Is apu a racist character?? VOL...THE PROBLEM WITH APU

[sfc415]

Humor is offensive, this is not a new ideal. PC culture should stay aways from it all together. Keep that micro-agession **** away from television immortality please.

With a screen name like BlackIntellect, I'm curious about what your thoughts are on blackface, minstrel shows, etc., since those were considered popular humor in the US until "PC Culture" started getting that out of the mainstream. Fans of that type of comedy used the exact same justification you're using right now until more people starting speaking up against it. Or is that one of those "Oh...that was different" things ?

 

[beh235]

I wish George Carlin was still around to make some sense of this

 

[RustyShackleford]

Interesting take. I just feel like people reach often. Similar to my comment earlier 'too smart for their own good'.

From what I have seen, I think you are overly dismissive too often. You take your displeasure how a few people are reacting to completely disregard the problematic things they are reacting too.

You also frame situations where people point out problematic content and racial messaging as them being "outraged" or unreasonable. Like if anyone voices any criticism, they are reaching, or out of line, or doing too much. Then all it takes is one Twitter post to "prove" your point.

It might be a bit much for someone to rant and rave for hours for someone like a monkey t-shirt on a kid, or the Simpson weak sauce response, fine. But I think it is well within reason to point out how things can be interpreted as racist, to tell companies to do better, even advocate for a boycott. Those actions are reasonable, and well within the bounds of a free of open liberal (i mean liberal in a social sense, not a US political sense) society. Good comedy doesn't need to punch down. Good marketing is social awareness. When they are not, especially on racial lines, then it is reasonable to point that out.

Instead, you seem to constantly complain about a person's the mere objections to certain things.

In some ways, that is are even more reactionary than the people and posters you complain about.

 

[Brownstone]

With a screen name like BlackIntellect, I'm curious about what your thoughts are on blackface, minstrel shows, etc., since those were considered popular humor in the US until "PC Culture" started getting that out of the mainstream. Fans of that type of comedy used the exact same justification you're using right now until more people starting speaking up against it. Or is that one of those "Oh...that was different" things ?

White face was on Atlanta like last season.....Variations of Minstrel shows are on TV to this day....See Bamboozled by Spike Lee.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Just because something is intended to be "funny" by the person delivering the joke of even a few other people, that doesn't protect is from criticism.

Context matters, historical context matters.

Because if that was not the case, all the racist in America should be free to make jokes about lynching dumb angry, violent n-words in a watermelon patch, or joke about how they swiped away from an ugly chick on Tinder faster than cops executed Tamir Rice; as long as they say it at open mic night, it is cool, right?

And jokes that mock the centuries of oppression of African American and mock them as simpletons and buffoons are cool cause you know, jokes are exempt from criticism, and Dave Chappelle did Chuck Taylor, and the Wayns made White Girls.

Also, speaking more generally...

Like South Park of all people said we need to have some class, the bar needs to be risen and set a reasonable level, even as the mock liberals with PC principal they concede that it is a good thing that the world is considering more people's feelings, and part of the responsibility is on comedians to adapt. People might disagree about where the level should be, but it should not a free for all.

 

[TURBO UNO]

Still love The Simpson's though. Cracks me up when they had clips of Bumblebee Man. Pretty much based on Mexican comedy character El Chapulin Colorado. I remember watching that show as a kid on Spanish TV.

 

[sooperhooper]

From what I have seen, I think you are overly dismissive too often. You take your displeasure how a few people are reacting to completely disregard the problematic things they are reacting too.

You also frame situations where people point out problematic content and racial messaging as them being "outraged" or unreasonable. Like if anyone voices any criticism, they are reaching, or out of line, or doing too much. Then all it takes is one Twitter post to "prove" your point.

It might be a bit much for someone to rant and rave for hours for someone like a monkey t-shirt on a kid, or the Simpson weak sauce response, fine. But I think it is well within reason to point out how things can be interpreted as racist, to tell companies to do better, even advocate for a boycott. Those actions are reasonable, and well within the bounds of a free of open liberal (i mean liberal in a social sense, not a US political sense) society. Good comedy doesn't need to punch down. Good marketing is social awareness. When they are not, especially on racial lines, then it is reasonable to point that out.

Instead, you seem to constantly complain about a person's the mere objections to certain things.

In some ways, that is are even more reactionary than the people and posters you complain about.

I respect your take on it. The monkey shirt thing is a good call out that sums up my sentiments: the history of white America's heinous acts on minorities has caused minorities to despise white America and be distrustful of them. When things take place that deemed racist, sometimes I feel it's true, sometimes not.

Back on topic, I STILL want to know how family guy gets away with the jokes they have. Didn't quagmire have a rape machine? And order a drink called roofie colada?

 

[RustyShackleford]

I respect your take on it. The monkey shirt thing is a good call out that sums up my sentiments: the history of white America's heinous acts on minorities has caused minorities to despise white America and be distrustful of them. When things take place that deemed racist, sometimes I feel it's true, sometimes not.

Back on topic, I STILL want to know how family guy gets away with the jokes they have. Didn't quagmire have a rape machine? And order a drink called roofie colada?

Who says people just let them slide?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Family_Guy

Even a couple weeks ago with Stewie "coming out", people pointed out how lazy the damn writing is on the show when they try to handle a serious topic and give their characters depth.

 

[sooperhooper]

I guess I'm wondering how the shoe hasn't been canceled despite the outlandish antics.

 

[Mark Antony]

From what I have seen, I think you are overly dismissive too often. You take your displeasure how a few people are reacting to completely disregard the problematic things they are reacting too.

You also frame situations where people point out problematic content and racial messaging as them being "outraged" or unreasonable. Like if anyone voices any criticism, they are reaching, or out of line, or doing too much. Then all it takes is one Twitter post to "prove" your point.

It might be a bit much for someone to rant and rave for hours for someone like a monkey t-shirt on a kid, or the Simpson weak sauce response, fine. But I think it is well within reason to point out how things can be interpreted as racist, to tell companies to do better, even advocate for a boycott. Those actions are reasonable, and well within the bounds of a free of open liberal (i mean liberal in a social sense, not a US political sense) society. Good comedy doesn't need to punch down. Good marketing is social awareness. When they are not, especially on racial lines, then it is reasonable to point that out.

Instead, you seem to constantly complain about a person's the mere objections to certain things.

In some ways, that is are even more reactionary than the people and posters you complain about.

Yeah, dude is more black and white/single minded than he thinks he is, and doesn't usually bring a refreshing or thought provoking point to the table. Not that there isn't a lot of playing the victim here, but more often than not dude is completely dismissive, especially of one side, not selective at all. I tend to skip his posts.

 

[ninjahood]

Indian Americans have the highest avg income of any group in the U.S tho

cuz they're all engineers, doctors, programmers, and convenience store owners...they good.

people like making fun of accents...big deal, its funny.

Brits, Asians, Austrians, aussies, Southern folks, Latinos, Northeners, italians, french, etc.

at this rate Super Mario is gonna be deemed offensive...

 

[ninjahood]

i feel bad for comedians in this era.

 

[hand2handking]

For anybody who catches it when it reairs. In the trailer, there's a segment where the director is talking to Whoopi Goldberg and they show blackface clips from hollywood and he uses the word "minstrel" on camera.

Tell me if he makes ANY reference to Blackface imagery in Bollywood and or negative depictions of Africans in Indian media. If he doesn't mention it and criticize it once, while referencing those things in America's history...he is full of ****.

 

[moderndarwin]

People are most offended when it is about their own race or culture. Shock. The fact that there are people in here talking about middle eastern when Apu is Indian and Hindu shows the lack of knowledge (or care) about issues outside their own race.

That said. It’s not a big deal. You defeat racism with success. Was much easier to marginalize or ridicule Indian people in the 90s because they owned gas stations, had accents, and were first generation immigrants trying to survive. Now, we’re at the point where it is the kids of those first generation that are adults and most of them are in industries and jobs that are very well respected.

 

[spiceman80]

Are they confusing racism with stereotyping?

 

[moderndarwin]

Is there a difference? Stereotypes stem from wanting to show the differences between A and B. Racism takes it one step further and says because of this difference A > B

 

[hand2handking]

but i mean its hypocritical to use racism against black people as an agrument when your own culture engages in racism against black people right?

maybe more than hypocritical

 

[moderndarwin]

Lol wut? How did this turn into a thing about black people....that was never even mentioned or brought up. I was saying a generic statement that people are of course most interested in the stuff that impacts their own race. And that’s normal.

Wtv. Sounds like my cue to exit. Why I stay out of these threads.

 

[hand2handking]

i was talking about the quote i posted

 

[chucktwnsfinest]

Lol wut? How did this turn into a thing about black people....that was never even mentioned or brought up. I was saying a generic statement that people are of course most interested in the stuff that impacts their own race. And that’s normal.

Wtv. Sounds like my cue to exit. Why I stay out of these threads.

You’re arguing semantics. Colorism in Indian culture is well documented, just as it is in AA culture. No foul

 

[sreggie101]

I'm half Indian; my Indian relatives and I look and speak nothing like Apu. I've still been called Apu by racist white kids and heard plenty of gas station jokes when I was younger, despite my family being engineers, professors, doctors, etc.

It's kind of 50/50 with me. On one hand yeah it's racist caricature, but on the other hand, I know many of these anti-Indian jokes stem from jealousy. Gas station/small shop owners make $$$; My parents live in a multi-million dollar homes neighborhood, and they have neighbors who own the local gas stations and convenience stores. So even though I've been somewhat offended, I never get straight up MAD. I always reminded those broke *** racists how these people they look down are really living. They think that because they see a brown dude in a gas station uniform with a thick accent, he must be an illiterate broke immigrant they can clown on.

Honestly I'm more offended when the media only reports nonsense like "MAN MARRIES COBRA IN INDIA" from some remote wasteland to stereotype Indian people, as if 99.9% of Indian people don't live in modern metro areas (although with HUGE income disparities and massive corruption that make life for them 100x worse, but that's a different story). I mean, with all the Indian engineers, businessmen, and CEOs in this country, you'd think they'd realize that

media is never gonna portray people of color in a positive light. always gotta put negatives on blast...or try and twist perception/narrative. screw em.

 

[tero]

i just saw this issue again on IG. **** hari. he is supposed to be a comedian. he look like a ******* platypus . that whole bs with the problem with apu is ruining the GOAT tv show

 

[whatscomplex]

Indian people are pretty dehumanized and stereotyped heavily in this country. Everything from their accent, their food, etc is made a mockery of. Lets be honest. And it has a lot to do with depictions like this and the fact that depictions like this has been the only thing that America has let Indian people have when it comes to representation. Almost the entire thing about Apu is laughing about him being Indian and framing that itself as the joke.

 

[sooperhooper]

people like making fun of accents...big deal, its funny.

Brits, Asians, Austrians, aussies, Southern folks, Latinos, Northeners, italians, french, etc.

at this rate Super Mario is gonna be deemed offensive...

 

[seasoned vet]

White face was on Atlanta like last season.....Variations of Minstrel shows are on TV to this day....See Bamboozled by Spike Lee.

you missed the point of the whiteface episode

whiteface was on Atlanta to shine a light on hypocrisies.
meaning, if a white kid showed up to school in blackface all hell would break loose.
while a black kid coming to school in whiteface didnt recieve the same reaction.

mirrored with how much Earn is treated like a born **** up. yet Van is just as much of a **** up as him but misses the same criticisms Earn recieves.