Is Anyone Else Surprised...

Tedwise27 wrote:
First of all, the incessant use of the quote feature is getting a little out of hand. Party fouls all around. You do have the option of using these guys "" if you want to quote 3 words.

Second... the point you soap boxers seem to be missing is that Simpson's humor was never subtle... NEVER. This is just an issue that hits a nerve in the US on both sides, and so now it is a big frickin' deal. It's the same reason some of you will be offended when I say "*" as an exclamatory, but virtually no one will bat an eye when I say "Holy Cow" even though they both improperly evoke religious notions.

The difference between their portrayal of "gun nuts" and their portrayal of Indians, fat lonely nerds, lazy husbands, or easy women is not the level of subtlety in the humor... the variable is the targeted group's inability to take a joke.

The good news is you don't have to... as I said earlier... make like good "victim" conservatives and go donate your money to a competitor. If their loss of revenue from your departure offsets the increased donations of those pleased to see you go, then they will quickly change their minds. The bottom line is, the majority of people who watch the Simpsons do expect this in-your-face lack of subtlety (which has been a mainstay of the show from it's inception) and those who don't take themselves too seriously don't care.

It's hardly the fault of liberal artists that conservative commentators think this medium is beneath them unless they are publishing a political cartoon in a conservative newspaper.

The Simpsons is Horatian satire. Light hearted. The quest was Juvenalian satire; angry axe-grinding. The show has handled gun control far better than this. It shouldn't be surprising that it got negative reactions from people who didn't have a problem with commentary on gun control from the show.