Fuck Japan

[GuyJean]

I'm half-expecting you to wonder if we can eat hamburgers.

I bet you use a knife and fork..

GJ

[Samurai_Jerk]

Most of my Ozzie and Brit friends don't watch it and never have watched it

Who are you hanging out with? Pretty much everyone I've met from the English speaking world loves "The Simpsons." A lot of them are fans of "King of the Hill" and "Southpark" too.

I can understand why it's not so popular in Japan, however, I'm not sure why it seems to be popular in S. Korea and China. Japan really is just bass ackwards.

[IkemenTommy]

Amazing... Japan is completely "fucked" and it's all because they don't embrace the English language. It's Japan... And quite frankly, if you don't like it, they'd just tell you to get the fuck OUT. I am sure it has to do with politics (as it always does here), but it's like trying to argue with the misses when she's on her period----it's a lost battle. Could it have anything to do with the Simpson's still being shown on Fox here in Japan, etc.?

You completely missed my point. It was not me who was complaining about Simpsons not being played as I did not start this thread. Instead, I offered a simple solution. So either you learn how to read or YOU get the fuck out.

[Mulboyne]

The Simpsons suffered in Britain initially because it didn't have a regular TV channel, let alone a regular time slot. The first appearance of The Simpsons was as a segment on the US Tracey Ullman Show. She was already popular in Britain because she began her career in the UK (she's British). Bizarrely, though, when her US show was brought over, the UK channel decided to cut out the odd animated bit in the middle.

The full Simpsons shows were initially only available on satellite broadcaster Sky which severely limited the audience. All the big US comedy hits up until that point had built their followings on terrestrial TV. The BBC picked up the show in 1996 and it really grew in popularity from after that. Cable and satellite channels also became more common in households since those companies bought up most of the broadcast rights for major live sport and that helped. It may sound old-fashioned to say it but the DVD releases made a difference because, until they came out, there had been no way to catch up on the old series. (DVDs have helped Seinfeld in Britain which also found it tough going in Britain because of the lack of a regular time slot).

The Simpsons is often cited by UK comedians and writers as a big influence. Ricky Gervais regularly praises it and even contributed an episode - which wasn't very good, if I recall correctly.

[halfnip]

You completely missed my point. It was not me who was complaining about Simpsons not being played as I did not start this thread. Instead, I offered a simple solution. So either you learn how to read or YOU get the fuck out.

Re-read your 2nd post and then try to relate it to your first, fool. If you didn't give a shit, why go off on a tantrum about how Japan refuses to take on English as a "global" language. Shit, do you think people in the US for example give a fuck about anything other than English? You go to a country, you adjust. If you don't like it, get the fuck OUT. End of point.

[MaxPower]

It's beyond fucked...

Fuck Japan Face-Off

Thanks for the link, I couldn't click see it for some bs reason... but I'm glad at least somebody else noticed the man and his tricks.

[Takechanpoo]

Hey part-time assistant english teacher who started this thread.
Take a responsibility for creating disputes in FG.com.
From now on I decided to call you Assistant-Jerk.

[IkemenTommy]

Re-read your 2nd post and then try to relate it to your first, fool. If you didn't give a shit, why go off on a tantrum about how Japan refuses to take on English as a "global" language. Shit, do you think people in the US for example give a fuck about anything other than English? You go to a country, you adjust. If you don't like it, get the fuck OUT. End of point.

Whatever. I have no time to argue with a newbie douche bag.

[ttjereth]

I'm half-expecting you to wonder if we can eat hamburgers.

Kind of an extreme reply? I'm not trying to takes shots, or put people down or anything of the sort, I am just surprised that it's as popular since I didn't think a lot of the references would be as well known.

It's been my experience that the same generally goes for comedy coming the other way as well. Things like Monty Pyhton or Red Dwarf, where the humor isn't as dependent on cultural knowledge/in-jokes seem to find good audiences, but things like, say, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, don't tend end up being as popular because of the amount of humor that is based on current local politics/trends/pop-culture and such.

Just for the record, my maternal grandmother is British and only moved to the U.S. after marrying my grandfather, unfortunately her opinion of what is/isn't popular in the U.K. predates the Simpsons by a few decades.

[ttjereth]

Who are you hanging out with? Pretty much everyone I've met from the English speaking world loves "The Simpsons." A lot of them are fans of "King of the Hill" and "Southpark" too.

I can understand why it's not so popular in Japan, however, I'm not sure why it seems to be popular in S. Korea and China. Japan really is just bass ackwards.

It's completely possible the people I am hanging around with are weird. All in their late 20's and 30's and there are still several of them who haven't seen any of the original Star Wars movies, which I would have imagined would have been fairly popular.

I'd imagine part of the reason it's not popular in Japan is the terrible translations. It's just not funny.

[ttjereth]

The Simpsons suffered in Britain initially because it didn't have a regular TV channel, let alone a regular time slot. The first appearance of The Simpsons was as a segment on the US Tracey Ullman Show. She was already popular in Britain because she began her career in the UK (she's British). Bizarrely, though, when her US show was brought over, the UK channel decided to cut out the odd animated bit in the middle.

The full Simpsons shows were initially only available on satellite broadcaster Sky which severely limited the audience. All the big US comedy hits up until that point had built their followings on terrestrial TV. The BBC picked up the show in 1996 and it really grew in popularity from after that. Cable and satellite channels also became more common in households since those companies bought up most of the broadcast rights for major live sport and that helped. It may sound old-fashioned to say it but the DVD releases made a difference because, until they came out, there had been no way to catch up on the old series. (DVDs have helped Seinfeld in Britain which also found it tough going in Britain because of the lack of a regular time slot).

The Simpsons is often cited by UK comedians and writers as a big influence. Ricky Gervais regularly praises it and even contributed an episode - which wasn't very good, if I recall correctly.

I knew they started on the American Tracey Ullman show (also knew she was British), but hadn't really thought about a connection between that and popularity in the U.K.

I wasn't aware it was regularly cited by British comedians either. Being in Japan for the last 8 years has left me even more in the dark about current British comedy than I was in the U.S. (I know of Ricky Gervais, but I'm like the one person on the planet who doesn't find him or either version of the Office funny).

I can understand the DVD impact I suppose, a few shows have been revived by DVD sales, so it's not surprising that the same could make something retroactively popular.

Seinfeld is another one of the "big U.S. comedies" that I couldn't stand, so I'm always amazed that it was popular anywhere

[Mulboyne]

Kind of an extreme reply?

Yes, but it was supposed to be. One of the aspects you can encounter a lot in Japan is the idea that if you don't understand one minor reference then you probably haven't really understood anything at all and you seemed to be walking a similar line, albeit unintentionally.

Take the example of the Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", there's a great joke there about Rashomon but how many people in the US would get that? The Stone Cutter's song with the immortal lines "Who controls the British pound? Who keeps the metric system down? We Dooo We Dooo!" probably plays better in Britain than America.

You aren't underestimating the foreign audience: you are underestimating the genius of your own artists.

[Kuang_Grade]

I wasn't surprised by the delay..I suspect they'll have to rewrite half the movie to make it funny for J folks. Given that sarcasm/irony element of the Simpsons is so huge, I've often wondered how much your average J person "gets" of Simpsons, given that sarcasm/irony is fairly alien concept in Japan...while there are some basic/universal humor elements in most episodes (such as homer's stupidity), I wonder how things like the following would be translated in Japanese

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F16.html
After watching a school house rock like cartoon on flag burning, bart and lisa said the following
Bart: What the hell is this?
Lisa: It's one of those campy '70s throwbacks that appeals to
Generation Xers.
Bart: We need another Vietnam to thin out their ranks a little.

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F04.html
or when Marge and Homer notice that Bart is a bit moody, they have the following exchange over a meal.
Marge: Have you noticed any change in Bart?
Homer: New glasses?
Marge: No...he looks like something might be disturbing him.
Homer: Probably misses his old glasses.
Marge: I guess we could get more involved in Bart's activities but then
I'd be afraid of smothering him.
Homer: Yeah, and then we'd get the chair.
Marge: That's not what I meant.
Homer: It was, Marge, admit it.

Getting the chair is US slang for being executed, ie getting the electric chair.

While cultural knowledge makes these jokes funny, many western countries have some form of sarcastic/ironic humor that can help make the jokes funny even if you don't have all the info of the joke. For J folks, I don't know if they that kind of humor embedded in them.

[ttjereth]

Yes, but it was supposed to be. One of the aspects you can encounter a lot in Japan is the idea that if you don't understand one minor reference then you probably haven't really understood anything at all and you seemed to be walking a similar line, albeit unintentionally.

Take the example of the Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", there's a great joke there about Rashomon but how many people in the US would get that? The Stone Cutter's song with the immortal lines "Who controls the British pound? Who keeps the metric system down? We Dooo We Dooo!" probably plays better in Britain than America.

You aren't underestimating the foreign audience: you are underestimating the genius of your own artists.

I understand what you're saying, but I think extrapolating that I think "that if you don't understand one minor reference then you probably haven't really understood anything at all" from my misconception that two American TV shows wouldn't be as well received elsewhere as they are in the states is a bit of a stretch

Also, I'm not underestimating our artists so much as maybe I am thinking about a different aspect of the work they produce.

There is a great deal to be enjoyed in the Simpsons even without the more obscure pop-culture references, however I thought assuming that some of the references weren't understood, or simply not even noticed would have maybe affected how interesting the show is perceived to be, and how popular it would be.

That was based on opinions from friends, and from my own experiences from the other side of things.

It actually happens to me a lot here in Japan. For example, celebrity impersonators. Since I don't have a clue who a lot of the impersonators are impersonating, how good/bad and any humor involved in their impersonations tends to be lost on me.

Sorry if this is not as clear as I'd like it to be, I'm not that great at expressing myself in writing sometimes (I translate instruction manuals for living!)

[Mulboyne]

I'm not that great at expressing myself in writing sometimes (I translate instruction manuals for living!)

That joke would definitely work well in anywhere in Britain.

[amdg]

I'm half-expecting you to wonder if we can eat hamburgers.

Nice one.

Or perhaps it's ttjereths' way of finally confessing that he 'just don' nunerstan shakespeare'.

[kamome]

Nice one.

Or perhaps it's ttjereths' way of finally confessing that he 'just don' nunerstan shakespeare'.

I don't know - I think you guys have been overly harsh about ttjereth. His remarks are innocent enough and certainly seem to come from a well meaning attempt at understanding how humor translates across cultures. Mulb, I'm surprised you concluded that he's expressing anything as ignorant as "wondering if Brits can eat hamburgers".

[amdg]

[Charles]

So if, when you hear Grandpa Simpson say "you'll be a man, my son", you get the reference to Kipling, you are not a fucking genius. You are average.

No, you'd be an average British aristocrat of the Edwardian Era. Today, you'd be a genius, nobody reads Kipling anymore. Nobody watches the movies made from his stories anymore, unless you count Disney's cartoon adaptations of The Jungle Book.

The last person who got a laugh out of Kipling was Phil K. Dick:

Do you like Kipling?

I don't know, I've never kippled.

[Greji]

"wondering if Brits can eat hamburgers".

Ah come on Bird, you know better than that! Brits eat hamburgers? Ha! They probably never even heard of the great culminary monuments like "Whimpy's Burgers" and all that original Yank cusine!

[ttjereth]

I don't know - I think you guys have been overly harsh about ttjereth. His remarks are innocent enough and certainly seem to come from a well meaning attempt at understanding how humor translates across cultures. Mulb, I'm surprised you concluded that he's expressing anything as ignorant as "wondering if Brits can eat hamburgers".

Thanks, I really wasn't trying to start any shit.

I figure it's just a bit of oversensitivity, which can be understandable from people who have been in Japan for time, but I still think this is a case of mountains out of molehills.

Actually reminds of an acquaintance I had who lived here in Japan and spoke fairly fluent Japanese. Anytime he went out, if anyone tried to speak to him in English that somehow translated in his brain into that person assumining he couldn't speak Japanese, which further warped to that person thinking he was stupid, and he would then reply irately and all out of proportion to the cashier or whoever dared speak to him in English.

Seriously people. I am not and was not implying people were stupid, just that I wouldn't have thought the obscure American pop culture references in the Simpsons (and family guy) (Kipling doesn't generally count as what I deem obscure pop-culture) would be considered an attack.

If anything being considered ignorant of some of the more obscure American pop-culture could easily be considered a compliment

[ttjereth]

[omae mona]

The episode guides at http://www.snpp.com/episodes.html all have interesting sections which list a lot of these references. Example:

Episode: The Blunder Years

==============================================================================
> Movie (and other) references
==============================================================================
+ "The Wonder Years" (TV series)
- title a spoof

+ "Peanuts" (comic strip) {jk}
- blackboard Gag

+ "The Matrix" (movie) {am}
- during the couch gag, the family jumps and floats in mid-air

+ "Brawny" (brand of paper towel)
- "Burly" towels have similar name and lumberjack logo

+ Benihana (restaurant) {cl}
- popular (? not by Bart & Lisa's standards) Japanese restaurant where
the chefs cook the meal right at the table

[kamome]

[quote="amdg"]On the contrary, I think Mulboyne was being more than generous when he said, “]
Sheeit, amdg, you're being a bit touchy aren't you? And I think you're splitting hairs by trying to draw a distinction between how humor translates and getting the references.

I really see no point in ganging up on a forum noob who is making an effort to participate and contribute. He's not implying that Aussies and Brits are idiots and he's certainly not trolling here.

[amdg]

Exactly. Because the references I am referring to, are not things I would have thought to be well known outside of people who grew up in the U.S. 80's and 90's pop culture. Let me clarify pop-culture by explaining I mean things like children's cartoons and television commericials which were on at the time, not:


If you really think 90% of the references in the Simpsons are to "popular movies" I really do think you might be missing a lot of the references

Hypothesis: Bitches don't know shit.

Procedure:
(a) Post on FG "Do bitches know shit?"
(b) Stab my penis with a fork

Conclusion:
(a) Yope
(b) (;_; )

Thanks for bustin' the science down for us.

OK, maybe we do miss out on some of the extremely small fraction of references that are made to TV commercials.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Maybe fuck you.

Cartoons that never aired in Australia that are referenced on the Simpsons? Like what, for example?




Kamome - yeah, I was harsh sorry, not directed at you. Spare the rod and all that.

[Adhesive]

Man, I've never seen people get so upity regarding The Simpsons...well, actually that probably isn't true, but still...


BTW: If non-Americans understand all of the cultural references in the Simpsons than they know waaaay too much about American culture. No wonder you guys hate us so much!

[amdg]

No wonder you guys hate us so much!

Please don't count me in as hating America. Maybe some people do, but I certainly don't - quite the opposite in fact.

[amdg]

List of Hanna-Barbera references in the Simpsons (from http://www.snpp.com/lists.html) and comment as to how well I know them.



Huckleberry Hound (1958 ) – grew up on it.
3F16 Based on Andy Griffith
BABF19 On an upcoming edition of "Behind the Laughter"


Quickdraw McGraw (1959) – grew up on it.
HABF09 Makes an appearance, in El Kabong mode, on the Los Angeles promo tape


The Flintstones (1960) – grew up on it.
7G10 Homer says to Apu, "You got me confused with Fred Flintstone"
8F03 One horse is named Yabba-Dabba-Doo {bg}
8F24 Sit on the Simpsons' couch
9F10 The starting sequence parodies the opening and theme song
9F20 Bart wants Flintstones chewable morphine {bg}
1F21 Burns mistakes the Simpsons for the Flintstones
2F02 Bart uses the Flintstone phone
2F03 In one alternate reality, OFF's house looks like the Flintstones'
2F31 "The Flintstones Meet the Jetsons"
3F16 Based on The Honeymooners
3F21 One teen wears a "Great Gazoo" T-shirt
3F31 Troy McClure calls OFF "America's most popular non-prehistoric cartoon family" {nc}
4F20 Ozmodiar similar to The Great Gazoo
AABF23 The Flintstonemobile is in the Hollywood Car Museum
BABF02 Homer stands on tiptoe while bowling, like Fred
BABF02 A TV reporter compares Homer to Fred
BABF11 Homer mentions this show. Also wears a turtle-shell hard-hat, like the supervisor during the opening sequence
BABF22 Ozmodiar from 4F20 reappears; he also calls Homer a "dum-dum", like Gazoo did with Fred and Barney.
CABF05 Bruce Vilanche wears a Fred Flintstone T-shirt.
CABF19 Homer and Marge are dressed as Fred and Wilma in the opening


Top Cat (1961) – grew up on it.
3F16 Based on Sgt. Bilko


Yogi Bear (1961) – grew up on it.
3F16 Based on Art Carney
3F20 A "smarter than the average" bear swiped Moe's "pick-a-nic" basket
5F19 Homer dreams of being Yogi


Snagglepuss (1961) – grew up on it.
1F18 Ralph saw him use the bathroom
1F21 Comic Book Guy shows Bart a Snagglepuss cell {jk}


The Jetsons (1962) – grew up on it.
1F11 The set of Match Game 2034 looks like this show's futuristic settings
2F15 Homer's shirt looks like George'sThe cars of 2010 sound like jet-cars
2F31 "The Flintstones Meet the Jetsons"
5F24 The couch scene parodies the original closing credits
CABF16 George flies by Homer in his fantasy.Also, Homer yells, "Jetson"! like Spacely did on the show
FABF12 Lenny dresses as George Jetson for Bi-Mo-Sci-Fi-Con


Wally Gator (1962) – saw a few.
BABF22 One of the "poorly-voiced" characters has the same hat and snout


Magilla Gorilla (1964) – grew up on it.
5F19 Homer dreams of being Magilla


The Adventures of Johnny Quest (1964) - saw a few.
1F13 An astronaut is named Race Banyon, the same name as the Quest family bodyguard


Banana Splits (1967) – grew up on it (live action and the cartoon).
BABF10 Died in a helicopter crash


Scooby Doo (1969) – grew up on it.
7G12 Sideshow Bob parodies famous "foiled villian" line "And I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
8F20 The explanation of Sideshow Bob's crime, plus the lame joke/laughter at the end
2F06 One of the protestors looks like Velma
2F31 "Scooby Doo can doo-doo, but Jimmy Carter is smarter!"
4F04 Homer dreamt of going driving in a van solving mysteries
EABF08 Irish cop mentions being with him
GABF16 Taught Lisa not to fear monsters


Superfriends (1973) – grew up on it.
2F11 The school brainiac club is called "Superfriends"
5F13 Bart and Ralph prepare to watch this show
CABF07 When asked about his friends, Comic Book Guy says, "Oh, you mean my super friends?"


The Smurfs (1981) – threw up on it.
7G08 A Christmas miracle happened to them
CABF14 According to Homer, the Blue Men Group are a ripoff, and they suck.


Fish Police (1991) – had stopped watching cartoons by now.
9F04 In the Springfield Pet Cemetary


Capitol Critters (1992) – again, I’d stopped watching cartoons.
9F04 In the Springfield Pet Cemetary

[omae mona]

[quote="amdg"]
Fish Police (1991) –]

Ah, from that point you were only watching live action shows like "The Simpsons"?

[amdg]

[quote="omae mona"]Ah, from that point you were only watching live action shows like "The Simpsons"? ]

Touche.