In the episode Blame It On Lisa, the Simpson family travel to Brazil, where crime and kidnapping are rife, the snakes eat children, and a TV show called Teleboobies - fronted by a highly inappropriately buxom female presenter - is the must-watch programme for kids. Obviously, some of the people of Brazil took issue with the episode. While the negative connotations proved a problem, perhaps even more of an issue was that the episode confused Brazilian culture with the culture of Brazil's surrounding countries. While Brazilians speak Portuguese, for example, the Brazilians of Blame It On Lisa speak in Spanish accents. Tourism officials in Rio de Janeiro, the setting of the episode, were riled, and planned to sue, blaming The Simpsons for potential loss of earnings. Even more amazingly, Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso got behind the idea of a lawsuit, saying that the episode "brought a distorted version of Brazilian reality".
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
