Thursday, April 26, 2018

Bonfire of the Stereotypes

       The trinity of secondary liberal evils is racism, sexism and homophobia.  Anything perceived as violating this trinity is pure evil, and must be eradicated.
        The Simpsons is a left-leaning animated comedy that has been on TV since the late 1980s.  Based entirely on stereotypical characters, it is television's longest running series.  The main character is Homer Simpson, a stereotypical fat dullard.  His boss is Montgomery Burns, a stereotypical evil rich person modeled on John D. Rockefeller.  The family doctor is based on Cliff Huxtable, the main character from The Cosby Show.  Simpson's neighbors are the Flanders, a negative stereotype of Christians.  His bartender is Moe Syzlak, a stereotype lowlife.  Recurring in the show is a batch of illiterate hillbillies.  In short, The Simpsons is based on stereotypical characters.
        After years of lambasting rich people, nuclear power, children's TV, Christians, rural people, ad nauseum, suddenly the left hates the stereotypical Indian character Apu, who runs Springfield's convenience store.  Proving one thing:  stereotypical comedy is only funny when applied to groups the left is allowed to mock!  Comedy Central has created an entire industry ridiculing the right, with a gallery of faux Fox News hosts whose entire schtick is how stupid Republicans are.  Saturday Night Live stopped being funny when Tina Fey turned it into a broadcast-TV version of Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.  For the left (and this includes the people who make The Simpsons, which includes leftist commentator Harry Shearer), comedy is politics conducted through other means.  Depicting Republicans as meeting in a spooky castle from Frankenstein is funny;  thirty years in, they decide that an Indian running a convenience store is hopelessly racist.  One can only laugh at rich people, fat people, stupid people, etc.  This is part of the politicization of comedy.  
       While I'm on a tear, I'd like to point out another thing the show did that Estase was deeply offended by.  Ned Flanders in one episode shows his sons a cartoon about blowing up an abortion clinic.  Nobody complained to the network about stereotyping Christians and pro-lifers in this way.  Hank Azaria never beat his breast in contrition about that skit.  Because any offensive stereotype that is aimed at the right is acceptable and funny, and any stereotype that isn't aimed at the right is offensive and racist.  I shudder to think what these modern comedy mavens would make of the Marx Brothers, whose comedy included send-ups of Jewish opera stars, Jewish doctors, the medical profession, etc.  Mel Brooks would find it impossible to make most of his films given the repressive pseudomorality that prevails today.

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