4th of July
"What can be a better way to celebrate the birth of our nation than to blow up a small piece of it?"
-Apu Nahassapeemapetlan
Happy (almost) Fourth of July!
Do do today:
1. Burn a flag, just because you still can.
When I was growing up, we used to watch the fireworks on the Glenview Golf Course, while the Glenview Symphony Orchestra played the 1812 Overture and selections from Les Miserables. I'm not sure they had the whole "America" concept down, but they get credit for trying, mostly because middle class white suburbanites know how to blow things up really well, so the fireworks were always rad.
This Fourth of July, I would like to hearken back to those times. It was a simpler time, when everything had monsters in it, and everything ended with eating. And explosions!Isn't that what freedom is all about?
-Apu Nahassapeemapetlan
Happy (almost) Fourth of July!
Do do today:
1. Burn a flag, just because you still can.
When I was growing up, we used to watch the fireworks on the Glenview Golf Course, while the Glenview Symphony Orchestra played the 1812 Overture and selections from Les Miserables. I'm not sure they had the whole "America" concept down, but they get credit for trying, mostly because middle class white suburbanites know how to blow things up really well, so the fireworks were always rad.
This Fourth of July, I would like to hearken back to those times. It was a simpler time, when everything had monsters in it, and everything ended with eating. And explosions!Isn't that what freedom is all about?
posted by The Goo at 10:40 AM
4 Comments:
Actually, Apu didn't say that line on The Simpsons- it was an unnamed convenience store owner from the town where the Simpsons took their summer vacation (I believe the episode is "Summer of 4'2''" but I could be wrong). The convenience store owner was an Apu look-alike but his turban and full beard indicate that he was Muslim rather than Hindu. In recent years, when this episode is syndicated, this line has been silenced due to the changed political situation since the original airing. Similarly, the episode "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" awkwardly deletes all references to the Twin Towers.
I'm sorry, I have to disagree with both of you. I remembered the quote and then looked it up on the interweb, which attributed it to Apu. My memory PLUS the interweb- now that's a seriously reliable source.
Dear ranee_ani,
You are completely right, and I miswrote. I am fully aware of these "fine differences," as you put them, and I simply wrote the wrong religion because I looked up the reasons for the editing in syndication and read one commenter's remark that he believed that the change was done to avoid offending Muslims. This was remiss of me and I sincerely apologize for my error. Thank you for correcting me.
Dear rock_ninja,
I'm sorry, but I still disagree with you. I checked www.snpp.com, the most extensive Simpsons archive I know of, and it clearly states that the character is NOT Apu. He is described as an "Apu look-alike" and works at the Li'l Valu-Mart. http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F22.html
Dear Chris Chan,
I don't dispute that you are correct. I'm just saying that my memory and the interweb is a seriously reliable source. We have been published in journals. Well, journals in the printing press of my mind. They're all academic.
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