The Simpsons: 10 Most Controversial Moments Ever
From insulting countries to angering the church, the Simpsons never shy away from controversy.
The Simpsons and controversy pretty much go hand in hand. The show’s no holds barred approach to controversial topics meant it was always inevitable that it would get on the wrong side of quite a few people.
Over its three decade plus run, the show has taken aim at conservative leaders, Catholics, foreign governments, and pretty much everyone and anyone of social importance, quite the approach considering it airs close to prime time. Now this is certainly not a bad thing. Art should be allowed to express its views, especially when it comes to the rich and the powerful.
However, there have been plenty of occasions when this car was driven a little far into uncomfortable territory. From rape to inaccurate representations of countries, these were the moments when it became increasingly difficult to maintain the subjectivity of art banner.
A lot of these scenes went on to kick up a storm of controversy, though not enough to prevent the show from crossing similar lines in future episodes. Before getting into it, some of these scenes can be quite uncomfortable for certain viewers, so some discretion is advised.
10. Indirectly (Or Directly) Calling Fox News Racist
This was hilariously bizarre because of the fact that Fox owned the broadcasting network where Simpsons aired. Still, it didn’t stop the showrunners from, in the words of Fox anchor Bill O’Reilly, biting the hand that feeds it.
In the episode titled, “Fool Monty”, we see a brief shot of a Fox News helicopter passing over New York. It was right at the beginning of the episode and kept very brief. Pretty normal filler scenery right? Nope.
Because said helicopter was painted with the now infamous words, “Not Racists, but #1 with Racists”.
Of course, there was no way this would go unnoticed. It raised the kind of media storm you would expect. Though, if anyone thought this would curtail the showrunners’ willingness to target powerful entities, they would be in for a nasty surprise the very next episode, which opened with a similar helicopter. This time, it took aim at the aforementioned O’Reilly, saying, “Not suitable for viewers under 75. How do you like them apples, Bill?”