Simpsons creator Matt Groening talks about reshaping his non-white roles

Simpsons creator Matt Groening spoke about the program’s decision to reshape its non-white roles after allegations of racial stereotypes in recent years.

On Tuesday it was announced that Dr. Hibbert’s character, voiced by white actor Harry Shearer, was replaced by black actor Kevin Michael Richardson.

Cartoonist Matt, 67, said that while he has no problem with white actors playing non-white characters in The Simpsons, he accepts that time has changed since the series was released in 1989.

In a rare interview with BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat, Matt said, ‘I think it’s great, times change, but I actually had no problem with the way we were doing it. All of our actors play dozens of characters each, it was never designed to exclude anyone. ‘

Asked whether he believed the controversy raised awareness of the need for more diversity in the writers ‘rooms, he said:’ I totally agree with that. And we’re trying to make it better.

“Intolerance and racism are still an incredible problem and it is good to finally seek more equality and representation.”

The program’s response in 2018 was the subject of much criticism when, within an episode, Lisa Simpson appeared to look at the camera and say, ‘Something that started decades ago and was applauded and harmless is now politically incorrect.

‘What can you do?’

After the reaction, The Simpsons announced that they would re-launch their non-white roles.

Asked if he regrets how they handled it, Matt said, ‘At some point, it doesn’t matter what you say. You’re going to be attacked by anyone, you know? Honestly, it doesn’t affect me at all.

– We are not going out of our way to comfort fanatics. On the other hand, if you make some kind of gesture and people notice a weakness, you will be criticized. ‘

This comes after it was reported that the longest animated series in television history is joining the list of titles that make more racially sensitive casting decisions.

The state of Wrap Hibbert will now be voiced by black actor Kevin, 56, who has provided vocals for several roles in the series before, along with Family Guy, American Dad! and countless other titles.

Harry, 77, meanwhile will continue to give voice to his many other characters in The Simpsons, including Mr. Burns and Smithers, Ned Flanders and Kent Brockman.

A 20th Century Fox statement said: ‘Last night’s episode, DiaryQueen, introduced Harry Shearer as Dr. Hibbert’s voice for the last time …

‘Next Sunday’s episode of Wad Goals will have Kevin Michael Richardson giving Dr. Hibbert a voice – and from then on he will give the character a voice.’

Veteran actor Harry has given his voice to Hibbert’s character since the second season of the Simpsons in 1990, while Kevin has been playing various roles on the show since 2009.

In 2013, Kevin was asked if he ever felt he was stigmatized because of his voice, to which he said: ‘Sometimes, from what I’ve done, people want similar sounds in relation to these characters. What I admire are the people who throw me into reach …

‘To know that I can do ups and downs and things like that, like when I was Cleveland Jr. and Barney Rubble, that’s really cool. Not being defined in a specific area is fine. It is good to know that people know what I can do. ‘

The move to replace Harry mirrored several other similar decisions in the past year, especially in light of the renewed attention given to racial prejudices and white privileges thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Last July, Kristen Bell left the role of Molly in the Apple TV + Central Park animation series, also due to concerns over representation.

Bell announced on social media that he was no longer giving a voice to the character, with a frank and sincere statement on his Instagram.

“Choosing a mestizo character with a white actress undermines the specificity of mestizo and the experience of black Americans,” she wrote at the time.

‘This is a time to acknowledge our acts of complicity. Here’s one of mine. Playing the character Molly in Central Park shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege, ‘she said as well.

Also last summer, Mike Henry of Family Guy announced that he was moving away from the voice of the black character Cleveland Brown.

Elsewhere, Hank Azaria made the decision to stop giving voice to Apu’s Indian-American character in The Simpsons, who played the role for the last time in 2017.

The move to the cast comes after Fox made a brief statement on the matter last June: “Moving on, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voicing non-white characters.”