PC scrutiny no laughing matter
ADD The Simpsons to the ever-expanding list of things that are inherently “racist” and “problematic”.
The much-loved cartoon series has been around for close to 30 years, but in this age of hypersensitivity and identity politics, where victimhood is worn like a badge of honour, The Simpsons has been found wanting.
The program stands accused of perpetrating an ugly stereotype of Indian-Americans with beloved character Apu under the spotlight.
If you’ve thoughtlessly laughed at the antics of the Kwik-E-Mart owner, then you’re blind to your own prejudice, according to The Problem with Apu, a documentary debuting in the US this week.
Comedy great Mel Brooks warned us that our “stupidly politically correct” culture would be “the death of comedy”.
Brooks said earlier this year that he would not be able to make the acclaimed western comedy Blazing Saddles now because it would offend too many people.
Some of the greatest comedies and comedians of all time would be condemned by today’s offence-taking, PC-obsessed snowflakes, some of them working as comics.
Seinfeld, the program not the man, has been accused of promoting bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and worse.
Top 10 lists of the most racist and sexist Seinfeld episodes have been published by ill-at-ease “outragists” who populate much of the online media. Jerry Seinfeld has spoken about being warned off performing at college campuses because they’re too PC.
“There’s a creepy PC thing out there that really bothers me,” he said. His stand-up is apolitical and uncontroversial but Seinfeld is still scrutinised for the lack of diversity on his series
In recent years, the cream of the comedy crop has spoken out against the censorship and outrage-mongering that afflicts their profession. Join- ing Brooks and Seinfeld have been Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais, John Cleese, Seth McFarlane, Chris Rock and the creators of South Park and The Book of Mormon, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
South Park has been at the forefront of mining the comedic gold offered by the “outrage era”, including the unhinged hypocrisy of social justice warriors.
Gervais, too, refuses to be censored by the thought police.
“Offence is the collateral damage of freedom of speech,” he has said.
“Just because you are offended doesn’t mean you’re right.”
He implores comics as well as the general population to say what they want and recognise that free speech is “the greatest privilege in the world”.
“I hate the thought of a person’s ideas being modified or even hushed because someone somewhere might not like to hear them. Outside of actually breaking the law or causing someone physical harm, ‘hurting someone’s feelings’ is almost impossible to objectively quantify.”
A side-effect of seeing the world through a filter of racial and gender politics is that you tend to find everything deeply problematic; other side effects include becoming a humourless, tiresome bore spouting gibberish about “white privilege”, “cultural appropriation” and “the patriarchy”.
Which brings us back to why The Simpsons finds itself in the crosshairs because of its portrayal of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
Apu is a law-abiding small business owner, who provides for his enormous family and who has managed to assimilate into US society while maintaining many of the customs of his homeland.
Apu is a stereotype, but in many ways he is a positive representation of why Indians are the modern migrant success stories in the US and Australia. They work hard, are devoted to their children and tend to be overrepresented in professional ranks and under-represented in crime statistics – the model citizens.
Indian-Americans are the highest-earning ethnic group in the US and among the most educated.
Indians are typically loath to play the victim, which makes the premise of Kondabolu’s doco all the more disappointing.
If the longest-running comedy series on TV can become the target of the outrage brigade, then nothing is safe.