The Stupids are a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

which appear in a series of children's books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall. The Stupids draw their humor from the fact that they are incompetent to the point of confusing the most simple concepts and tasks.

Controversy

''The Stupids'' series of books rank number 62 on the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the entire 2000's decade.100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000–2009
/ref> Challengers of the books claim that they describe families in a derogatory manner and may encourage children to be disobedient. They also claim that they promote low self-esteem and negative behavior.

Books in the series

* ''The Stupids Step Out'' (1974) * ''The Stupids Have a Ball'' (1978) * ''The Stupids Die'' (1981) * ''The Stupids Take Off'' (1989)

Film version

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, a film version was released starring Tom Arnold, directed by

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...

; It was a box office failure. The film details the family's pursuit of their trash, which they believe to be stolen, and the "conspiracy" they uncover in the process. The film was also panned by many film critics and audiences alike.

References

American picture books Fictional families Literary characters introduced in 1974 Houghton Mifflin books {{child-lit-char-stub