[TV] Shameful Capitulation To Snowflake Social Media Angst

[The Clamp]

Wasn’t that what you were referencing anyway? (Charlie Hebdo)

That was the joke yeah but I didn’t have the energy to type an explanation. Probably in bad taste also.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Never ceases to amaze me how people can get so angry about stuff which doesn't matter

I agree, there is no way he should have apologised just because a bunch of illiberal do-gooders became angry.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

This.

There are things worth getting outraged about but this isn't one. Bit surprised at the OP on this occasion

I don't think that is fair. It is a slippery slope we are all on at the moment regarding free speech. It is in danger of severe erosion due to populist campaigns by politically motivated groups.

 

[hart's shirt]

Why would an actor apologise for ACTING?

I know why, because the mob of snowflakes on Twitter have been after him, couldn’t care less if he wants to apologise but it’s obvious why he wants to apologise, I was reading a thread on Twitter yesterday with people complaining about a straight actor playing a gay character on screen, it’s the definition of acting. I just don’t get it, if someone is right for the part they are right for the part

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I still think the Simpsons is one of the best shows on TV. It gets more right than it gets wrong. Apu is one of my favourite characters and he generally comes out on top in any conflict with the other characters in the show. For a show that used to be owned by one of Murdochs companies it's remarkably subversive. It's tackled many of todays issues like gun control, homophobia and Islamophobia surprisingly well because it uses humour and that's always a good starting point.

 

[MattBackHome]

Didn't all this happen like 5 years ago or something

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Yes, what happened to the old THPP - he used to be quite good value?

He's a big lad. But he's out of shape

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I agree, there is no way he should have apologised just because a bunch of illiberal do-gooders became angry.

'Pressure had been mounting on the show since 2017, when Indian-American comic Hari Kondabolu made a documentary saying Apu was founded on racial stereotypes.'

That doesn't sound like 'a bunch of illiberal do-gooders' to me...

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I don't think that is fair. It is a slippery slope we are all on at the moment regarding free speech. It is in danger of severe erosion due to populist campaigns by politically motivated groups.

But he (and we) can just ignore these activist groups so there is no erosion of free speech

 

[Richy_Seagull]

Almost as bad as grown men using the term "snowflake" unironically.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I don't think that is fair. It is a slippery slope we are all on at the moment regarding free speech. It is in danger of severe erosion due to populist campaigns by politically motivated groups.

But no one stopped Azaria speaking, no one took The Simpsons off the air, no one "banned" Apu. There has been an apology, Nobody's free speech has been in any way impinged. Unlike, say for instance, the government and police having the power to stop any protest that they fancy on account that it might be a bit noisy.

When it started it simply wasn't seen as "bad" that Apu wasn't played by a South Asian actor, just as the Black and White Minstrel show was accepted at its time. Now these things are regarded as somewhere between awkward and outright racist and you can see why.

Apu was a perfectly legitimate character. Many convenience stores are owned by Indians worldwide and many in America get robbed at gunpoint regularly and have patrons like Homer. But who's to say that, with hindsight, had he been played by an actor of the same ethnicity it would have been more authentic, potentially funnier in a much subtler kind of way and kind of self knowing? In fact - better.

As an alternative I give you Chef. Isaac Hayes was perfectly happy to do gags about the size of his own cock but lost the plot when his religion was criticised,

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

But he (and we) can just ignore these activist groups so there is no erosion of free speech

Easier said than done. Especially if it is in the public domain in the case of an actor. I sincerely worry that the reason people voted Trump and the reason some people voted for Brexit, was as an inchoate reaction to this kind of thing. The perception that the boundaries are changing for the worse. The world always changes and generations always define themselves against previous generations, and there is usually a backlash, that is something I would be keen to avoid.

 

[The Clamp]

Frankly we have bigger things to worry about. The same people who are criticising people who protest against Boris stripping them of their rights are getting incensed because they think a white man should voice a Pakistani on an American cartoon show.

Get a grip.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

But no one stopped Azaria speaking, no one took The Simpsons off the air, no one "banned" Apu. There has been an apology, Nobody's free speech has been in any way impinged. Unlike, say for instance, the government and police having the power to stop any protest that they fancy on account that it might be a bit noisy.

When it started it simply wasn't seen as "bad" that Apu wasn't played by a South Asian actor, just as the Black and White Minstrel show was accepted at its time. Now these things are regarded as somewhere between awkward and outright racist and you can see why.

Apu was a perfectly legitimate character. Many convenience stores are owned by Indians worldwide and many in America get robbed at gunpoint regularly and have patrons like Homer. But who's to say that, with hindsight, had he been played by an actor of the same ethnicity it would have been more authentic, potentially funnier in a much subtler kind of way and kind of self knowing? In fact - better.

As an alternative I give you Chef. Isaac Hayes was perfectly happy to do gags about the size of his own cock but lost the plot when his religion was criticised,

We share a dislike of racism but don't see racism in the same light. I my view, racism stems from a unwarranted view that one race is superior to another and should therefore enjoy benefits or rights not applicable to the other. I do not share the view that voicing an Indian character by a white man of European extraction is in any way racist if it is not displaying the tendencies I suggest amount to racism. I am pretty sure that Indian TV must occasionally cast Indian actors as Caucasian, that is fine by me and is in no way racist.

The black and white minstrels I would agree on though. I think they represented a perpetuation of the black man as a servant or slave to the white, and I am glad they are gone.

 

[carlzeiss]

Not sure what this thread is about but if needs be will be offended and seek support if available

 

[rippleman]

That's me done with Line of Duty then.

I'm outraged that a Scottish actor with a Scottish accent is playing the role of an Englishman.

Enough! Goddammit!

 

[Guinness Boy]

We share a dislike of racism but don't see racism in the same light. I my view, racism stems from a unwarranted view that one race is superior to another and should therefore enjoy benefits or rights not applicable to the other. I do not share the view that voicing an Indian character by a white man of European extraction is in any way racist if it is not displaying the tendencies I suggest amount to racism. I am pretty sure that Indian TV must occasionally cast Indian actors as Caucasian, that is fine by me and is in no way racist.

The black and white minstrels I would agree on though. I think they represented a perpetuation of the black man as a servant or slave to the white, and I am glad they are gone.

I think most people share a dislike of racism. It's mostly those on the extreme edges of that argument who feel the need to bang on about things. I don't know the bloke who lives directly opposite me more than to say "hello" to when he's walking his dog in the park or we're in (or outside!) the local, but I'd say he wasn't racist based purely on the fact I've never heard him say anything to suggest he was. And that's how it mostly works.

But I put a "soft scale" deliberately in my post, somewhere between awkward and outright racist. Apu is "awkward" and the Minstrels, undoubtedly racist.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

That's me done with Line of Duty then.

I'm outraged that a Scottish actor with a Scottish accent is playing the role of an Englishman.

Enough! Goddammit!

Have never watched a single episode of this Line Of Duty thing of which you speak. Tho down with kind of thing anyways, obviously

 

[Curious Orange]

When it started it simply wasn't seen as "bad" that Apu wasn't played by a South Asian actor, just as the Black and White Minstrel show was accepted at its time. Now these things are regarded as somewhere between awkward and outright racist and you can see why.

Apu was a perfectly legitimate character. Many convenience stores are owned by Indians worldwide and many in America get robbed at gunpoint regularly and have patrons like Homer. But who's to say that, with hindsight, had he been played by an actor of the same ethnicity it would have been more authentic, potentially funnier in a much subtler kind of way and kind of self knowing? In fact - better.

As an alternative I give you Chef. Isaac Hayes was perfectly happy to do gags about the size of his own cock but lost the plot when his religion was criticised,

I think you/we/society are working towards the logical conclusion that really the only people that could possibly write dialogue for these characters in the first place are people who are of the same ethnicity/gender/sexual orientation/religion/nationality. Every script by committee (which the Simpsons already is, but I bet they don't have all the right world views for all their characters - is even one of them a clown?)!

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

I am hugely disappointed with this thread as I was hoping for a humorous take on the snow showers we have been experiencing recently.

But since I am here, why does someone keep banging on about Sharia Law? Is it some sort of online Tourette's or a NSC long running gag like "fixtures" or fish puns?