The latest episode responded to comedian Hari Kondabolu, who had criticized the show's portrayal of its Indian character, Apu. "The Simpsons" also feeds into a larger debate about updating literature.
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Should books with racist content be revised?
While somtimes only simple textual changes are needed to update a classic, removing racist slurs does not always eliminate ideologies of the past. Here are some examples that show how revising books is a delicate affair.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'The Little Witch' (1957)
This classic of children's literature, by Otfried Preussler, was made into a film that came out in 2018. In a 2013 revision of the book, children getting dressed up as Blacks — described using the N-word — or a "Zigeuner" (gypsy) simply picked other costumes. The publisher's decision to change some words led to a heated debate in Germany.
Image: Studiocanal
'The Little Ghost' (1966)
Thienemann publishing house also decided to review Preussler's other classic books of German children literature, including "The Robber Hotzenplotz" books and "The Little Ghost" (made into a film in 2013). They reformulated for example the friendly ghost's reaction when he turns black. Such revisions shock purists: Should books be changed? And where should the line be drawn?
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver' (1960)
Experts view Michael Ende's popular children's novel as an allegory against the Nazis' ideology. During his lifetime, the author updated his book, turning references to China into a fictional country called Mandala. However, the latest version keeps the one use of the N-word to describe the Black boy in the tale. The latest movie adaption of the work was recently released in cinemas (photo).
Image: Warner Bros., Ilze Kitshoff
The 'Pippi Longstocking' series
The N-word was already removed or replaced from the English version of Astrid Lindgren's popular books during the 1950s. The German version had been reworked in the 1990s; however, it kept the term with a footnote mentioning that it was outdated. In 2009, all references to Pippi's dad were replaced with the "South Sea King."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'The Story of Doctor Dolittle' (1920)
Hugh Lofting's classic was reworked for its 1988 edition; instead of coming from the "Land of the White Men," Doctor Dolittle is from the "Land of the Europeans." Similarly, references to the King of Jolliginki avoid mentioning the color of his skin. Despite efforts to make race invisible, the colonial ideologies of the time are still reflected in the plot and the depictions of the characters.
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (1964)
In the original version of Roald Dahl's book, the Oompa-Loompas — small humans working in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory — are described as African Pygmies. The author made them come from a fictional country called Loompaland in a revised version from 1973. In the 1971 film (photo), they were played by actors with dwarfism and depicted as surreal creatures with orange skin and green hair.
Image: Imago/Zuma Press
'And Then There Were None' (1939)
The original title of Agatha Christie's masterpiece was "Ten Little N*gg*rs," based on the British blackface song that guides the plot of the mystery novel. The title of the US edition, released a month after the British one in 1939, used the last five words of the song instead. However, it has also had the problematic title "Ten Little Indians," which refers to an American rhyming song.
Image: Harper
'Tintin in the Congo' (1946)
Initially published as a serialized weekly in the 1930s, Belgian cartoonist Herge later produced a colored version of the work and revised one violent big-game hunting scene in 1976. The volume was strongly criticized for its racist content by the late 20th century. There have been attempts to ban the book; in English, it is sold with an extra explanation of the historical context.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' (1884)
Mark Twain's iconic classic is viewed as an anti-racist satire. It is also among the first American works to use vernacular English — and coarse language. The word "n*gg*r," a common racial slur in the mid-19th-century, is used over 200 times in the book. One revised version from 2011 replaces the N-word with "slave." Critics believe it is wrong to whitewash the historical context of such books.
Image: Majestic/Tom Trambow
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In Sunday's episode of the popular TV show "The Simpsons," Marge Simpson picks up her favorite childhood book, "The Princess in the Garden." Soon after beginning to read the book aloud to her daughter, Lisa, Marge realizes the book is offensive and racist, and she sets out to reword it into a version that is more appropriate for 2018.
But the resulting tome no longer makes sense. Deflated, Marge says: "It takes a lot of work to take the spirit and character out of the book … what am I supposed to do?"
Turning to speak to the show's viewers, Lisa responds: "It's hard to say. Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?”
The two suggest, "some things will be addressed at a later date, if at all," while the screen pans out to show a framed picture of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian immigrant shop owner and a long-running Simpsons' character who critics have accused of perpetuating racist and stereotypical images of South Asian immigrants in the US.
The bedtime story scene was "The Simpsons" production team's response to the latest controversy over Apu raised by Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu. The comedian wrote and starred in the documentary "The Problem with Apu," directed by Michael Melamedoff, which used Apu as a reference point to explore how the media pushes problematic stereotypes of South Asians. The film, which premiered last November, interviewed actors of South Asian descent such as Aziz Ansari, Aasif Mandvi and Kal Penn.
Kondabolu took to Twitter, writing: "Wow. "Politically Incorrect?" That's the takeaway from my movie & the discussion it sparked? Man, I really loved this show. This is sad."
He also argued that the response of "The Simpsons" was not a personal attack on him, but rather a broader indication of the difficulty surrounding the evolution of media representation in response to shifting societal understanding of stereotypes and discrimination.
The topic of changing a television, movie and literature content to suit the times is hardly new.
For example, the well-known murder mystery, "And Then There were None," by Agatha Christie, was orginally titled after a British blackface song that included a racial slur.
The gallery above takes a look at some of the books that have been updated in English or in German to fit the times.