# Archer TV show - what the ever lovin'....? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411 "2015-07-17T13:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/1 "2015-07-17T13:21:07Z")
I tried watching this last night for the first time and turned it off before I finished even the first episode, in disgust. I just have one question - is he always this racist? I couldn’t stomach all of the damn curry jokes which went on and on and on. Somebody tell me why I, as an American of E. Indian descent, should put up with curry jokes and somehow think they are fucking funny. Do people not realize all my life I’ve heard this stupid ass jokes and they are no funnier than they are now than they were when I was a child? Don’t tell me that it’s just his schtick or he’s supposed to be a jackass or whatever. The jokes are bad and he is still the white male protagonist of the show. Disappointed - I had heard it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/2 "2015-07-17T13:27:47Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Don’t tell me that it’s just his schtick or he’s supposed to be a jackass or whatever. The jokes are bad and he is still the white male protagonist of the show. I don’t recall any curry jokes so I assume you mean you watched your first episode and not THE first (premiere) episode. I only ask because I’m wracking my brain trying to remember anything about curry in the premiere. Anyway, there’s always a good amount of offensive stuff. Rarely does it deal with curry. The whole show is pretty much about Archer being an ass (and his co-workers also being asses, really) so if that doesn’t wash as an excuse to hear an offensive joke then you won’t enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/3 "2015-07-17T13:29:58Z")
Yeah, there are a lot of curry jokes in that first episode. Not to excuse it or whitewash it but Archer is offensive. I mean the first episode ends with him getting an erection when he thought his mother was going to die. It’s not a classy show. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/4 "2015-07-17T13:32:10Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yeah, there are a lot of curry jokes in that first episode. Are there? Huh. Well, apparently I need to re-watch the first episode some time. I remembered the general plot but I guess I’m blanking on the dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/5 "2015-07-17T13:32:11Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I don’t recall any curry jokes so I assume you mean you watched your first episode and not THE first (premiere) episode. I only ask because I’m wracking my brain trying to remember anything about curry in the premiere. He complains about his shirt smelling like curry and mocks the dry cleaner owner’s outfit, I believe. Then he walks into the main ISIS office and the receptionist complains about the smell of curry after he leaves. Or something. It’s been a while since I watched it. Skytanic. Don’t give up on Archer yet. Just watch Skytanic and if you still think it’s horrible then it’s horrible. But I love skytanic so so much. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/6 "2015-07-17T13:33:43Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > He complains about his shirt smelling like curry and mocks the dry cleaner owner’s outfit, I believe. Then he walks into the main ISIS office and the receptionist complains about the smell of curry after he leaves. Or something. It’s been a while since I watched it. Over. And over. and over. And over. I mean, he complains about the smell of curry like five or six times. Naw, I’m sorry, I’m done with the show. I’m just tired of Indians being the subject of humor and comedy all the time. It’s ok to make fun of Asians everywhere still. I won’t watch it; I have many more things I can watch. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/7 "2015-07-17T13:36:40Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > He complains about his shirt smelling like curry and mocks the dry cleaner owner’s outfit, I believe. Then he walks into the main ISIS office and the receptionist complains about the smell of curry after he leaves. Or something. It’s been a while since I watched it. Ah. [The script](http://www.zen134237.zen.co.uk/Archer/Archer_1x01_-_Mole_Hunt.pdf) (PDF). So he does. I only see “curry” mentioned the once but it might not reflect the finished product. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/8 "2015-07-17T13:38:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Over. And over. and over. And over. I mean, he complains about the smell of curry like five or six times. > > Naw, I’m sorry, I’m done with the show. I’m just tired of Indians being the subject of humor and comedy all the time. It’s ok to make fun of Asians everywhere still. I won’t watch it; I have many more things I can watch. I don’t think it’s presented in a way to suggest that it’s “ok” to make fun of Asians - Archer is pretty clearly an asshole. And there’s lots of other offensive stuff throughout the show of all sorts; like “South Park”, the humor is based on assholes being assholes. But if you don’t like the show, by all means don’t watch it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/9 "2015-07-17T13:39:53Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I tried watching this last night for the first time and turned it off before I finished even the first episode, in disgust. I just have one question - is he always this racist? Pretty much. Kinda sexist too. He’s not very nice to old people, either. Sterling Archer makes Archie Bunker look suave. > [@](#): > > Don’t tell me that it’s just his schtick or he’s supposed to be a jackass or whatever. The jokes are bad and he is still the white male protagonist of the show. I hope you turned it off before you got to Mallory’s antihistamine-fuelled tirade about immigrants “listening to their raps and shooting all the jobs”. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/10 "2015-07-17T13:41:28Z")
As every episode pretty much is offensive to someone, would you have been as bothered if the curry jokes turned up in episode 3 while Hispanics were skewered in the 1st? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/11 "2015-07-17T13:47:13Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Pretty much. Kinda sexist too. He’s not very nice to old people, either. Sterling Archer makes Archie Bunker look suave. > > I hope you turned it off before you got to Mallory’s antihistamine-fuelled tirade about immigrants “listening to their raps and shooting all the jobs”. I did. 🙂 > [@D\_Odds](#): > > As every episode pretty much is offensive to someone, would you have been as bothered if the curry jokes turned up in episode 3 while Hispanics were skewered in the 1st Good question. I don’t know, though I probably still would not have liked it. I mean, it wouldn’t be my ox being gored that time, and the jokes that are generally made about Hispanics are not made about Indians. I mean, when I say I’ve heard the curry joke from time immemorial, I meant I heard it directed against _me_ and _mine_. And I think I might have been ok with it, still, if he had made the curry joke once and then shut up about it. But he says it to the dry cleaner at least three times, and then he tells the reception 2-3 times, and then the receptionist makes the joke, too! I like offensive humor. I don’t like racial humor much, especially not when delivered by a clueless white guy. Not that it’s forgivable when it’s not a white guy, but if I made a curry joke (not that I ever would), it’s self-deprecating humor. ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/12 "2015-07-17T13:48:11Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I tried watching this last night for the first time and turned it off before I finished even the first episode, in disgust. I just have one question - is he always this racist? > > I couldn’t stomach all of the damn curry jokes which went on and on and on. Somebody tell me why I, as an American of E. Indian descent, should put up with curry jokes and somehow think they are fucking funny. > > Do people not realize all my life I’ve heard this stupid ass jokes and they are no funnier than they are now than they were when I was a child? > > Don’t tell me that it’s just his schtick or he’s supposed to be a jackass or whatever. The jokes are bad and he is still the white male protagonist of the show. > > Disappointed - I had heard it was funny. I love the show. I loved it so much I got a friend on it. But I told him it was mean and crude. (But with great background animation in the later seasons and a lot of smart literary references.) But if you don’t like the fact that Archer’s a jackass…don’t watch. Because Archer’s a jackass. And over a lot more than curry. He’s gotten multiple agents killed with his jackassery and I couldn’t tell you how many times he’s put his coworkers’ lives at real risk because of it. He’s a jackass from start to finish with occasional moments of niceness that don’t last long. Incidentally, I don’t like the smell of curry. Can’t stand the stuff. I don’t see how that’s a joke. I hate curry. Have since I was a kid. It was the one dish my mother made that I absolutely refused to eat because it smelled so bad. Curry powder is something I do not have in the kitchen to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/13 "2015-07-17T13:52:02Z")
Just FYI, curry powder isn’t even an Indian spice! > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Curry powder and the contemporary English use of the word “curry” are Western inventions and do not reflect any specific South Asian food, though a similar mixture of spices used in north South Asia is called garam masala. And what there is that is similar to curry is South Indian, anyway. People just assume that whatever the smell is coming from an Indian’s house is curry. As an adult, when I rarely cooked Indian food, I still got the same nasty comments. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/14 "2015-07-17T13:57:39Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > People just assume that whatever the smell is coming from an Indian’s house is curry. Classic Archer. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/15 "2015-07-17T14:01:12Z")
Archer skewers every single racial, religious, geographic, and cultural group out there. Asians, Latin Americans, Jewish, Catholic, Islamic, Hindu, southerners, homosexuals, women, etc. Especially women. But the shows biggest target? IMHO, I think its privileged white Americans. No matter what he _says_ about another group, no one comes off looking worse than Archer himself. He holds a mirror up to white Americans in a way that makes me want to say, “that’s not me, is it?” I love the Archie Bunker comparison. Archer is a modern, animated version of Archie. Maybe Archer/Archie was an intentional thing. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/16 "2015-07-17T14:01:20Z")
Archer is a complete asshole, extremely racist and sexist, but it is NEVER presented as an ok way to be. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/17 "2015-07-17T14:02:12Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Classic Archer. I know. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/18 "2015-07-17T14:03:44Z")
It may help (or then again, it may not - humor being subjective and all) if you reframe it in your mind as Archer and his compatriots being the butt of the jokes. In other words, you’re supposed to be laughing AT them, not with them. When Archer says something sexist or Mallory says something racist, it’s not because the writers are sexist or racist. It’s the writers poking fun at sexists and racists in the same way that the Colbert Report mocked conservatives - by embodying them and taking their schtick to the most absurd degree. I adore the show, but it’s squarely in the category of humor (along with its spiritual progenitor, “Arrested Development”) where the characters are intentionally designed to be terrible people. The comedy comes from the way their personalities bounce off each other, the sharp-as-nails back and forth of the dialogue, the “Arrested”-style self-referentiality, and the superlative voice work. But it’s never an affirmation of the behavior of the characters. Even in the text of the show, it’s openly acknowledged that pretty much everyone at ISIS is a horrible human being. By comparison, one of my other favorite comedies, “Bob’s Burgers,” is basically the complete opposite to “Archer” in tone - whereas “Archer” implicitly criticizes its leads at every turn, “Bob’s Burgers” is very much a celebration of its lovably strange characters (oddly enough, H. Jon Benjamin voices the lead character in that show, too). But despite their very disparate styles of humor, it’s very much possible to enjoy both shows - you just have to approach each show from the right angle. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/19 "2015-07-17T14:04:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > And what there is that is similar to curry is South Indian, anyway. People just assume that whatever the smell is coming from an Indian’s house is curry. As an adult, when I rarely cooked Indian food, I still got the same nasty comments. Which reminds me, I still need to try that spicy turnip recipe you linked on FB as soon as I figure out how to adapt it for my lack of a pressure cooker. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411/20 "2015-07-17T14:11:18Z")
I understand what you guys are saying, that Archer is supposed to be the butt of the jokes. But how many people get that and how many people just watch him because he is racist? But that’s by-the-by. I don’t want the show removed from existence or anything. 🙂 I just thought it was absolutely terrible. **Inner Stickler** , I don’t use the pressure cooker either. It just cooks it faster. Here’s a similar recipe for a cast iron skillet: [Shalgam Ki Subzi](http://curryandbeyond.blogspot.com/2013/02/shalgam-aur-mutter-ki-subzi-turnip-and.html) I usually use a steel pan and it works out fine. I’m not a big fan of nonstick pans for Indian cooking; steel works better, but WATCH THE HEAT. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archer-tv-show-what-the-ever-lovin/725411.md?page=2)