Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Brahma's atheist · 04-12-2003, 02:03 AM

Springfield is a town of stereotypes. Does anyone find them offensive or just hilarious?
I'm Indian and I think Apu is brilliant and the piss takes of Indian culture are really funny.
The British stuff just cracks me up. Drunken football hooligans and royals with DIck Van Dyke Cockney accents and bad teeth.
Groundskeeper Willie is my favourite.
What about the other international stereotyping? The Australian episode? The Brazilians complained about their episode. Was that playing on the stereotype?

kwigibo · 04-12-2003, 02:22 AM

the australian episode is widely hated around here. Not because we don't like to laugh at ourselves, but because it was so far off the mark as to be ridiculous, and not in a good way. Although i do enjoy a passionate game of knifey-spoony from time to time.

DonnieDarko · 04-12-2003, 02:30 AM

How about the Comic Book Guy? He's offensive to us geeks!

Pomp · 04-12-2003, 08:56 AM

See, I thought the Australian episode was hilarious, but I read it more as a spoof of ignorant Americans abroad than a spoof of Australians.

fatherphil · 04-12-2003, 09:16 AM

this might surprise you, but i've admired the treatment of Christians in the program.

i guess the trick is to have a sense of humor when looking at ourselves.

beth · 04-12-2003, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fatherphil
this might surprise you, but i've admired the treatment of Christians in the program.

i guess the trick is to have a sense of humor when looking at ourselves.

i just love the Flanders. Simpson's, sheer genius!

pz · 04-12-2003, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brahma's atheist
What about the other international stereotyping?

The characterization of Americans is painfully perfect.

Grumpy · 04-12-2003, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brahma's atheist
I'm Indian and I think Apu is brilliant and the piss takes of Indian culture are really funny.

The cleverness comes in taking the stereotype of the southern Asian convenience store clerk, then making him the character from Satyajit Ray's World of Apu, which Groening cites as an influence.

Kind of like when they had Bumblebee Man substitute for Kent Brockman (or is it Kenny Brocklestein?) reading the news, and he spoke in a clear, mid-Atlantic accent. And correctly pronounced "Kuala Lumpur."

Not all the stereotypes are so nuanced. Personally, I'm offended by the depiction of Professor Frink, since not all nerds are skinny with the the glasses and the high pants and the glavin hey.

Shpongle · 04-12-2003, 12:19 PM

Personally I was kinda disappointed by their stereotyping of Canadians.

Well, that's not entirely true. The episode where Homer moves to a new city and Bart winds up in the "special" class had a good bit of Canadian parody in it:

"I moved here from Canada, and they think I'm slow, eh?"

But in the episode where they travel to Canada, the jokes were so... lame. They could've found funnier ways to make fun of Canadians.

edit: Oh yeah, the Clinton joke, "Quebec has the bomb" had me in stitches. But I don't expect anyone outside of Canada to have gotten that.

Shpongle · 04-12-2003, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grumpy
Not all the stereotypes are so nuanced. Personally, I'm offended by the depiction of Professor Frink, since not all nerds are skinny with the the glasses and the high pants and the glavin hey.

Well, they did have Dr. Marvin Monroe for a little while...

04-12-2003, 02:03 AM	#1
Brahma's atheist Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: (not so) United Kingdom Posts: 514	Comedy stereotypes, egThe Simpsons Springfield is a town of stereotypes. Does anyone find them offensive or just hilarious? I'm Indian and I think Apu is brilliant and the piss takes of Indian culture are really funny. The British stuff just cracks me up. Drunken football hooligans and royals with DIck Van Dyke Cockney accents and bad teeth. Groundskeeper Willie is my favourite. What about the other international stereotyping? The Australian episode? The Brazilians complained about their episode. Was that playing on the stereotype?

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04-12-2003, 02:22 AM	#2
kwigibo Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Gold Coast, QLD, Australia Posts: 5,814	the australian episode is widely hated around here. Not because we don't like to laugh at ourselves, but because it was so far off the mark as to be ridiculous, and not in a good way. Although i do enjoy a passionate game of knifey-spoony from time to time.

04-12-2003, 02:30 AM	#3
DonnieDarko Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: The home of Bob Jones University Posts: 1,053	How about the Comic Book Guy? He's offensive to us geeks!

04-12-2003, 08:56 AM	#4
Pomp Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Indianapolis area Posts: 3,468	See, I thought the Australian episode was hilarious, but I read it more as a spoof of ignorant Americans abroad than a spoof of Australians.

04-12-2003, 09:16 AM	#5
fatherphil Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: burbank Posts: 758	this might surprise you, but i've admired the treatment of Christians in the program. i guess the trick is to have a sense of humor when looking at ourselves.

04-12-2003, 12:19 PM	#9
Shpongle Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Frozen North Posts: 9,920	Personally I was kinda disappointed by their stereotyping of Canadians. Well, that's not entirely true. The episode where Homer moves to a new city and Bart winds up in the "special" class had a good bit of Canadian parody in it: "I moved here from Canada, and they think I'm slow, eh?" But in the episode where they travel to Canada, the jokes were so... lame. They could've found funnier ways to make fun of Canadians. edit: Oh yeah, the Clinton joke, "Quebec has the bomb" had me in stitches. But I don't expect anyone outside of Canada to have gotten that.

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