Apu no longer voiced Simpsons

Raconteuse

Even though The Simpsons has been utter shyte for years, I still care about it.

If someone who is Indian and living in the U.S. finds the voice for Apu insulting/ignorant (one guy said that it's the accent which was used to mock his dad when he - the son - was growing up) that's their opinion and I can't really tell them not to think that. And seeing as I'm not Indian-American, I can't proclaim to know how they feel.

However, I also have my opinion - and I really think people should consider intent when it comes to humour. The Simpsons' writers are/were not stupid people - they obviously know Indian folk don't speak exactly like that. But they do a little bit - and such is the humour of The Simpsons, it was exaggerated. I think they were mocking the mockery, rather than mocking, if you get me. :pac:

Also, consider Apu as a character - has a doctorate, runs a business almost singlehandedly, works his hump off, is a decent guy... except for the gone-off food he sold, granted... and cheating on Manjula... But compare him to so many of the other main characters - he's a beacon of virtue next to them.

The main point though, is that, as said, The Simpsons takes the piss out of absolutely everyone, none moreso than white christians. Groundskeeper Willie is a really negative stereotype of a Scottish man. And they destroy the Irish! Hurt is not intended.

What I really dislike is the whole "getting offended on behalf of" thing that this has led to. Suddenly an objection to Apu - where was that objection for the previous 25+ years? Oh yeah, people have to be TOLD what to find offensive. I remember seeing an article about this on Facebook and one of the commenters (a white woman) tagged her Indian friend saying "Omg I'm so sorry - I'll never watch The Simpsons again!" The friend was like "Huh...?" That was kinda hilarious. :pac:

Church on Tuesday

Pauliedragon wrote: »

I'd have no issues with that. Liam Neeson who played Michael Collins has also played several characters in movies that weren't Irish. Should he have said no to those roles?
And by the way Liam Neeson is from the U.K. Who Michael Collins fought against.

He's an Irish man from the north of Ireland.

The Rape of Lucretia

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

He's an Irish man from the north of Ireland.

Which is in the UK.

greencap

Maybe the answer is to abandon the mainstream.

Retreat to our niches, places which can't be threatened by the network losing advertising revenue. Or opinion pieces by various thought police.

Retreat to our dugouts. Enjoy what we want on our terms. Private. Immune.

Like (old version) Stern on satellite radio, stop being part of the public domain, then every time a whinger says 'you can't say that' just rip the almighty piss out of them and double down, immune from recourse.

What can they do?.... Cancel their subscription, great, bye bye.

Raconteuse

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

He's an Irish man from the north of Ireland.

He is indeed. Many people from Northern Ireland identify as Irish, and qualify for an Irish passport.

valoren

Apu was one of the more intelligent characters on the show. He went to Springfield Heights Institute of Technology much like the show itself.

Church on Tuesday

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Which is in the UK.

:rolleyes:

Raconteuse

valoren wrote: »

Api was one of the more intelligent characters on the show. He went to Springfield Heights Institute of Technology much like the show itself.

Under the tutelage of the brilliant Professor Frink. He completed his undergraduate at CalTech - Calcutta Institute of Technology, one of the top graduates in a class of seven million. His degree was presented to him by a snake coming out of a basket.

Lol, The Simpsons was so naughty and hilarious!

Cienciano

Say Your Number wrote: »

In these situations I always see way more people angry about the so called 'PC Brigade' than I see people calling for stuff to be cancelled, if the Simpsons was still in anyway decent then I might be foaming at the mouth too, I've no intention of ever watching a new episode so I couldn't give a sh1te

I agree 100%. The irony is unbelievable.

gormdubhgorm

Pauliedragon wrote: »

I'd have no issues with that. Liam Neeson who played Michael Collins has also played several characters in movies that weren't Irish. Should he have said no to those roles?
And by the way Liam Neeson is from the U.K. Who Michael Collins fought against.

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

He's an Irish man from the north of Ireland.

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Which is in the UK.

Raconteuse wrote: »

He is indeed. Many people from Northern Ireland identify as Irish, and qualify for an Irish passport.

Mr Neeson is actually a nationalised American citizen.

Ted_YNWA

gormdubhgorm wrote:

Mr Neeson is actually a nationalised American citizen.

You have just proved how something pedantic can be turned into something to be offended by.

Pauliedragon

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Mr Neeson is actually a nationalised American citizen.

I'm an Australian citizen but I'll always be Irish.:D

Pauliedragon

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

He's an Irish man from the north of Ireland.

Or he's a UK man from the north of Ireland. All my friends from Tyrone have UK written on their passports, the health system they use belongs to the UK and they use UK currency which is also used in Antrim where Liam Neesen is from.

milehip

8-10 wrote: »

OK boomer

OK Edgelord.

milehip

TheValeyard wrote: »

Just wait till these guys hear about South Park!!!

Oh no my schityy rice

Quantum Erasure

Raconteuse wrote: »

Under the tutelage of the brilliant Professor Frink....

tute on, son! tute on!

y0ssar1an22

It should be fun when South Park bring in a similar character 😂

Grab All Association

Say Your Number wrote: »

In these situations I always see way more people angry about the so called 'PC Brigade' than I see people calling for stuff to be cancelled, if the Simpsons was still in anyway decent then I might be foaming at the mouth too, I've no intention of ever watching a new episode so I couldn't give a sh1te

You’ve obviously never looked at the replies on the actual The Simpsons twitter account?

A couple of years ago they tweeted a great gag written by Josh Weinstein

I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too

The abuse that Josh Weinstein and Official The Simpsons got from these clowns over this whole thing and accusations of homophobia and transphobia too when The Simpson’s was one of very few shows on Murdochs Fox to tackle homophobia in the mid 1990s- Homers Phobia.

These are the same mostly white middle-upper class idiots that are tearing down statues in the United States in an attempt to reinterpret history. Still blaming slavery that happened 156 years ago as the reason why the majority of crime there is committed by black people. It’s many many other factors including black people segregating themselves from the rest of the population whilst stopping their own friends and family trying to better themselves. Witnessed this myself in Miami.

Confront homophobia and confront racism, but only when it is intended that way and not misconstrued. Everyone these days is trying to find offence in everything and with it they are doing more to revive/recruit for the far right than the likes of the KKK/EDL/Neo-Nazism ever could.

gormdubhgorm

greencap wrote: »

Maybe the answer is to abandon the mainstream.

Retreat to our niches, places which can't be threatened by the network losing advertising revenue. Or opinion pieces by various thought police.

Retreat to our dugouts. Enjoy what we want on our terms. Private. Immune.

Like (old version) Stern on satellite radio, stop being part of the public domain, then every time a whinger says 'you can't say that' just rip the almighty piss out of them and double down, immune from recourse.

What can they do?.... Cancel their subscription, great, bye bye.

That is kind of the way things are going already with podcasts etc.
It leads to the otherside of the coin where everyone is just an echo chamber effect. Where it is only diehard fans that listen/watch.

whisky_galore

y0ssar1an22 wrote: »

It should be fun when South Park bring in a similar character 😂

People still watch that?

Sleeper12

smilerf wrote:

This is mental Soon a white taxi driver won't be allowed drive a black cab in London,

Personally I think they should ban racist Christmas songs like White Christmas. Its obviously about white supremacy. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow is a drug song. They all offend me & should be banned, because I'm entitled!

Church on Tuesday

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Or he's a UK man from the north of Ireland. All my friends from Tyrone have UK written on their passports, the health system they use belongs to the UK and they use UK currency which is also used in Antrim where Liam Neesen is from.

He's an Irish man and a Gael.

I'm sorry if that is confusing to you.

He was raised under a UK jurisdiction foisted upon him; that really has nothing to do with his own sense of nationality.

Token elements of a particular jurisdiction such as that like currency, passports etc doesn't matter a jot. A good example here would be James McClean.

That's the reality of it I'm afraid. Certain people like yourself on Boards and elsewhere need to reconcile with the fact that there is people in the north of Ireland that identify as Irish as opposed to Northern Irish. Perhaps not your friends.

That always seems unpalatable to some folk. I wonder why.

bodhrandude

Strumms wrote: »

Why ? he is voiced by Hank Azaria.... A noted ‘voice actor’. If I’m putting on a play tomorrow, the leading character is French, there are no French people in the group of actors I work with but their talents WILL extend to portraying the French person accurately and faithfully I have no issues.... I’m not putting adds in the newspaper looking for French actors. Nor should the Simpsons be looking for an Indian actor....their pool of voice acting talent can ensure that the character is played and portrayed accurately and faithfully...

If I went to India, found that they had a production of ‘The Field’... I won’t be asking if or why they haven’t looked for Irish people to act in it... it’s ACTING..in all essence, people playing characters, pretending to be those they are not.

Your argument reminds me of this 1968 film The Party where Peter Sellers plays an Indian movie star at this crazy Hollywood party.

Mr. teddywinkles

Say Your Number wrote: »

In these situations I always see way more people angry about the so called 'PC Brigade' than I see people calling for stuff to be cancelled, if the Simpsons was still in anyway decent then I might be foaming at the mouth too, I've no intention of ever watching a new episode so I couldn't give a sh1te

Maybe if the gob****es didn't have such leverage to change stuff every week over trivial crap or whinge all the time. There wouldn't be do much outrage. Shut up and get on with their lives like everyone else. If yav time to notice this kind of thing or even care about it . Ya need to get a life.

Church on Tuesday

Strumms wrote: »

Why ? he is voiced by Hank Azaria.... A noted ‘voice actor’. If I’m putting on a play tomorrow, the leading character is French, there are no French people in the group of actors I work with but their talents WILL extend to portraying the French person accurately and faithfully I have no issues.... I’m not putting adds in the newspaper looking for French actors. Nor should the Simpsons be looking for an Indian actor....their pool of voice acting talent can ensure that the character is played and portrayed accurately and faithfully...

If I went to India, found that they had a production of ‘The Field’... I won’t be asking if or why they haven’t looked for Irish people to act in it... it’s ACTING..in all essence, people playing characters, pretending to be those they are not.

GooglePlus

The Simpsons ended after series 10 and I'll always hold those older episodes close to my heart but I couldn't care less what happens in the later episodes, they're soulless.

If anyone wants to watch a show where boundaries are still being pushed in terms of offending people, watch South Park. Great social commentary.

GooglePlus

GooglePlus wrote: »

The Simpsons ended after series 10 and I'll always hold those older episodes close to my heart but I couldn't care less what happens in the later episodes, they're soulless.

If anyone wants to watch a show where boundaries are still being pushed in terms of offending people, watch South Park. Great social commentary.

im sure they'll yank the apu centric episodes off the tv rotation/disney plus and cut his bits out when hes not a focal part of an episode but appears

Hangdogroad

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I'm under no illusion that things I like aren't subject to change. I accept that things change all the time.

You might notice I asked when the last time you watched a new Simpsons episode. The one with homer in space might be 20 years old.

I suggest the Simpsons new episodes are irrelevant to you but you're still getting excited about it changing even though you don't watch new episodes. So to answer your question I'd say the makers of Simpsons are entitled to change the new shows to hit their target market. You are not their target market and neither am i because we don't watch the new shows.

So in that sense I agree with changing the show to match their target market.

Is that really the reason you agree with the change though?

El_Duderino 09

whisky_galore wrote: »

People still watch that?

Yeah it's probably back to its best now. It stays current and relevant, which is key.


A few years ago it changed from one off episodes to seasons with overarching storyline. If say it's back to its best.

They have a storyline about "memberberries" which cause people to be nostalgic for ththe good old days and lead to remakes of old movies like star wars and the kind of stuff Donald Trump stands for. This week Trump did a skit about "remember dishwashers used to be good? And showers used to be powerful and now they're just drip, drip, drip?" South Park has literally been covering this stuff for a couple of years now.

Staying relevant is key. Simpsons hasn't manages that.

Raconteuse

The Simpsons didn't just become entirely sh1t at one fixed point. Numerous good episodes since season 10 (granted, numerous awful ones too). Season 17 or thereabouts is the point where it stopped being good entirely, with the exception of the Portlandia one imo.

El_Duderino 09

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Is that really the reason you agree with the change though?

I don’t have a dog in the fight so I don’t strongly agree or disagree. I can’t fault Simpson’s for changing the show to meet market demands. Can you?

El_Duderino 09

Elliot Loud Numeral wrote: »

im sure they'll yank the apu centric episodes off the tv rotation/disney plus and cut his bits out when hes not a focal part of an episode but appears

And how would that make you feel?

Hego Damask

Sonics2k wrote: »

I'm finding it really hard to care about this. Yeah it's daft that people got offended about the skin colour of the person doing the voice of a character.

It's really hard to see how this is the final nail in the coffin though. The Simpsons writing has been going down hill for bloody decades now, but people still watch it in their millions.

They don't even watch it because it's funny, nor do they know why they watch it - just because It's "THE SIMPSONS" ....

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

GooglePlus wrote: »

The Simpsons ended after series 10 and I'll always hold those older episodes close to my heart but I couldn't care less what happens in the later episodes, they're soulless.

If anyone wants to watch a show where boundaries are still being pushed in terms of offending people, watch South Park. Great social commentary.

Series 9.

Raconteuse wrote: »

The Simpsons didn't just become entirely sh1t at one fixed point. Numerous good episodes since season 10 (granted, numerous awful ones too). Season 17 or thereabouts is the point where it stopped being good entirely, with the exception of the Portlandia one imo.

No, it did. It really did. Post-series 9 Simpsons doesn’t exist to me. The Behind The Laughter episode being the exception and there’s always an exception. Apart from that episode, there is no season 10 or onwards episodes that is fit to even lick the boots of what came before.

Raconteuse

I love The Father, The Son and the Holy Guest Star (s16) and Girls Just Want To Have Sums (s17). Also E I E I D'oh (s11).

Numerous other ones too but I'd have to go through them.

They're not as good as the golden era but still very good imo. Certainly far from shyte.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Raconteuse wrote: »

I love The Father, The Son and the Holy Guest Star (s16) and Girls Just Want To Have Sums (s17). Also E I E I D'oh (s11).

Numerous other ones too but I'd have to go through them.

They're not as good as the golden era but still very good imo. Certainly far from shyte.

That’s very few. Who is going to comb through seasons looking for a half-decent episode when in the golden era, each and every episode was gold?

Raconteuse

My point though is that it didn't just go completely to sh1t overnight. Imo.

Zebra3

I'm outraged that aliens missed out to humans on some of the voicing gigs.

Doctor Nick

Natural Born Kissers was one of the funniest episodes. Homer and Marge get turned on by having sex in public. "Look at that Blimp, he's hanging from a balloon" was a great line.

I thought this was a post S10 episode but after checking Google it's the last episode of S9.

KiKi III

KiKi III wrote: »

I mean, they could keep the character of Apu, but have him voiced by an actual Indian person...

Would that fix this "problem"?

So I assume the character of Apu remain the same, so the manufacturered outrage is that an American is doing an accent for an Indian character for 30 years and it's a problem now?

Raconteuse

Just watched the dental plan episode for the first time in years - god all mighty it is spectacular, felt a bit of a pang.

Genius. That kind of quality could never be sustained still - and that's ok - but it's such a shame just how bad it has become. Could never have imagined it becoming THIS bad...

Huntergonzo

Raconteuse wrote: »

Just watched the dental plan episode for the first time in years - god all mighty it is spectacular, felt a bit of a pang.

Genius. That kind of quality could never be sustained still - and that's ok - but it's such a shame just how bad it has become. Could never have imagined it becoming THIS bad...

Ah Last Exit To Springfield, that's one of the best Simpsons episodes ever, brilliant from start to finish.

I love grandpa's mindless rambling to Mr Burns:

"One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere, like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time...."

Raconteuse

Incredible writing. And it's not just the side splitting laughs, whether really clever or pure silly like Homer spinning on the floor - it's the animation, the music (Lisa's folky protest song is so perfect), the stylishness, the references (The Beatles inspired segment for the laughing gas is amazing), the impeccable attention to detail and awareness of popular culture.

Pure art.

Raconteuse

Now do classical gas!

jaxxx

Can't we just like, take all these people who get offended by the slightest thing, ship 'em all off to an uncharted island, give them some seeds and chickens to farm their own food, and leave them there? No? Too extreme? Well, poop. I'm all outta ideas then.

El_Duderino 09

jaxxx wrote: »

Can't we just like, take all these people who get offended by the slightest thing, ship 'em all off to an uncharted island, give them some seeds and chickens to farm their own food, and leave them there? No? Too extreme? Well, poop. I'm all outta ideas then.

You could do that but then you wouldn’t have threads like this with people getting offended about the Simpsons changing to keep up with market demands. People get offended by small things. That’s just how some people are.

JupiterKid

Doesn't mean anything to me since I stopped watching the Simpsons when it started to tank 20 years ago.

briany

Huntergonzo wrote: »

Ah Last Exit To Springfield, that's one of the best Simpsons episodes ever, brilliant from start to finish.

I love grandpa's mindless rambling to Mr Burns:

"One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere, like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time...."

Molto bene...

car_radio19834

Get rid of Krusty, it's discriminatory towards clowns.

briany

Watch out, Itchy! He's Irish!