The Simpsons movie and an feat of Olympic immorality
Published 1 year, 3 months ago in My life.Allow me to present a small selection of unrelated thoughts from a slowly disintegrating mind.
The Simpsons movie (2007) and the South Park movie (Bigger, longer and uncut: 1999) have few things in common but here’s two.
1) They’re animated.
2) They each begin with a message to the audience couched in a scene where the characters are themselves sitting in a cinema, watching a film. In both cases the message should be heeded.
In South Park, Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman sneak into a showing of the R-rated Terrance and Phillip movie “Asses of Fire'’ which begins with the song “Uncle F&*ka’’ and descends into a litany of fart jokes and excessively strong swearing. The entire audience, apart from the kids in the front row, are disgusted and leave en masse.
The message? If you’ve brought kids to this film, f*&$k off now, it’s not appropriate. And it aint. Bigger, longer and uncut is vile and offensive. But it is also one of the funniest films I’ve seen, peppered with valuable political commentary, and it is better by far than the TV show.
In the Simpsons, Homer et al are watching the Itchy and Scratchy movie – which is just another Itchy and Scratchy, no more, no less. Homer stands up and addresses the audience, saying something like, “I can’t believe you people are paying to see something you’ve been getting for free on TV for years, you’re all idiots’’.
He was right, except that it’s not quite what we’ve been getting for free - the film has far fewer laughs than your average 30 minute episode. Wait for the DVD.
Meanwhile…
I was listening to a report on the radio this morning about China’s preparations for the 2008 Olympics. According to the report on 774, construction is full steam ahead on Games venues and four new underground stations for a brand-spanking train system, expected to be up and running just months before the opening ceremony.
In the midst of a glowing report about how Beijing residents can’t wait to show off their country to the world and praise for the government’s efforts to finalise the required infrastructure - “an achievement of Olympic proportions’’ - there was one line that caught my ear:
“14 people have died in construction accidents on the rail system and several others have lost their lives on venue building sites, but the actual number of workplace deaths is secret.’’
Oh, my god. People are dying to build stadiums so that we can enjoy 16 days of sport and it’s not even the lead in an ABC story about preparations for the Games. Granted, people no doubt die on construction sites in China every day, but these folk are dying for my entertainment.
I shall not watch a day of it and would applaud anyone who proposed a Boycott.
What say you?
11 Responses to “The Simpsons movie and an feat of Olympic immorality ”
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First up I think you’re the Scarlet Pimpernel or maybe related.
Second the Simpsons have probably always been unsuitable viewing for children, nevertheless my children have watched it for some time now and I believe, understand the satirical nature and appreciate the black humour. I don’t know if we’ll rush out to see it at the movies but we’ll certainly watch the DVD.
Third I agree the thought of people losing their lifes in the pursuit of pandering to egos and entertaining the masses for 16 days is offensive, add to that China’s human rights record and I think the whole country should be boycotting it. Further to the equation the cronic abuse of performance inhancing drugs in sport and the Olympics are just a joke anyway.
Not the popular vote but I think both foss and viva are being a tad hypocritical. China has a pretty awful record in….have to watch what I say here. As far as I know China has no workplace agreements. It follows that safety in the workplace is probably designed around making sure the machines don’t stop.
If you throw out everything in your house that is Made in China I reckon it would be pretty empty.
Most people know of the awful working conditions in China but, hey, you can’t buy a cheaper air conditioner.
Every month millions of containers are shipped back to China - empty.
Making a protest by not watching the Olympics would ,I suggest, be fairly ineffectual.
Fair point HG.
My reaction I think was due more to the blasé attitude of the news report – oh by the way people are being crushed in an effort to get it done on time but what the hell it’s all good fun. But you are right, I do not give a second thought to human rights when choosing my crockery or children’s toys and clearly turning off the TV won’t make a jot of difference. Still, I won’t watch.
I do look at the products I buy and wherever possible avoid things made in certain countries. I prefer to buy Australian but unfortunately it is getting harder to find products here.
As for throwing out everything in our houses made in China, I think a large proportion is probably just s##t anyway that we could all do without.
that should read products made here.
You don’t drive over the Westgate bridge, do you? I hear a lot of people died to build that.
Just because some dodgy construction companies in China haven’t heard of safety regulations, does it mean we should ignore the culmination of years of the world’s best athletes’ hard work?
Much as I’m not interested in sport or the Olympics, if you are, don’t let the careless decisions of a few lousy bureaucrats stop you from watching - those athletes have been working jolly hard for years to earn a moment of your attention. And while yes, there are more valuable things to society than sport, it brings enjoyment and gives us a chance to be proud of the achievement of Aussies and athletes from overseas.
As for the news… sadly, if they prioritised their stories by how many people died in each, no one would watch, listen or read it. You just can’t feel bad for every person who dies in tragic circumstances in the world… it’s not possible, and definitely not healthy. At the end of the day people are tired and depressed enough, and would like a bit of good news about progress mixed in with the death, natural disasters, wars and interest rate rises.
Fair play to you foss. Each to his own. I will be watching, especially the female track athletes who wear less than the swimmers these days and because, just occasionally, you see a flash of brilliance. I suppose we could salve our consciences by buying anything NOT Made in China but there’s precious little about these days.
What a laugh it would be if all the memorabilia on sale for the games was stamped “Made in Taiwan”
vg g.o.m
you’ve been very quiet of late foss, no witty repartee or acerbic comments.
I’m surprised - and appauled that it’s surprising - that the deaths were mentioned at all. On this one, I side with the network. It’s more newsworthy that the preparations are going on because that’s the bit we’ll all get to see. People dying on it is important to mention, and good on the network for doing it, but the bigger story is that the country is full steam ahead because that’s what people want to know.
As for the Simpsons movie, I thought it was funny. Shrug.