@Exorcist95:
Oh so I guess that all americans are fat guys that don't like to job, hate their families and are stupid, because Homer has been like that for 30 years, and nobody is going out doing videos offended because probably the other cultures of the world may see them like that
All characters in the Simpsons are exactly the same since the show begin… no sorry, most of them actually went backwards and now are horrible characters (except guys like Apu that were still decent)
Homer is only one of many white guys and fathers in The Simpsons. And those traits are not racial stereotypes. Although personally, I definitely think that idiot father protagonists are a narrative stereotype and cliche that future sitcoms should subvert, criticize, or avoid since it's such a tired old trope. Especially when it in turn tends to make the wife their competent straight men foils, and thus making those women predictable boring as hell goody two shoes 95% of their screen time.
Also why just because 1 guy came out saying that he felt offended by the mere existence of Apu (without mentioning the good qualities of the character) suddenly the character must be deleted from the show? like he is a mistake.
How come that only one guy automatically represent a whole collective? even when maybe that collective may not think like him?
It's not about changing your show because one guy complained, it's about one guy having the resources to start a conversation about a long overdue ignored problem, people corroborating his statements, the show's pathetically condescending response to those criticisms without actually answering them,
This is not about automatically agreeing with one person who is complaining JUST because they are the race being focused on (although that should usually at least give them a free pass to give their opinion compared to anyone else), it's about discussing and evaluating what they are bringing up and seeing how many people, especially other members of that same ethnicity, agree, and thinking about how we can improve representation if there is a problem.
This reminds me to that time when people from USA were sooo ofended because Speedy Gonzales was "racist", even when the people in Mexico loved him. I just love how people there have the right to decide what is offensive for everybody else in the world, and that is why now Apu is gone, because people in USA find him "offensive", so thank you guys, as an "oppressed" latin america person I thank you very much.
Regardless of whether or not Speedy Gonzales is racist, I think we can both agree that we could get a lot more fun design variety if more Mexican characters didn't have some of their biggest traits being thick accents, long mustaches, wearing sombreros/ponchos, and shaking maracas (and why maracas so much? No, really. That is easily the least fun Latin instrument to use instead of guiros or percussion cowbells or acoustic guitars. Well, the last thing is used often too but not as much). This isn't even just about representation, but finding new creative ground to tread instead of going back to the same old cheap jokes any middle schooler could make.
@Exorcist95:
Willy is the only scottish character in this show and no one is complaining about him even when he is even more insulting with his actitud and the way that the show has depicted him as a pathetic man.
So why Willy get a free pass? because he is "another white guy"? so it is only okey to do a racist stereotype when the guy is white?
Other users have already explained why it's more historically problematic to poke fun at stereotypes belonging to darker skin races than lighter skinned ones. But disregarding that, personally, I could care less for any racial/gender/sexual stereotype, especially Willie's. Considering how damn long his character has been making the same racial stereotype jokes about being drunk and angry and wearing plaid and playing bagpipes and having a funny accent over and over again, wouldn't you want to give him new traits and types of character interactions to play around with to keep your story fresh if it's going last years, if not decades? Or at the very least push for new characters that happen to be Scottish in The Simpsons or any other series to break the mold so we have more fun moments and memories.
Like I said above with Speedy, it's not just about representation but challenging yourself to not keep relying on the same old shallow immature jokes middle schoolers would make for thirty or so years on end.
And even if Homer is "another white guy" he still is the representation of the common american citizen, some people in my country actually believes that people there are like him, so he is a dangerous misrepresentation of the people there, most important, the most important white citizens of Springfield are a bunch of lazy fat assholes, so there are very little "good working white people" represented in the show… so, should we get rid of them too?
Homer is not the sole representation of the common American citizen, so anyone who uses Homer as a measure to judge America has either barely seen more than one episode of the Simpsons, let alone entertainment media in general, and is probably just an idiot or has prejudicial agenda confirmation bias to begin with.
And it is definitely possible for plenty of American citizens to be idiots, drunkards, lazy, and/or awful parents. But that goes for any country, not just America. Those are universal traits any person of any race could potentially have. But putting those onto, say, an African-American character instead could easily be more problematic if they are one of or the only black characters in a cast because that race suffers from being stereotyped as that throughout history. The average white person does not have to deal with that much ridiculous baggage. Creators should be held accountable if they are adding onto that baggage, especially for something so obvious, since they are reaching out to a broad audience that includes that same race.
Why? shouldn't people be contracted by their talent instead of their skin color?
Now it is an obligation to have an "non-white" writer?
I am not against the idea, but it isn't something that should be obligated
This is true, but we also need to be conscientious of having diverse perspectives in your creative team if you are going to have large casts in almost any series. Not just to fill artificial quotas, but to make sure we get the most authenticity and inspiration possible. If you're making a movie about a foreign culture, which do you think would help make the process easier and more successful? Doing all the research by yourself and having other people in your same race assisting you, or getting advice and support from people who belong to that foreign culture to complement your own individual effort? Plus, different experiences and backgrounds means you can cover as much ground as possible for the types of comedy, drama,
You lose nothing from making your resources, both fictionally and realistically, more colorful. You only have more options to play with and safeguards to benefit from. Sticking with very few colors or just one while trying to portray colors you don't have is more than likely going to screw yourself over the deeper and more complex you go in your creative ventures.
If you want to draw a purple house for a school project, you'll have a better time doing that if you just use a purple crayon rather than trying to combine your red and blue crayons. Not every purple crayon will have the particular shade you want or have the same quality, just like with any other color. But just because they are not all the exact same does not mean that they don't have inherent advantages and uniqueness other colors can't replicate as well. So if you end up making a mess because you were too lazy to walk to a crafts store with billions of purple crayons a couple blocks away from your house to get one, that is completely your fault. The entertainment industry is chock full of writers/actors of many races waiting to finally make their mark on a series as renowned as The Simpsons, so you should take advantage of that.
…That was probably the weirdest analogy I've made on this forum, but you get my point.
@Exorcist95:
So just because of that is perfectly okay that some american writers make fun every time about scottish culture?
I am latin american, and we don't have a very good record with people form the united states, especially this days, should I be offended by that?
Like I said before, I don't think it's okay. Although I have nowhere near as much credibility as an actual Scottish person might have about what makes a good Scottish character portrayal.
If you know for a fact that Americans can be portrayed better than a certain country makes them out to be, then yeah, you could have a bone to pick. You can make your own critiques or even a whole better creative take. Expressing your thoughts, both praises and grievances, is what creative discussion is all about. It is what we are doing now. And that is what the Apu documentary was trying to finally start after thirty odd years of ignorance. It was not demanding that a sole person from any race should dictate their entire nationality's representation wherever and whenever. That's a straw man you yourself invented.
I am also a Latin American. And while no race is a hivemind that has to agree on every single thing unanimously, I can proudly say I think we deserve better. And even more than that, I think fiction as a whole deserves better so we have more unique characters and clever entertainment. Stereotypical depictions don't just hold back representation, they literally hold back the overall quality of entertainment we could get if push ourselves past superficial cliches.
This isn't only about me being offended by certain racial depictions, but being bored by certain racial depictions too. And that is the one thing well-written entertainment, especially comedy, should not be. There's only so many times I can see fictional drunk Scottish people getting into bar fights and wrestling animals on tv, or Indians saying "Thank you come again!" in elated high pitched accents. Which none of the Indian employees at my local 7-11 ever do when I come buy to pick up pizza and soda at least once or twice a week. Or have accents anywhere near as thick to begin with.
Non ethnicity or country is depicted in a right way in this show, you know why?
Because they're dumb easy jokes that should be held up to higher standards, especially if they keep getting recycled for thirty years.
because they don't want to do that, is a comedy show that likes to exaggerate reality, I mean, Brazis is not full of monkeys running in the street like that episode show off, Australia is not that crazy either, and those examples are even worse than Apu because the writers moke a whole country no just a guy.
There are shows that deal with that types of things, the Simpson while have its serious side is mostly a fun show full of weird people.
There's exaggerating things about real life people, then there's making up things about real life people, then there's making up things that make up harmful portrayals about real life groups because of ignorance, and then there's repeating those made-up harmful impressions of certain minorities like an uncreative hack. Which you could easily not do if you think about the stupid logic behind that middle school level joke for more than two seconds because you're in a time and place that knows better.
