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BigRedBuster

By BigRedBuster,
in Politics & Religion

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Fru Travel Squad

Fru

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I think this topic could go to the broader idea of looking at things from the past with the standards from today. There's lots of articles lambasting The Office or Friends for certain jokes/narratives. The Simpsons has also been under fire lately for the character Apu. I'm by no means saying I agree with the critiques of any of these things. I don't see much use in combing through songs, tv shows, etc from the past and looking for things to be upset about.

 

Bill sums up my thoughts on this pretty well. 

 

 

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Moiraine Head Coach

Moiraine

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17 minutes ago, Fru said:

I think this topic could go to the broader idea of looking at things from the past with the standards from today. There's lots of articles lambasting The Office or Friends for certain jokes/narratives. The Simpsons has also been under fire lately for the character Apu. I'm by no means saying I agree with the critiques of any of these things. I don't see much use in combing through songs, tv shows, etc from the past and looking for things to be upset about. 

 

 

People critiquing The Office over sexist or racist jokes are missing the point. The writers themselves weren’t racist or sexist, in fact one of the writers (Mindy Kaling) played a character who was a “victim” of Michael’s idiotic takes on Indians. The point was these people exist and it’s ok for them to be characters in stories.

 

For the record I haven’t seen any of the complaints you’re talking about. But if we can’t have stories about racist or sexist people, that makes things worse, not better. (And Michael’s was out of utter ignorance. He wanted to be best friends with everyone, especially if they were Black).

 

On the other side, when I was watching Cobra Kai these idiots in the comments kept talking about what huge balls the writers had to have Johnny not be PC. That is just as ridiculous but likely stems from the previously mentioned ridiculousness.

 

Now, all of that said, Apu might’ve gone over the line a bit. It wasn’t like Michael being an idiot, albeit a well-meaning idiot. It was a caricature of Indians, from what I recall. I don’t get why The Simpsons would remove him rather than change him, though. Either keep him there while giving the middle finger or just have him evolve into someone who more accurately represents Indian Americans.

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Fru Travel Squad

Fru

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10 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

People critiquing The Office over sexist or racist jokes are missing the point. The writers themselves weren’t racist or sexist, in fact one of the writers (Mindy Kaling) was one of the victims of Michael’s idiotic takes on Indians. The point was these people exist and it’s ok for them to be characters in stories. On the other side, when I was watching Cobra Kai these idiots in the comments kept talking about what huge balls the writers had to have Johnny not be PC. That is just as ridiculous but likely stems from the previously mentioned ridiculousness.

 

Now, all of that said, Apu might’ve gone over the line a bit. It wasn’t like Michael being an idiot, albeit a well-meaning idiot. It was a caricature of Indians, from what I recall. I don’t get why The Simpsons would remove him rather than change him, though. Either keep him there while giving the middle finger or just have him evolve into someone who more accurately represents Indian Americans.

 

For The Office, we're in total agreement. Michael Scott is a very real representation of how people think/behave/act. He shows how even people with mostly good intentions can still be damaging/uninformed/hurtful etc. 

 

Regarding The Simpsons... I'm not sure there would've been any appropriate way for them to handle it. No matter what they chose to do, it would've been met with scorn, so I'm not shocked they just said "eff it" and removed the character. The Simpsons though is a complete stereotype and parody across the board. Apu wasn't singled out. Literally every character in that show is a stereotype, and I think if you're lampooning everyone, then every demographic is fair game. 

 

I think it can be valuable to look at stuff from the past and say "Hmm probably shouldn't do that" but to look at stuff from the past and have a conniption fit about it, seems like a waste of time. 

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Moiraine Head Coach

Moiraine

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Just now, Fru said:

 

For The Office, we're in total agreement. Michael Scott is a very real representation of how people think/behave/act. He shows how even people with mostly good intentions can still be damaging/uninformed/hurtful etc. 

 

Regarding The Simpsons... I'm not sure there would've been any appropriate way for them to handle it. No matter what they chose to do, it would've been met with scorn, so I'm not shocked they just said "eff it" and removed the character. The Simpsons though is a complete stereotype and parody across the board. Apu wasn't singled out. Literally every character in that show is a stereotype, and in I think if you're lampooning everyone, then every demographic is fair game. 

 

I think it can be valuable to look at stuff from the past and say "Hmm probably shouldn't do that" but to look at stuff from the past and have a conniption fit about it, seems like a waste of time. 

 

 

Ya, I can agree with that. Honestly, the worst stereotype they do is of White dads.

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Fru Travel Squad

Fru

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2 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

Ya, I can agree with that. Honestly, the worst stereotype they do is of White dads.

 

While reading/watching all of the Apu stuff, I couldn't help but think of Barney the drunk as being a very tragic stereotype. 

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BigRedBuster Legend

BigRedBuster

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I would absolutely hate being a comedian right now.

 

Comedians live off of exaggerating funny characteristics about people.  Many times, that's a stereotype.  Look at some of the best comedians from the past.  Some of their best work was making fun of a group of people and their funny quirks.  

 

Look at Jeff Foxworthy and his "you must be a redneck".....as just one example.

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teachercd Head Coach

teachercd

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What has made the Simpsons funny is that they do exactly what they do, truth often times is very funny.  We all know and can relate to the characters in the show.

 

Sidenote...on Shark Tank last night there was an Indian dude trying to make a deal and when he was talking about himself he said "Well, I was supposed to be a doctor" and right away Cuban laughs and goes "Of course" and Rohan (Forget his last name but he is also an Indian) laughs and goes "Aren't we all", it was very funny and very real.

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B.B. Hemingway Assistant Coach

B.B. Hemingway

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9 minutes ago, teachercd said:

What has made the Simpsons funny is that they do exactly what they do, truth often times is very funny.  

 

Yep. Wasn't it Chapelle that said "The funny thing about stereotypes is that they're usually true".

Sometimes is just good to laugh at our differences. But that outlet of relief is dying, unfortunately.

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GSG Head Coach

GSG

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12 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I would absolutely hate being a comedian right now.

 

Comedians live off of exaggerating funny characteristics about people.  Many times, that's a stereotype.  Look at some of the best comedians from the past.  Some of their best work was making fun of a group of people and their funny quirks.  

 

Look at Jeff Foxworthy and his "you must be a redneck".....as just one example.

 

Reminded me of this article I saw last week:

 

Former 'SNL' writer Nimesh Patel kicked off stage at Columbia University for 'inappropriate' standup set

Quote

 

Columbia’s Asian American Alliance (AAA) invited Patel to perform at the annual charity showcase, which aims to provide a platform for Asian-American artistic expression and to break through harmful stereotypes. According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, “Patel’s performance featured commentary on his experience living in a diverse area of New York City — including a joke about a gay black man in his neighborhood — which AAA officials deemed inappropriate.”

 

Patel quipped that being gay cannot be a choice because “no one looks in the mirror and thinks, “This black thing is too easy; let me just add another thing to it.’” Members of AAA then interrupted the performance and denounced his material about racial identities and sexual orientation. The group gave him a few moments for closing remarks, but Patel pushed back, saying none of his jokes were offensive. He purportedly claimed that he was simply exposing the audience to ideas that would be found “in the real world.” Patel’s microphone was cut from offstage and he exited.

 

 

 

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