Apu: Totally Politically Incorrect And Rape Culture Or Whatever
If the left had not become so ridiculous about race and so forth (by which I mean: everything else), I'd probably take this more seriously. (By which I mean: it's not impossible that I would.) But, y'know, a joke is, like, the epitaph on the death of a feeling or whatever. And, unlike the left, I enjoy humor. And another thing: I've been predicting for a long time that, if we remain on our current trajectory, the Simpsons will be purged from television. Grandpa Simpson would already be a bone of contention if the extremist left didn't hate old white people so much. Flanders? LOL. Well, you know why that stereotype is PC-permissible. Soon enough Homer will be scandalous (fat, differently smart). Lisa will be NOT OK (on account of her representation being anti-vegetarian, anti-progressive, misogynistic). Uter: verboten (national stereotype, overweight, possibly illegal alie...uh...differently naturalized citizen). Like Grandpa Simpson, Mr. Burns will be ok (old, white, rich...so anything goes), as will Cletus and the rest of the Spucklers (country, white, hillbillies...though they're poor...so...not sure.)
Is there even anything bad about the stereotypes Apu instantiates? He's hard-working, kind, insightful, and just an all-around good dude. Is it just the accent? Because...you know Indian people actually do tend to speak English like that, right?
Ah, whatever. I'm so fed up with this crap that I can't be objective anymore.
Is there even anything bad about the stereotypes Apu instantiates? He's hard-working, kind, insightful, and just an all-around good dude. Is it just the accent? Because...you know Indian people actually do tend to speak English like that, right?
Ah, whatever. I'm so fed up with this crap that I can't be objective anymore.
posted by Winston Smith at
3:42 PM
2 Comments:
Generally speaking, I'm with you. And I'm not necessarily not with you here. But I also don't think it's crazy to say that your opinion should ultimately have less weight here than that of folks of Indian decent. Obviously the kooky left takes this to the extreme, e.g. that white men aren't allowed to have an opinion at all, but wanting to hear what South Asian people think doesn't seem off base. In what was essentially the NPR version of this article, for example, they cite some opinions of comics of South Asian decent--all of whom have qualms with the character for various reasons--and I think their perspective is uniquely helpful. Of course, they might represent a minority view within that subset of the population, in which case this would appear to be a nonissue. But I don't think the approach itself is wrong; you and I alone shouldn't get to determine whether it is or is not an issue. When it comes to the Washington Redskins, for example, I think people generally agree that the views of native Americans ought carry more weight than those of the rest of us. (Of course, there is disagreement amongst native Americans, but that doesn't negate the larger point.) In issues like this one, however, there doesn't seem to be the same consensus, i.e. that the views from those within the stereotyped group should carry more weight. And I think that's some of what's being pushed back against here, i.e. that it seems off-putting for white writers and voice actors to say this is all ok, without appearing to engage the people whose opinions might be most useful in determining how ok it really is. Is that crazy?
No, I actually agree with you 100%, Anon, and I've long thought exactly what you write. My starting to not want to be bothered by what I've long thought is part of why I'm sure I've lost my objectivity.
There seem to be three basic views here. (1) everbody's opinion is equal; (2) testimony by members of the affected group should weigh more heavily than testimony both others...but everybody is equally capable of reasoning about it all, and gets to say what they think; and (3) only members of the affected group get to speak on the topic in any way. You and I are (2)ers. I still think that's right.
OTOH, I *do* think that what I wrote here might have something to it. If everybody thinks that it's bad when their own group is the butt of the joke, but everybody else recognizes that it's NBD when it's someone else...well...we seem to then face a choice between completely eliminating such humor wherever it appears, or concluding that everybody's a pantywaist when it comes to their own group, and so everybody ought to buck the fuck up and take their knocks like a man.
Still, that's likely to be, at least to some extent, my extreme dislike of political correctness talking.
And I'm serious: Grandpa Simpson is WAY worse than Apu. If we stay on our current trajectory, Comic Book Guy is going to be "hate speech" in ten years.
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