"Dark" Simpsons opening creates controversy

[STEEDOT5]

Well, along with the Korean panda, severed dolphin head, and chained-up unicorn.

I was laughing somewhat nervously at the start, but when they got to the giant toxic waste drums and using dolphin tongues to seal things shut, well, I found that absolutely hilarious. Maybe I'm weird, but, I dunno, I liked it, dark or not.

[LittleJoe]

To be honest, I'm so used to The Simpsons making fun of their parent network and the work conditions of animators (as the Itchy and Scratchy episodes usually do), I didn't even bat an eye when this gag took place.

But yeah, the cel-painting in the beginning really takes you out of the joke when you realize animation is mostly digital nowadays.

[dabana16]

Naturally of course they're not as many TV production companies would be slammed for that and its just simple satire

[Britney = ]]

I'm sorry, but I laughed my butt off when the camera zoomed out to show 20th Century Fox logo. It is a darker opening but it's one of the ones I really liked for its satirical humor.

[sorg]

Me too, I was kinda creeped out by the couch gag, but when it zoomed out to show the 20th Century Fox logo, I have to admit I laughed.

[Paddy O]

I'm quite surprised. While Rough Draft did not like how they portrayed Korean animation studios in The Itchy & Scratchy Movie episode, I am shocked and appalled that Akom just went ahead with the opening on the recent episode. Really, with all the inaccuracies and dark tone; I'm glad this opening is getting the controversy it needs.



Indeed, I should also point out that Akom is actually just above a convenience store too.

[Miss Jordan]

To be more precise, is they prove how "still relevant" they are. They nuked the fridge with a big bang.

[900dps in heroics]

Wow, all the fuss about another Fox joke...

[ajlpenguin315]

I think some of you are thinking too narrowly about this. It's not dark for dark's sake. Banksy is making a political statement here. It may not be technically accurate on the details of animation and merchandise production (I don't think severed dolphin heads are involved) and it may use lots of hyperbole, but the Simpsons are like all US families in that they benefit from the exploitation of the third world. As Banksy makes the Simpsons acknowledge this dark truth about itself, he wants us to think about ourselves and our relationship to these people.

Why do you think things are so cheap at Wal-Mart? We're able to live well cheaply in large part because other people do these things for us in conditions and for pay we would never abide for ourselves. The conditions may not be as bad as Banksy presents, in fact they might often be relatively good jobs compared to other opportunities in these countries, but there's still a power inequality that we benefit from.

Like I said in the other thread, it's really brave of the Simpson's producers to allow this.

[Shawn F. Jacobson]

It's more brave of the producers to do this right under 20th Century's nose, and in turn for 20th Century to allow them to do it.

Anways, I found this article as well, but there is something I don't understand about it:


Where have people been these last 20 years? I thought it was common knowledge that the show, and many other shows over the years, were produced in Korea. And yeah, jokes from Itchy and Scratchy episodes have poked fun at that as well, so who could really be unaware of that?