Controversial couch gag on The Simpsons

Wes

Wes

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Last Sunday, as The Simpsons were plowing through their 22nd season they aired a very controversial couch gag that was written and illustrated by an artist known asBanksy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtL4N7Gn ... re=related

Hopefully those buggers at YouTube won't take it down.

I can't really say that I get it. I don't find that funny at all, and it really sends a bad message about how the show is animated in Korea. Especially since we're all aware of slave labour shops that exist in Asia. Also The Simpsons have been known to endorse nearly everything imaginable. I love The Simpsons and I'm one of the few who still enjoys it today, but that couch gag really disturbed me.

Your thoughts?
 
It was a street artist guy going "LOOK AT ME I'M SO EDGY!" as street artists tend to do. I'm not all that bugged by it.
 
I actually missed this episode, which doesn't happen often, and this is the first I've seen or heard of it. Someone within the Simpsons camp had to sign off on this intro. I think it's the cast and creator's, the writers'-everyone involved with The Simpsons-way of owning up to a responsibility, not only of their own series, but of animated production in general. Everyone knows animation happens overseas, for many series. And Banksy is not to fault (or to praise) here because he was part of the Simpsons machine on this one, not some radical guy striking out on his own. (I did like the chalkboard gag though. That was Banksy's, and that was good.)

The Simpsons took a moralistic stand around the time the Movie was released. Maybe it's too subtle for the casual fan to notice, but the hardcore fans could see the switch immediately...they could probably point to the episode. Family Guy made mention of it once...Peter was saying something about a television show, something like "Whoa, when did this happen? when did they become part of our family, and we began to care for them, etc., etc.," which was a thinly veiled "new era" simpsons reference...it was very nice compliment actually.
The Simpsons are the de facto leader in animated television. We don't have to qualify that status, it was given from other animators .

There's a few things going on here. They're showing the price we pay, as fans, to have the endless Simpsons stream. Hardcore fans don't want to see the show end.
The Simpsons caters to a broader base, maybe with a broader sense of appeals. They're pulling the curtain back for that fan, letting them know that this is part of it. This is part of the ?#@*&%! magic. The filth.
Is it really like that? I'd bet not. I'm thinking more like Foxconn plants than a slave labor sweat shops. But the Simpsons took the lead for everyone. They took the bullet!

They're such hippies, those simpsons. I bet they send their paychecks to Korea. (or part of it)
 
I thought it was pretty funny, using a unicorn to punch holes in DVDs and cats used as stuffing for Bart dolls. It was great satire on the show and its global effect.

It could also be a reference to the fact that if Americans actually respected visual arts as a profession, those could be hundreds of jobs back in American hands.
 
I actually enjoyed(?) this couch gag. Was it a bit jarring? Yes, but that was the point. It wasn't meant to be funny. But as Chris pointed out (in awesome fashion), this is an exaggerated allusion to the reality of all these Korean "sweatshops". It's not the first time it's been mentioned. They own it and they didn't even make it funny, it was kinda depressing.

Chris_Crime said:
They're such hippies, those simpsons.
Click to expand...
Yeah, hippies that have sold out to the man! (reference "D'oh in the Wind")


In semi-related news, the word "cluster fuck" got through the censors on The Cleveland Show. Just to highlight the difference in the gags used to provoke shock value by these two fine programs.
 
I though it was historical, a little disturbing, but that's the just being artistic.
Bretimus_v2 said:
In semi-related news, the word "cluster f***" got through the censors on The Cleveland Show. Just to highlight the difference in the gags used to provoke shock value by these two fine programs.
Click to expand...
Actually, whoever made that vid was an idiot. :wink: Clearly it says "fudge."
 
Ahahaha that was actually pretty cool. If i had to pick at it, i would say it went on for a bit too long.
 
Yeah, I really don't think this was meant to be funny. It was meant to spark discussion and it looks like it's succeeded.

It's just odd to see this as a couch gag because they're meant to be funny. I know some of them have gotten pretty epic like the Universe one or the Evoloution one but this is different.

Personally I don't think anyone finds child slavery funny. Well, maybe if it was some shock joke on South Park. But really, nobody with a heart would find the reailty of it amusing.

I think it's one of those things that is meant to remind you of how lucky you really are. Reminds of the Radiohead video All I Need.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdrCalO5BDs
 
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