The Simpsons are no stranger to controversy and with creator Matt Groening stating he “wants to offend every country in the world” before The Simpsons has its swansong, it appears there is political incorrectness aplenty still to come.
Some of the most memorable Simpsons episodes have caused international incidents and public outcry. Take The Simpsons’ visit to Australia in Season 6, (1995) for example. In the episode, Bart is convicted of fraud while visiting Australia. The Simpsons all duly pack their bags and head over to apologise to the Australian government.
Their parliament decides to give him the additional punishment of a kick in the backside, which the family refuses. Bart and his family finally agree to the punishment and just as he is set to get it, he moons the parliament and flees back to the US.
It may have been one of the most watched episodes in Simpson history, but some Australians were horrified, saying it made a mockery of their country.
But the episode that really stands out (it caused a diplomatic breakdown with Rio de Janeiro) is Blame it on Lisa, aired in 2002.
In the show, Lisa and family decide to travel to Rio to find an orphan called Ronaldo that has gone missing. Lisa has been sponsoring the child through his orphanage.
During their search for Ronaldo, Homer gets kidnapped, Bart gets eaten by an anaconda and things descend into chaos.
Brazil was in an uproar when the episode aired and the Rio de Janeiro Tourist Board claimed that the city was portrayed as having “rampant street crime, kidnappings, slums and a rat infestation”.
The episode also (obviously incorrectly) stated that Brazil was the birthplace of the Macarena. Then president of Brazil stated that the episode “brought a distorted vision of Brazilian reality” to the rest of the world.
From here the drama turned into something that could be a Simpsons plotline, with the Rio Tourist Board threatening to sue Fox broadcasting,
They said the episode would have drastic consequences on the region’s tourism industry and having just spent millions of dollars promoting the city, were very annoyed.
Simpsons’ executive producer James L. Brooks stepped into the breach, smoothing ruffled feathers with a well aimed apology to the city. He could not help adding that if his apologies did not help, Homer Simpson offers to take on the President of Brazil on Fox’s Celebrity Boxing.
In typical Simpson style, the incident became a permanent running gag on the show. Let’s hope Groening gets his wish and manages to continue with his tradition of creating mayhem.
