s opinion will always carry more weight than the majority. It should be that way, too.

If we were 50 years ago and a show had a guy in blackface, it’s easy to see why that wouldn’t be okay ... even if it was at one point. Why is a steretypical accent any different? Because it’s funny? Because it’s been like that for 30 years? Are those good justifications?

Apr 26, 2018 15:06:08 GMT mikec said:

Apr 26, 2018 14:39:04 GMT KING KID said:

He’s not too off, though.

Once I saw them saying that cigarettes are racist, that pretty much summed up everything. Then there was Black Friday being racist. The word “anything” is pretty factual.

I mean if you’re talking “liberals” in the broad sense of liberals, I guarantee that a solid 90-95% don’t think either of those things are racist. Sandwiches are delicious, not racist.

There’s a difference between saying that liberals say everything is racist and crazy people say everything is racist. What you’re saying is the same as saying every Republican is a white supremacist. Crazy is on both sides.

It isn't so much the liberals as it is the SJW crowd.    I know plenty of classical liberals that shake their heads at these guys as well.    It's like they LOOK for shit to offended at.

I think there needs to be a different tag to distinguish the social justice warriors and the professional offence takers. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting equality, but there is something wrong with one side abusing another on suspicion and hearsay.

Unfortunately we've put them under one umbrella which makes it too much 'us vs. them'.

Apr 29, 2018 10:35:15 GMT Big Pete said:

I think there needs to be a different tag to distinguish the social justice warriors and the professional offence takers. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting equality, but there is something wrong with one side abusing another on suspicion and hearsay.

Unfortunately we've put them under one umbrella which makes it too much 'us vs. them'.

I think a lack of real leadership from both sides is what is hindering real conversation and progress.

Too much of what we see from both camps, is extremism. Both the vocal left and right incite anger in the other, and what happens is an arms-race in outrage. And this vicious cycle escalates and intensifies to the point where none of it really has any value anymore.

And unfortunately we turn to these internet commentators for answers. And those answers won't be found with lefty anti-vaccers or right wing provocateurs.

So we need strong voices from both sides, center-left and center-right, who can filter through the garbage and have a real conversation. So we can actually get things done.

I know this diverges from the main topic but I find Apu pretty insufferable after having a wife and kids. They really neutered the character IMHO.

All the conservative tears about the Correspondence dinner should be the final nail in the coffin that only liberals are easily offended. What a bunch of babies.

Emasculating men by calling them pussies seems oddly regressive.

Apr 30, 2018 3:29:20 GMT Kilgore said:

All the conservative tears about the Correspondence dinner should be the final nail in the coffin that only liberals are easily offended. What a bunch of babies.

Yeah i was about to write about this myself. They are professionals playing a victim. The press itself seemed to take this even harder. They did not like the truth Trump has made them shitload of money.