Current Events > Should The Simpsons apologize for Apu?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Especially since it was a Caucasian who did the voice.

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its a show about stereotyping, get over it.

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Hank Azaria has expressed remorse for his role in the character and that's about all that can be expected from them. After their previous response, it wouldn't matter anyway.

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If anything they should apologize for the last 15 seasons

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They already have. There is nothing to talk about here.

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monkmith posted...

its a show about stereotyping, get over it.

Oh...so if they showed a black character constantly robbing stores for laughs it's okay? Luckily most robberies were done by Snake XFD

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as a brown guy, Apu and similar portrayals of brown characters on TV always made me feel like we were clowns that basically just existed to be laughed at. so it would be nice but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

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Ranlom posted...

If anything they should apologize for the last 15 seasons

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Ranlom posted...

If anything they should apologize for the last 15 seasons

qft

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I think back when the character was created, they had no way of knowing the cultural impact he would have. Apu wasnt just a stereotype, he became a point of reference. White people saying "Thank you, come again" in that accent is just a fact of life for Indians living in America

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The actor said the wanted to the most offensive voice that he could. Remember that.

However I am not South Asian so it is not my place to comment .

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Ranlom posted...

If anything they should apologize for the last 15 seasons

More like the last 20

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No not really

Is it the simpsons fault every other show failed to have decent indian characters? A big complaint I see was he was "all we had"

Also theres so much money in bollywood you'll never see high level indian actors like amir khan come over here for some shitty tv show
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If they have to apologise for him then they have to apologise for Wille, Cletus, Bumblebee Man, Fat Tony, Luigi, Dr. Nick, etc. and of course that's silly.

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Austin_Era_II posted...

Oh...so if they showed a black character constantly robbing stores for laughs it's okay? Luckily most robberies were done by Snake XFD

point is you're taking the damn show way to seriously. dont manufacture controversy to try to prove your opinion.

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GoodOlJr posted...

No not really

Is it the simpsons fault every other show failed to have decent indian characters? A big complaint I see was he was "all we had"

Also theres so much money in bollywood you'll never see high level indian actors like amir khan come over here for some shitty tv show

they could've had other prominent Indian characters in the show to balance it out if they cared.

also Amir Khan ha found his niche ripping off Hollywood movies in Bollywood (e.g. Ghajini) so why would he make the shift? furthermore there are Bollywood stars who are making/made the shift like Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, and Irrfan Khan (rip)

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The whole show is one big stereotype

Hell, it should be more offensive to the white American family more than anything.

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Remember when he fucking tried to eat a hot dog "I don't wanna live" LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!

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ssk9716757 posted...

they could've had other prominent Indian characters in the show to balance it out if they cared.

also Aamir Khan has found his niche ripping off Hollywood movies in Bollywood (e.g. Ghajini) so why would he make the shift? furthermore there are Bollywood stars who are making/made the shift like Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, and Irrfan Khan (rip)

And sunny leone made the shift from north american porn to bollywood

I guess they could have added a new character, idk, it wouldnt help we all ignore everything after season 13 if im being generous
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16-BITTER posted...

As if the entire cast weren't clowns that just existed to be laughed at.

Like, there was even literally a clown to be laughed at

the difference is if you're white you can switch over to almost any other movie or TV show and see white characters taken seriously. even black people have Denzel or Forest Whitaker or Morgan Freeman and their various serious roles. South Asian people are almost universally portrayed as comedic relief, and Apu contributed heavily to that.

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ssk9716757 posted...

as a brown guy, Apu and similar portrayals of brown characters on TV always made me feel like we were clowns that basically just existed to be laughed at. so it would be nice but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

Isn't Apu is literally one of the most successful people in the Simpsons?

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ssk9716757 posted...

the difference is if you're white you can switch over to almost any other movie or TV show and see white characters taken seriously. even black people have Denzel or Forest Whitaker or Morgan Freeman and their various serious roles. South Asian people are almost universally portrayed as comedic relief, and Apu contributed heavily to that.

Yeah it's not like Simpsons characters were ever comedic or anything, just Apu.

the simpsons cast seemed to have mixed responses

Hank Azaria expressed remorse

Matt Geoening said something along the lines of "people love to get offended"

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Annihilated posted...

Yeah it's not like Simpsons characters were ever comedic or anything, just Apu.

the difference is if you're white you can switch over to almost any other movie or TV show and see white characters taken seriously. even black people have Denzel or Forest Whitaker or Morgan Freeman and their various serious roles. South Asian people are almost universally portrayed as comedic relief, and Apu contributed heavily to that.

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pojr posted...

the simpsons cast seemed to have mixed responses

Hank Azaria expressed remorse

Matt Geoening said something along the lines of "people love to get offended"

Too many snowflakes these days tbqh. Blacks would be upset if a white guy was doing the voice for a black comedic character.

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LightHawKnight posted...

Isn't Apu is literally one of the most successful people in the Simpsons?

yeah and he's still a joke despite that. if anything it's an accurate representation of how people still see South Asian people as clowns despite their achievements.

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ssk9716757 posted...

the difference is if you're white you can switch over to almost any other movie or TV show and see white characters taken seriously. even black people have Denzel or Forest Whitaker or Morgan Freeman and their various serious roles. South Asian people are almost universally portrayed as comedic relief, and Apu contributed heavily to that.

Yeah it's not like Simpsons characters were ever comedic or anything, just Apu.

the simpsons could have easily ignored the concerns and kept using apu in the show, but no they decided to throw a jab at the original author of the video in one of the episodes >_>

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ssk9716757 posted...

yeah and he's still a joke despite that. if anything it's an accurate representation of how people still see South Asian people as clowns despite their achievements.

But everybody is a joke in the Simpsons.

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LightHawKnight posted...

But everybody is a joke in the Simpsons.

Everybody, but Moe.

;_;!

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Not sure if it's still like this, but for awhile Moe was just suicide jokes

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LightHawKnight posted...

But everybody is a joke in the Simpsons.

I mentioned it above but the context is different because there aren't many non-comedic representations of South Asian people on American TV and Apu became one of the most well-known ones. but even within the show itself, you have multiple varied representations of "white" characters (I know they're literally yellow) and even varied representation of black characters (Carl, Dr. Hibbert) but only one major Indian character who is a complete stereotype.

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His restaurant was a failure and Bart kept pushing his buttons...I can see why he turned suicidal.

"Owww my frickin' ears!" XFD


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ssk9716757 posted...

I mentioned it above but the context is different because there aren't many non-comedic representations of South Asian people on American TV and Apu became one of the most well-known ones. but even within the show itself, you have multiple varied representations of "white" characters (I know they're literally yellow) and even varied representation of black characters (Carl, Dr. Hibbert) but only one major Indian character who is a complete stereotype.

What are your thoughts on Raj from TBBT?

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Austin_Era_II posted...

What are your thoughts on Raj from TBBT?

never really watched TBBT except for a few episodes but I did not get a positive vibe. can't really speak to it though since I haven't watched enough.

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ssk9716757 posted...

I mentioned it above but the context is different because there aren't many non-comedic representations of South Asian people on American TV and Apu became one of the most well-known ones. but even within the show itself, you have multiple varied representations of "white" characters (I know they're literally yellow) and even varied representation of black characters (Carl, Dr. Hibbert) but only one major Indian character who is a complete stereotype.

This is how I view it. They don't need to apologize, but the steps they've recognized in recent years is enough. White people voicing other races is one thing, but doing an accent and a stereotype is pretty dated. Even though Apu is one of the most intelligent people in Springfield, it doesn't change that.

And for the last 10 years, Kevin Michael Richardson's actually been a regular cast member voicing all other new black characters. 30 years ago, it was just a matter of either not as much POCs in voice acting/comedy, and producers not being as integrated with other races and cultures at the time. And there's more of that now.

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Austin_Era_II posted...

Blacks would be upset if a white guy was doing the voice for a black comedic character.

Shut up nobody is mad at Mike Henry for voicing Cleveland Brown for the past 21 years. Hank Azaria has been Officer Lou for 30 years, same goes for Harry Shearer as Dr. Hibbert.

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Curious if these same people who want the Simpsons to apologize would ever try to get South Park to apologize for the City Wok guy. No they wouldnt, because they know Trey Parker and Matt Stone dont give a fuck.

South Park's level of comedy is untouchable.

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No. You can maybe make the argument that being one of the lone non-"white" characters on the show draws more attention to him than if it were more diverse, but his character is based on a completely real stereotype. If it's bad to stereotype anything, then most comedy is dead. I can certainly understand the argument that more care should be taken given past mockery of minority races, but Apu is about as innocuous as you can get.

ssk9716757 posted...

I mentioned it above but the context is different because there aren't many non-comedic representations of South Asian people on American TV and Apu became one of the most well-known ones. but even within the show itself, you have multiple varied representations of "white" characters (I know they're literally yellow) and even varied representation of black characters (Carl, Dr. Hibbert) but only one major Indian character who is a complete stereotype.

This. Although its important to note that back in the early 90s Apu just being a fully fledged character was a bigger deal, and helped set up a place for other south Asian actors that weren't one-note stereotypes. That said, The Simpsons wasn't likely expecting to be on for 30 years, and what was considered a progressive character back in the 90s is taboo by todays standards (which is completely fair tbh) so it makes sense that Apu bow out of the show.

Granted, this is literally how the Simpsons responded to it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyMR73D33YU

Nope.

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Apu is a weird situation. By all accounts, Apu isn't treated any different from the rest of the Simpson's over-the-top, comedic cast of characters. One could even argue he is considerably more grounded and successful than most of them.

The issue is that there just have never been any consistent portrayals of Indian characters on American TV. Obviously the Simpson's don't control that, but regardless it put an undue cultural significance on Apu as the primary media representation of Indians in America. That in turn created a bunch of stereotypes that follow Indians to this day.

It is easy to see how this can cause a negative reaction from people while simultaneously cause the Simpson's to get defensive because by all accounts they didn't do anything overtly wrong.

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I miss Apu

Sure in a vacuum he was a sterotype but everyone in The Simpsons is.

Look at Willie, Homer, Bumblebee Man, Professor Frink, Chief Wiggum, Mr Burns etc.

And he had some really funny moments. It's sad to destroy that. To remove someone from existence because they are different to you.
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No. Apu was part of all of our lives growing up, and made us laugh, and gave us great memories. Some no named failed comedian trying to make a name for himself, and failed at that too, other than be known as the dumbass who killed Apu, making a documentary about it should have never terminated Apu. It was utter bs.

Southernfatman posted...

Wille, Cletus, Bumblebee Man, Fat Tony, Luigi, Dr. Nick, etc. and of course that's silly.

There are some key differences between many of those characters and the creation of Apu though.

Willie was based on a surly sketch show character portrayed by an American of Scottish descent.

Bumbleebee Man is based on Mexican TV legend El Chapuln Colorado.

Fat Tony is directly influenced by Italian/Italian-American mobsters, both those in real life and those in fiction who were created/influenced by Italians/Italian-Americans. He's also portrayed by an Italian-American. There were Italian-American writers on the show as well.

The distinction between these characters and Apu is that - either by the writing staff or the creators of the original characters that influenced them - there was some level of representation and involvement in the creation process. This was decidedly not the case with Apu, whose creation process involved white guys writing an Indian character, who was based on a brownface clad white guy's absurd portrayal of an Indian character in a movie, and voiced by a white guy intentionally doing an offensive accent.

As for the other characters, Luigi Risotto was supposed to be a reference to blatantly absurd caricatures in marketing but at some point, they really blurred the line between lampooning stereotypes and reinforcing them.

Dr. Nick is a combination of the appearance of one of the original animation studio's namesake and a poor impression of Ricky Ricardo (as performed by Hank Azaria). There's nothing really noteworthy of him either way as far as this discussion goes.

Cletus Spuckler is more about class than racial or ethnic representation. There's clearly no problem with him being a representative of white people as a whole because the show has a broad range of white people. Some objections of class portrayal could definitely be raised about him and his family though.

There are some other characters more in line with Apu, like Cookie Kwan, who just seems to be a stereotype through and through, and is also portrayed by a white person.

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Many American South Asians were probably getting pissed from others who kept saying "Thank you come again" to them. I knew this one pizza delivery guy (Indian) who got pissed cause some customer called him "Kumar" after the movie Harold & Kumar came out.

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Sheiky-Baby posted...

No. Apu was part of all of our lives growing up, and made us laugh, and gave us great memories. Some no named failed comedian trying to make a name for himself, and failed at that too, other than be known as the dumbass who killed Apu, making a documentary about it should have never terminated Apu. It was utter bs.

It wasn't the documentary, they had already considered it. The last episode to focus on Apu - where his nephew views him as a stereotype and takes over the Kwik-E-Mart - came out a full year before that documentary did.

I read Mike Reiss' book, and they've fully been aware of the issues. He's a great character, but marred by being voiced by a non-Indian.

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