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D'oh! 'Simpsons' Again Angers South Americans
A bit of dialogue between Homer Simpson's buddies Carl and Lenny deeply offended some Argentines.
(Fox Broadcasting)
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In the continent's largest country, Brazil, the show inflamed mass anger when the Simpson family visited Rio de Janeiro during a 2002 episode. The storyline featured Homer being kidnapped by a taxi driver. Then he and Bart were mugged by a gang of children. Bart, in his hotel room, watched a racy television show for children, called "Teleboobies." On Copacabana beach, Bart was attacked by a monkey.
The current Argentine controversy touches upon the far more delicate issue of state-sponsored murder, however, and it comes at a time when some here are revisiting Perón's place in its painful past.
On Monday, as thousands here consulted YouTube to view the clip of the "Simpsons" episode, Isabel Perón's -- Juan Perón's third wife -- appeared in a Spanish court to fight a request for her extradition to face charges of human rights abuses. She was Perón's vice president and took over as president when her husband died in 1974.
Prosecutors say that a government anti-communist squad during her presidency was responsible for 1,500 deaths or disappearances. Some believe that group is responsible for initiating the violence that would mushroom under the military government that seized power from Isabel Perón in a 1976 coup.
Joseph Page, the author of a biography of Juan Perón, said that he believes it is unfair to label Perón a dictator, much less the architect of the disappearances. Still, he said, the response to the show seems like an overreaction.
"Argentines in general place an inordinate stock on how they are depicted abroad, and they're extremely sensitive about their image," Page said.
"But I think the controversy that erupted around the Brazil episode proves that the Simpsons are equal-opportunity offenders."
