I actually enjoyed the Phil-Claire plot, mostly because of the callback to Run for your Wife from Season 1 (that race that Claire let him win is from that episode). I always like it when a show this long in the tooth draws inspiration from an early episode for a current storyline, and I actually like where they took…

It’s just a bummer how far the Simpsons has fallen. A dip in quality in a long-running sitcom is to be expected (and though it has definitely declined, I do think the Simpsons has always stayed funny), but a complete change in soul is another thing entirely. They’ve become the clueless old men they used to make fun…

Household income for Jewish families is higher than the overall white average. Does that mean antisemitic jokes are fair game? (Actually...you know what? Don’t answer that. I’m not sure I want to know your response.)

Culturally, yes.

1) But the only outrage is self-generated. Kondabolu produced a (in my mind) thoughtful documentary in which he tackles minority representation in popular culture through the lens of The Simpsons. He repeatedly talks about how much he loves The Simpsons, how funny he finds Apu to be, and how conflicted he feels in…

I mean, you could watch the doc it’s referring to, in which numerous South Asians say it’s very, very much offensive, but whatever.

That was a good joke about the racism, not the racism.

*Ms. Hoover voice* No she doesn’t.

Oh man, I knew the Kinjafication would bring in a bunch of idiots here, but seriously... We’re already on the third variation of “BUT IM WHITE WHAT ABOUT MY FEELS?”

What to do with Apu requires a creative and inventive solution.

That has...nothing to do with this issue?

One of the (many) things I hate about this is how they utterly corrupted Lisa’s character to make her a mouthpiece for the writers who refuse to adapt and learn. As a character she’s always been outspoken, but she’s been upheld as the show’s moral center just as much as she’s been portrayed as a humorless scold (often…

His mom thinks he’s cool!

I thought the Simpsons nailed dismissive and reductive attitudes towards Apu to the wall a long, long time ago, via Reverend Lovejoy:

It definitely felt like an obviously bad take for the show. Very weird. The only thing I can think of to explain is that they figured it would stir up more controversy and pull in more viewers. A sad thought.

No one cares what you think.

White trash is pretty broadly represented beyond Cletus. If half of Discovery Channel’s programming was filled with people of Indian descent, then we wouldn’t be talking about Apu.

Because Al Jean is an old rich white guy who hasn’t kept up with general social discourse on racism and thus thinks that what he learned/grew up with in the 70s and 80s was the pinnacle of human understanding and that kids these days are the ones who are wrong.

Can’t wait to see how civil the comments are going to be...

I’m beginning to think that the success of Game of Thrones is starting to having a negative effect on the television industry. It seems more and more channels are dumping more modest but original shows for super expensive genre series of varying quality. Some of these I like (like Westworld) and some are just OK (Alter…