Comments on: The Simpsons accused of homophobia after "that's so gay" dialogue

By: liam.c

liam.c — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:24:48 +0000

i am gay but i didnt reli find it offencvie if any thing the simpsons is progay ie the gay parade epesode the wired smivers burns thing and the epesode with the gay marrige they should sort out my schools homophbia if any thing

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By: Flapjack

Flapjack — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:15:53 +0000

As a sometime animator, I went to see Matt Groening at Bristol Encounters Animation Festival introducing his favourite toons in between snippets of interviews with Phil Jupitus.
I remember him explaining that the majority of the scriptwriting team were liberal with a couple of angry Republicans thrown into the mix for balance (presumably if you're populating a town with people of different political persuasions it helps to have a variety of scriptwriters who can understand what makes each character tick). Perhaps that explains the schizophrenic political slant on gay issues?

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By: dean

dean — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:50:36 +0000

irony is your smoke alarm starting a fire, or using language with the opposite literal meaning. You're so gay could only be ironic if it was used to imply that someone or something(not sure how an object could be) isn't. it's a homophobic insult plain and simple Get rid of your Murdoch media.

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By: Szostek

Szostek — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:15:01 +0000

Do we really want a gay version of the Anti Defamation League that pounces on every little comment and forfeits moral traction by refusing to have a sense of humour?

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By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:49:49 +0000

I agree that 'gay' shouldn't be used too freely as a derogatory term, but The Simpsons writers are amazing, and their comedy is extremely clever.

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By: mike

mike — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:07:29 +0000

simpsons aint funny no more

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By: flapjack

flapjack — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:13:09 +0000

To be fair, I think the Simpsons still stands as the first primetime cartoon with a regular gay character (Weland Smithers), who in spite of being closeted and in the thrall of Monty Burns is still a guy with many admirable qualities.

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By: shiska

shiska — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:15:09 +0000

"The Simpsons has previously used the phrase to great comic effect when Milhouse says "Bart's got a girlfriend – that's so gay…"

You hit the nail on the head. The difference is not that The Simpsons have become homophobic, but that the show has just become distasteful, and it's no wonder that this joke comes across as being homophobic – it was in the hands of inept writers who cannot match the glory days of The Simpsons. I would chalk this up as yet another reason for the decline of the show, as for homophobia, there are more pressing matters that need attention than this statement.

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By: flapjack

flapjack — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:33:32 +0000

I do remember an episode (yep, the gay steelwooks one) where Homer tells a gay character voiced by John Waters that he resents gay people adopting the word 'queer' to describe themselves as that's a word straight people like him use to make gay people feel bad. I think the writers are aware of the irony!

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By: theotherhalf

theotherhalf — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:21:06 +0000

maria:

I use the term 'niger' all the time. i use it to make a comment about racist people. I said about a North African man educated in an english Public School who was sacked from a friends work place for no reason 'well they didn't want a Nigger in there did they?' The Simsons use 'Gay' in the same way. It's called irony.

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By: Rob Neal

Rob Neal — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:50:48 +0000

Maria: The word "gay" was used for a long time before it was taken up by homosexuals. Listen to the Flintstones having a "gay old time".

The term 'nigger' was never so.

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By: Maria

Maria — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:43:10 +0000

Perhaps 'andy', who isn't bothered by the use of the word 'gay' as a pejorative term, would like to experimentally start using the word 'nigger' in polite conversation to mean 'bad'. He wouldn't be being racist – it would just happen to sound like a racist term, but really it would simply mean 'bad'. Pretty soon he'd realise that his failure to be bothered by the use of the word 'gay' to mean 'bad' is a very sorry state of affairs to lay claim to.

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By: rich

rich — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:29:42 +0000

People are taking this seriously? In my opinion The Simpson's is a very clever social documentary as well as cartoon aimed at kids – it is interesting that the derogatory use of the word 'gay' was situated within a situation using a character that is portrayed as a mindless and undesirable bullying – for me, that's about raising the profile of homophobic bullying and is a talking point! Good on you Simpson's team for your continued support of the LGBT community!

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By: Valerio

Valerio — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:03:09 +0000

It seems we're getting a little carried away with this. With all the horrible stuff that's said against LGBT people, attacking the Simpsons seems a bit petty… and SO gay

kidding… kidding…

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By: Victoria Manning

Victoria Manning — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:46:37 +0000

The Simpsons has previously used the phrase to great comic effect when Milhouse says "Bart's got a girlfriend – that's so gay…"

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By: theotherhalf

theotherhalf — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:53:21 +0000

for god's sake!

The Simsons is PRo Gay NOT anti GAY!

It's problem is that it's deeply ironic, obviously something that bypasses most people these days

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By: andy

andy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:48:47 +0000

i'm not sure about any of this, no way is the simpsons a homophobic programme, it always mocks homophobia..By all means take offence when offence is intended but this kind of thing reminds me of the lunacy of the 80's when left wing councils wouldn't use dustbin bags made of black plastic, because it was racist to associate "black" with "rubbish"… And on a different note, words change meaning, I remember when bigotted heterosexuals used to say "why did homosexuals have to spoil such a joyous word" ie "gay" meaning happy, cheerful etc, now to kids "gay" means "naff" when applied to anything from clothes to ideas to behaviour, they are not using it to mean homosexual. It doesn't offend me in the slightest. I suppose like i've said in the gay "marriage" versus "civil partnership" debate, it's the intention that matters more to me than the word used.

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By: Gerry

Gerry — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:57:22 +0000

For God's sake…get a life! There are more important things to be worried about than a comment in the Simpsons. The writers of the Simpsons know exactly what they are doing…a lot of them are gay themselves. BTW….my fav moment was the Gay Disco at the Springfield Steelworks.

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By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:46:03 +0000

Good! I don't care how "throw away" or "innocent" the use of the word gay is. If it's used to be derogatory, then it's wrong.

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