We don't live in a black and white society, certain minorities have had worse experiences than others. You can't say 'it's all or nothing' because that implies everyone is already an equal, which isn't true.
I know everyone is not yet on an equal playing field, but that is what we're striving towards/advocating for, and you can't create an equal society by producing media which is unequal in its satirizing of specific groups in an ill-mannered attempt to balance out historical examples of inequality and discrimination. And The Simpsons generally avoided punching down at minorities which had worse historical experiences, barring the lightest of jabs, and then went whole hog with the stereotyping of characters like Willie, Cletus and Fat Tony. They'd already subscribed to this exact mentality, but it still wasn't enough.
A positive stereotype still isn't good, because it implies that you, as a member of that group, have certain characteristics that you may not have. The Indian stereotype that they all own Milk Bars is bad because it implies that every Indian knows how to run a business. Some don't and it would be harmful to assume that they do.
No stereotyping is good, if applied to the real world, but The Simpsons is an
adult animated show (at least it was, sometimes HD Simpsons feels like it's made for babies). It is meant to trust that the viewer is mature and educated enough to recognize that the show is not condoning, or advocating for, the stereotyping of any group, and if certain viewers are ignorant enough to make assumptions about any specific group based on something they saw on a satirical adult comedy, then they're the problem. It is not the social responsibility of adult entertainment to placate the sensibilities and/or ignorance of a tiny percentage of their viewership.
That's cool and all but you'd be surprised how much damage stereotypes, again, because it implies traits that not everyone has. You can support freedom of expression, I do too, but I also understand that freedom of expression should not mean freedom of consequences.
I think my last point about trusting in and respecting the intelligence of your audience applies here as well. I'm not saying a show like the Simpsons doesn't have the power to influence on a subconscious level, but they've rarely (if ever) stereotyped anyone in a malicious context (with, arguably, the exception of Brazil). We often ignore context, because it's socially and politically advantageous to do so, but it is relevant, and to pretend it's not is disingenuous.
And I agree that freedom of expression should not mean freedom from consequences, but my idea of consequences in regards to media people consider unacceptable, offensive, problematic, ect., is more along the lines of: freedom to criticize, decline in ratings or bombing at the box off, lost of audience respect, ect. Not outright censorship (
Stark Raving Dad comes to mind). I know the producers have taken it upon themselves to implement all of these reason changes and censorship, and it is their right to do so. Some fans are also expressing their right to criticize those decisions as asinine.
Now this is just stupid. You act like the implementation of diverse groups of people is not "socially challenging", when it totally is. People still scream and shout about someone coming out as LGBT, saying they'll stop viewing/listening to their content. And this 'infantalization' you speak of doesn't exist, you are shitting your pants over the fact that minorities aren't just shoehorned into a stereotypical role.
Wow lol. First off I'd like to say that me "shitting my pants" over minorities not being shoehorned into stereotypical roles is a completely baseless, unfair and untrue accusation. Really reaching there. And I don't see why I, or anyone else, would, or should, shit our pants over an increase in shows with diverse casts filling diverse roles. A significant amount of the media I consume does exactly that. Maybe you think people are finding that socially challenging, to me that's just natural progression. I can't say I've seen much pushback against diversity and representation, when it's done right (other than from loud far-right people on 4chan and bitchute, whose opinions basically count for nothing). For example, there's a big difference between the execution of positive representation and inclusivity in critically lauded shows like Community or Steven Universe, and critically panned shows which attempt to earn "woke-points", like (
insert any CW show from the last 10 years) or, to use a Simpsons example,
Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy, whose messages have the subtly of a sledge hammer and still completely miss their mark.
Infantalization can be observed across media in many different forms. For example, how modern Simpsons and Family Guy will over-explain their jokes, or how Marvel movies will use appropriate music cues to let you know how you're supposed to be feeling rather than interpreting it for yourself. I used "socially challenging" and "infantalization" mainly in reference to the adult comedy genre. It is my interpretation that there is oftentimes an assumption that the world has become unable to handle offensive humour (in some cases, this is sadly true). This can mean jokes which could be considered racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, violent, vulgar, ect., but ultimately the intent behind them is just to get a laugh, usually a shock laugh, and sometimes, if the joke is smart, they're satirizing the ludicrously of racism itself. Yes, their intent is to offend, but never to insight hatred, and no one's forcing you to watch. You're not meant to take it seriously, that's almost the very definition of what a "joke" is, and comedy is an excellent vehicle for us to deal with and explore difficult and controversial topics in a less serious and more accessible way.
There are some jokes which South Park, Always Sunny and Family Guy made in their heyday which they probably couldn't do anymore. You probably couldn't make a cartoon as offensive as Drawn Together anymore. But many people love those shows, and they love a good offensive joke. There are people across all groups who love a good offensive joke, even if it's at their expense. Sometimes the stereotypes, particularly in adult animation, are taken to such an overly-caricatured and exaggerated extreme that they enter an absurdist realm of humour, because the average intelligent viewer knows that no one like Lu Kim in South Park or Consuela in Family Guy could possibly exist in real life. It's adult comedy. Be adults when you watch it. Be adults in how you react to it. Because honestly, getting offended over edgy humour is the epitome of First World problems.