A recent episode of The Simpsons has received some controversy overseas after making a joke/reference to Chinese child workers and forced labor camps. The Disney+ streaming service based in Hong Kong has deemed this episode unsuitable for public viewing and has banned the aforementioned episode according to Deadline.
Originally airing on October 2, 2022, The Simpsons episode entitled “One Angry Lisa” follows Lisa, played by Yeardley Smith (Maximum Overdrive, As Good As It Gets, Gossamer Folds), participating in jury duty while Marge, voiced by Julie Kavner (Doctor Dolittle, Click, Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata),really gets into exercise cycling and bikes around the globe. As the story progresses, Marge finds herself atop The Great Wall of China and utters the line, “Behold the wonders of China: bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.”
According to Deadline. The news was first published by the Financial Times, reporting that it is unclear exactly when the episode was removed from the service, or who removed it. Obviously, the Chinese government denied the allegations of forced labor camps and underage employment abuse.
With censors at the Hong Kong Disney+ streaming service axing another episode of The Simpsons, due to a remark that did not positively contribute to the nation of China, concerns over growing government censorship in China are increasing.
The first episode of The Simpsons that China blocked was titled “Goo Goo Gai Pan ” and was initially released on March 13th, 2005 and was made unavailable on Disney+ in Hong Kong during 2021. In this episode, The Simpsons family travels to china to adopt a baby for Marge’s sister Selma (also played by Julie Kavner). Later in the story Homer, voice by Dan Castellaneta (Super 8, Space Jam, The Office), reads a plaque saying “On this spot in 1989, nothing happened”, in Tiananmen Square, a reference to the Chinese Government’s denial of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. It is also a reference to the year The Simpsons first aired.
Disney hasn’t commented on the incident of the controversial Simpsons jokes or the Chinese censorship that followed