361–370 of 891 posts
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Given the racist protrayal of Indian American Raj Kuthrapalli, I am of the opinion Indians are magnanimous in allowing this show to be aired there.
It's a bit like Jewish, Irish, Japanese, Korean, or Italian stereotypes in movies/tv - few real members of those groups get offended because we're not currently disadvantaged.
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So there's literally no government involvement in what content can be shown in broadcast material in the US? Even for FTA TV? In Australia the ratings system is administered by the commonwealth government, so I incorrectly assumed the same was true in the US.
We have law that restricts indecent/obscene content, and it applies exclusively to FTA TV and radio. But it's completely unrelated to the ratings system for tv and movies. Most channels not restricted by those rules (subscription cable & satellite) set in-house standards on content for commercial reasons. And of the broadcasters that are covered by the regulation, they are the old stodgy networks and never choose to…
We have this kind of censorship in India as well, even the in weirdly innocous places. In James Bond movies, and I think Gone Girl as well, scenes were by zooming into character's faces or just straight cuts. This is probably the only reason I maintain a US iTunes accounts (used to have to buy gift cards from sketchy sites online to keep this going, but I recently discovered that my Indian Amex card works fine with a…
There is a home version of this called ClearPlay that auto-redacts movies and TV. It actually started with DVD players (!) but now does streaming. Ref: https://amazon.clearplay.com/
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Why would not even talking about sex promote social stability? Arguably the most stable societies are those that existed for 10s of 1000s of years before the agricultural revolution etc. Did they generally have taboos around discussion of sex?
I wouldn't think it surprising if they had at least customs around sex (whatever about taboos). Without contraception sex can cause a lot of trouble. People, even animals, will kill for mating rights.
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Heavens above, Myrtle! That turtle is a ninja! With nunchaku! Someone think of the children!
> nunchaku Huh, you weren't kidding. Banned and censored in the UK, banned in Canada, Germany, and several US states... because of Bruce Lee? Bizarre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunchaku#Legality
It's really interesting that such a bland, un-subversive show whose only mentions of sensitive topics are in bad throwaway jokes is so heavily censored. I guess a more interesting show would just not get aired at all.
Personally I'm mostly offended how stale and unoriginal a lot of these jokes are, but I can definitely see why the censors took offense at some of them. For example, the joke about the Chinese restaurant ("I'd be more concerned about what they're passing off as chicken") plays off of the stereotype that Chinese people eat dogs and cats, and the “passing off” remark implies that the Chinese restaurant owners are decep…
So, as a German, should I be offended because of the squirrel/rabbit thing? Should Texans be offended? What about the career over partner theme, is that insensible to Germans divorcing due to career-induced burnouts?
No, it's just a joke. I don't believe anyone would think we ate squirrel, and I don't believe Texans do. (However, rabbit is in fact eaten around here. It's also a meat in France (who are famous for their cuisine) and... China. Says the Internet. But around here rabbit is more a delicacy, often for Easter or other special occasions; personally I think I haven't eaten rabbit meat in nearly a decade. Also, the rabbits-for-eating are large animals, not bunnys. Those are adored and loved as pets).
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If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education. It is affirming the stereotype Indian males lack confidence with women. Raj can’t speak with women without the use of alcohol, the show constantly mocks his accent, worshipping of cows etc.
> lack confidence with women Aren't all the male characters in the show this way? Is the show doing "Character who is Indian male lacks confidence with women" ? Or is it doing "Character lacks confidence with women because he's an Indian male" ? There's a world of difference.
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What in particular is racist about it?
If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education. It is affirming the stereotype Indian males lack confidence with women. Raj can’t speak with women without the use of alcohol, the show constantly mocks his accent, worshipping of cows etc.