The Rio controversy snowballs
Apr 16, 2002, 1:52 PM ET23 posts by 14 posters
23 posts
It hardly snowballed...
"After a week, things have cooled a bit. Jose Eduardo Guinle, Rio's secretary of tourism, had threatened to sue Fox for damages. Now he is simply calling on the show's producers to donate proceeds from the episode to the poor of Rio, "whom the show's producers seem to be so concerned about."
He was also demanding an apology. And got one, of sorts. "We apologize to the lovely city and people of Rio de Janeiro," said the show's producers in a statement. "And if that doesn't settle the issue, Homer Simpson offers to take on the president of Brazil on Fox's `Celebrity Boxing.' "
What bothers me most about this whole thing is that for some reason, Brazilians seem to have the idea that the government has control over the Simpsons (and other forms of creative media). They're making it sound like the US has committed a crime against Brazilian humanity for this cartoon.
My favorite blurb from this article is "I see monkeys in the trees in front of my office all the time, and there are monkeys in Copacabana, too," said Paula Gobbi, an Argentine journalist who has lived in Rio for 16 years. "I think it's fantastic, something to be proud of. But you listen to some of the authorities here who are now trying to pretend the monkeys don't exist and you just have to wonder what is going on in their heads."
Which just proves that they are completely in denial about all the "stereotypes" pointed out in the show. It always hurts most when it's closest to the truth.
On Tue, 16 Apr 2002 16:23:51 -0400, Jason Saslow wrote:
Why can't the Brazillian spend this much effort into stopping the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest!?!
On Wed, 17 Apr 2002 05:18:33 GMT, [email] (AndrewR) wrote:
You mean bitch about it for three weeks and then give up?
TTYL
Money. Rainforest preservation is something we rich consumerist Americans think of, with no reguard on the economy of countries which have rain forests.
------------------------------------ Knowledge is power Power corrupts Study hard Be evil
Avenge 9-11....Support Israel
On Thu, 18 Apr 2002 10:31:09 -0400 (EDT), [email] (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Chris=AE?=) wrote:
Canada has rainforests on the West Coast. I imagine the US does too, if not on the West Coast, then perhaps Hawaii?
With what? Free bras?
TTYL
"Dr Music" wrote in message news:yxZu8.48681$[email]...
Brazilians are losers if they whine about this.
On Tue, 16 Apr 2002 21:55:00 GMT, "Prudent1" wrote:
Sounds like the politicians and media are the biggest losers.
This article's pretty apologetic for Fox, meaning, it shows that the Simpsons spoofed real stuff.
See here:
So much for indignation.
TTYL
Well, they did.
What I think bothered Brazil more than anything is that their carefully constructed facade that Brazil is not another poor & filthy South American banana republic has been attacked. Ever since they foolishly built the worst city on earth in the middle of the jungle (Brasilla), they've tried to show the world that they're a country on the move.
Sorry Brazil, but you're a 3rd world country, no better than Paraguay or Bolivia. Deal with it.
------------------------------------ Knowledge is power Power corrupts Study hard Be evil
Avenge 9-11....Support Israel
On Thu, 18 Apr 2002 10:29:18 -0400 (EDT), [email] (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Chris=AE?=) wrote:
Heh heh, and look at this country, "You are gay"
TTYL
[email] (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Chris=AE?=) wrote in message news:...
Atleast the Simpsons didn't show the rouge "death squads" who are notorious for maiming and killing sreet children. or politicians and members of the eliete who look the other way, and even support these acts.
Sadly, this problem is not just confined to Brazil, and happens in many, many countries around the world.
I think James Brooks should send Rio's secretary of tourism a nice gift for Love Day. Happy Love Day, everyone!
A Sir Hugs-a-lot doll!
Brett
They didn't have Lord Huggington?
Austin
Well, it's the same basic bear.
"Brett Buck" wrote in message news:[email]...
gift for
(Dr Music makes his annual Love Day post: )
Bart: "What the hell is that?" Marge: "It's a Kisses-Make-Me-Boogie-O'Lantern. Kiss it and make it boogie!" Homer (threateningly): "KISS IT!"
Yours truly, Some bozo
"Brett Buck" wrote in message news:[email]...
gift for
Everyone, stop arguing. You're not going to ruin another Love Day.
On Wed, 17 Apr 2002 01:31:00 GMT, Brett Buck wrote:
They didn't have Lord Huggington?!
I hope this ep. doesn't go the way of the "Puerto Rican Day Parade" Seinfeld ep did. I never got to see that! -Tom
On Tue, 16 Apr 2002 17:52:30 GMT, "Dr Music" wrote:
Be polite, and share with everyone. ;)
(formatting's ugly... oh well)
Simpsons go home! Rio takes spoof very seriously
By Anthony Faiola THE WASHINGTON POST
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 16 � You�d think that Bart Simpson had just landed in Rio and punched the Girl from Ipanema in the face. The Simpsons, the politically incorrect cartoon family, have become personae non gratae in Latin America�s largest nation. Brazil�s presidential spokesman has personally denounced them as troublemakers. Rio authorities have threatened lawsuits and boycotts. Cariocas, as the residents of this city are called, are so furious they seem poised to brush the sand off their thongs and take up arms against Bart, Homer and the gang.
The episode did not even air in Brazil, but outraged Brazilians living abroad saw it, local newspapers and television networks did stories about it, and an immediate media frenzy was born.
AT ISSUE IS a March 31 episode of the Fox TV show in which the Simpsons
visit this sultry metropolis and encounter an orgy of Brazilian stereotypes.
Homer gets kidnapped by a taxi driver while Lisa goes searching for a poor child
she sponsored at �the Orphanage of the Filthy Angels.� Family members get mauled
by monkeys on Copacabana Beach. Bart gets hooked on a racy children�s show
called �Teleboobies.� The Simpsons also learn a new Brazilian dance, a successor
to the steamy lambada � the penetrada.
The episode did not even air in Brazil, but outraged Brazilians living
abroad saw it, local newspapers and television networks did stories about it,
and an immediate media frenzy was born. The cartoon was immediately treated as a
national insult of the highest order, sparking a burst of anti-Americanism that
suddenly made Brazil feel more like Baghdad. Or, at the very least, like France.
�These confusions you make with our culture, our habits and our tastes
are outrageous,� Roberto Pereira, an official at the city�s Center of Sexual
Education, said in an e-mail he fired off to the foreign press association in
Rio. �Americans think we are inferior, ignorant, perverted, dirty animals!�CLUELESS AMERICANS
The anger took Fox by surprise. Spokesmen say none of the other overseas
satires on �The Simpsons� � which have featured France and Australia � resulted
in anything close to the uproar here. For Brazilians, however, the March 31
episode was the latest example of what many consider annoying U.S. cluelessness
about their country.
They may have a point. Brazil is bigger than the continental United
States and has an economy larger than Russia�s, yet even those Americans who can
find it on the map occasionally mistake Rio, or even Buenos Aires (which happens
to be in Argentina), as the capital. The show did acknowledge that Portuguese,
not Spanish, is the language of Brazil�s 170 million residents. But most of the
characters the Simpsons encountered had suspiciously Spanish-sounding accents.
�This is not a civilized way to be treated,� said Laura Cavalcanti, a Rio
anthropologist. �We are a major country.�
Yet the most self-critical Cariocas admit that the strong reaction came,
in part, because the show hit awfully close to home. Crime, unabashed sexuality
and severe poverty are indeed part of the fabric of life in Rio, and actually in
most of Brazil. This nation has never been quite sure of its place in the world,
and still smarts from a decades-old quip, attributed to Charles de Gaulle, that
Brazil is the county of the future, and always will be.BLUSHING BRIDE The well-to-do here often complain that the foreign media focus excessively on Brazil�s shockingly large ghettos and disparities of wealth while ignoring its First World attributes such as a burgeoning fashion industry and cutting-edge aviation technology. Foreign criticism or misstatements of fact about Brazil are often dramatically exaggerated by the local press. Advertisement<a><img></a>
No place is more sensitive than Rio, which winces at its reputation, even
domestically, as Brazil�s beach bum. Yet this stunningly beautiful metropolis of
nearly 11 million spent decades cultivating an image as a city of skin and sin,
especially during Carnaval season when clothing becomes optional here.
Now, after the �Simpsons� episode, Rio is suddenly acting like a blushing
bride. Despite its easygoing image, Rio is a place misleadingly uneasy with
itself.The monkeys marauding around Copacabana in the sitcom, for instance, struck many Cariocas as a low-blow reference to their status in the developing world. Some officials even took it as a racial slur against the city�s Afro-Brazilian population. Yet Rio is indeed home to the globe�s largest urban green space, with more than 80,000 acres of lush jungle whose creatures cohabit with cosmopolitan life. Spotting wild monkeys here is not exactly rare. �I see monkeys in the trees in front of my office all the time, and there are monkeys in Copacabana, too,� said Paula Gobbi, an Argentine journalist who has lived in Rio for 16 years. �I think it�s fantastic, something to be proud of. But you listen to some of the authorities here who are now trying to pretend the monkeys don�t exist and you just have to wonder what is going on in their heads.�
DOMINATRIX FOR CHILDREN Average Cariocas are hardly the height of modesty. In the city that invented the �dental floss� bikini, there seems to be a competition over who can expose the most �bumbum� in public.
And while some people found Bart Simpson�s fondness for �Teleboobies�
offensive, this is, after all, a nation where Xuxa, a soft-porn queen and former
girlfriend of soccer great Pele, leapt to stardom as host of her eponymous
kiddie show. She appears on the show in impossibly short skirts and skintight
tops, and various of her male co-hosts have posed nude for Brazil�s gay
magazines. Another program for Brazilian youngsters was hosted by Tiazinha, a
leather-clad dominatrix with a whip.
Average Cariocas themselves are hardly the height of modesty. Here, in
the city that invented the �dental floss� bikini, there seems to be a
competition over who can expose the most �bumbum� in public. Men, even strolling
through business districts on the way to the beach, often sport tiny sungas, a
sort of super-low-cut Speedo. What is risque abroad is simply normal here.
After a week, things have cooled a bit. Jose Eduardo Guinle, Rio�s
secretary of tourism, had threatened to sue Fox for damages. Now he is simply
calling on the show�s producers to donate proceeds from the episode to the poor
of Rio, �whom the show�s producers seem to be so concerned about.�
He was also demanding an apology. And got one, of sorts.
�We apologize to the lovely city and people of Rio de Janeiro,� said the
show�s producers in a statement. �And if that doesn�t settle the issue, Homer
Simpson offers to take on the president of Brazil on Fox�s �Celebrity Boxing.� �TTYL
Dr Music wrote:
Snowball I or II? Sincerely, Little Girl
On Wed, 17 Apr 2002 15:01:49 GMT, Internet King wrote:
III!
TTYL
Perhaps the Rio PR machine should be worrying about its crime rate and not a tv show.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/18/27744.html
wait, I just used pravda as a source for something. That cant be good. rog