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The Simpsons (and other C4) Censorship

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    The Simpsons (and other C4) Censorship

    I don't know if anyone else has spotted this but Channel 4 has been heavily censoring its pre-watershed programming recently. I first noticed it on Scrubs, and then the Simpsons - references to adult themes have been cut out - despite obviously having been broadcast before on BBC2 at 6pm.

    Tonight though - a different story - removing references to sex is one thing - but this evening's episode of the Simpsons - the one where Apu has go through with his arranged marriage to Mandula had been cut to pieces - jokes referring to the Hindu 'Dot' and Ganesha (where Homer dresses up at the end) had been removed. Surely apart from not wanting to offend delicate religious sensitivities, there can be no broadcast regulatatory reason for doing this?

    Let me ask another question - will Channel 4 be removing references or jokes about the Christian God in future episodes of the programe?

    As an athesist I am appalled by Channel 4's decision to do this, seemingly political correctness gone mad.

    I've already sent in a complaint to C4 about this policy, and if anyone else out there feels that this is one step too far by the censorship police then I urge you to fill in the complaint form below!


    #2
    i pretty much stopped watching smallville as it was cut so much.
    half the time its impossible to tell whats happened. one second everyone's standing around, a second later the bad guys on the floor. you just have to assume lois nutted them.

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      #3
      British TV is riddled with censorship of American TV animation, and I'm amazed we don't hear more about it. The whole complaints procedure is geared around enforcing action based on complaints from tiny numbers of offended punters.

      It's not outright political correctness like some people will claim, either. For every group that's pandered to, another will inevitably be left out in the cold, as if their "feelings being hurt" is less of an issue to others.

      Remember when SKY showed The Simpsons in the early/mid 90s and hacked up each episode to remove words like "Crap"? And they started doing the same to Family Guy even although it was on later on at night, it was just outright prudishness.

      Then there's the poor misguided saps at Channel 4 who decided it'd be a good idea to show Family Guy (this was in 1999 or so) on a Sunday afternoon...didn't they even watch it? I think it speaks volumes that that particular show only gained big-time popularity in the UK after it was released uncut on DVD.

      I didn't know they were cutting out jokes about religious rituals, though.
      Last edited by Lyris; 31-03-2008, 19:29.

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        #4
        BBC cut simpsons too and so do sky sometimes

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          #5
          After a couple of e-mails back and forth - I got them to admit why they cut the scenes -

          When we first screened this last year, the original transmission of this
          episode was due to screen on the final day of a major Hindu festival and we
          were concerned it might be perceived as insensitive. It was for this reason
          that the scene was edited in part without taking too much away from the
          editorial narrative. We also had to edit this episode
          for some bad language. Our feeling was that these slight changes did not
          cause any loss of continuity or loss of comedic value so we have kept this
          edited version to screen pre-watershed.
          So it was self censored and nothing to do with OfCom (as they have previously stated). This sort of censorship is dangerous as where do you draw the line about which groups you do not wish to offend? Also they cut the episode last year - this year they have rebroadcast the same episode with the same cuts (instead of reinstating it). We'll just end up with ever more sanitised versions appearing on our TV screens because everyone will be afriad of offending anyone else.

          Do we have any Hindus on this board? Would be interested to hear whether they are offended by the Simpsons?

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            #6
            So it was self censored and nothing to do with OfCom (as they have previously stated).
            Well, the whole TV industry is self-censoring ("self-regulated" is the commonly used euphemism). I think there's penalties for broadcasters that step on the wrong side of OFCOM, so they play it safe and probably go further than they have to most of the time.

            Also they cut the episode last year - this year they have rebroadcast the same episode with the same cuts (instead of reinstating it).
            That's exactly what I assumed would happen, SKY was the same. They cut parts of Simpsons episode (Ned Flanders jumping out his car window...... the reason, because it was shown after Princess Diana died in 1996, in a car crash - apparently the connection of shattering glass and a vehicle was enough) and forgot to reinstate them until people (cough!) wouldn't get off their backs about it.

            And yes, as you say, this sort of practice is pretty lethal in the long run. The problems it causes all for the sake of not harming some feelings are big. Two summers ago I stayed up to crazy hours, painting time-codes out of a Ren and Stimpy scene because Nickelodeon's dimwitted censors had cut the scene out and lost the original (don't get me wrong, I loved the experience, but ideally from everyone else's point of view it wouldn't have been necessary in the first place). Likewise I had to go through hundreds of hours worth of episodes and compare the broadcast versions against the hacked-up ones that had made it onto DVD, because the people cutting bits out didn't actually think to mark the resultant tape copies as "EDITED".
            Last edited by Lyris; 02-04-2008, 19:50.

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              #7
              Originally posted by atrus View Post

              Do we have any Hindus on this board? Would be interested to hear whether they are offended by the Simpsons?
              I am. Me and my family all love the Simpsons, in fact this very episode is one of my dads favorites, well this one and basically any that have Apu in.

              I've also noticed that tons of stuff gets edited out of Scrubs on E4 compared to when i watched them on dvd.

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                #8
                I have a theory that after the whole Jade Goody fiasco, Channel 4 is running scared of offending anyone at all... however I'm suprised they actually admitted it.

                After seeing Ajay's comment seems like their concerns were not even valid - I think that the Simpsons is pretty even handed and fair when it comes to religion, no one religion is singled out for parody (if you could even call it that).

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                  #9
                  Yeah, when I was about 11 or 12, my friends thought that Apu's depiction was somehow racist (because he's often so jolly maybe, I dunno?)

                  Of course nobody had any concerns about Homer Simpson, probably the most well-known stupid fat American in the world.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Lyris View Post
                    Yeah, when I was about 11 or 12, my friends thought that Apu's depiction was somehow racist (because he's often so jolly maybe, I dunno?)

                    Of course nobody had any concerns about Homer Simpson, probably the most well-known stupid fat American in the world.
                    Who the hell would be offended by stereotypes in cartoons?

                    You'd have to either ban, or censor nearly every cartoon series ever made.

                    Politically correct, sensitive 11-year-olds. What is in the water where you live Lyris?

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                      #11
                      Fluoride

                      Who the hell would be offended by stereotypes in cartoons?
                      Oh, there's plenty of scope for people being offended by stereotypes in cartoons. What about these? You won't see these play intact on Cartoon Network (even before it became a kiddie channel). Probably NSFW:





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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Lyris View Post
                        Fluoride


                        Oh, there's plenty of scope for people being offended by stereotypes in cartoons. What about these? You won't see these play intact on Cartoon Network (even before it became a kiddie channel). Probably NSFW:





                        http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f383/lyris1/ntn.jpg
                        I'm joining the "Ban Fluoride In Drinking Water" campaign.

                        Those examples you give, are no worse than stereotyping an Irishman as a Leprechaun, or an Englishman as a Punk etc....

                        Next thing, we'll have people moaning about the portrayal of animal characters in cartoons, and how rabbits feel sterotyped by Bugs Bunny's obsession with Carrots.

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                          #13
                          I think most people would claim that Irish and English people have never been discriminated against - at least not "at home" - to a huge extent so there's a big difference.

                          But in another sense you're right, cartoons (at least back then!) were all about exaggerating features, which is what those are.

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                            #14
                            Bit of a bump, but couldn't believe the censorship in tonight's Simpsons on C4 (Natural Born Kissers).

                            I didn't watch the entire episode but the bit with Homer and Marge 'snuggling' towards the start was heavily cut as was the bit with Carl and Lennie talking to Homer in the power plant's car park. This included Marge's line 'knock it off, you perverts' which became just 'knock it off'.

                            Since when has the word 'pervert', said by cartoon characters at 6.15 in the evening become offensive? I can sort of understand the Hindu references being edited from an episode which coincided with a major festival but the cuts from tonight's episode defy explanation.

                            I blame the Daily Mail...

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                              #15
                              double post

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