Current Events > Hank Azaria agrees to step aside and let an actual Indian/South Asian play Apu

(+) Yeah! (+)

Literally Mario.

Literally Mamma Mia. Literally Spaghetti. Literally Ravioli (SM64). Literally broken English. Literally everything ends with an "...a"

Literally voiced by a French Guy.

I think I have a case here. As an Italian American, I am pissed.
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Caution999 posted...

Mario is racist. Is the Mario voice actor Italian?

Please. Nintendo made Mario a construction worker, a plumber, a doctor, a world saver and literally a super hero.
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CyricZ posted...

lilORANG posted...

I'm talking about the episode they aired earlier this month that is the subject of that article lol

You honestly think Hank Azaria wrote that scene? Hank Azaria the actor? Not a writer?

no
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Caution999 posted...

As an Italian American, I am pissed.

Start a campaign to change it then. Complaining to us isn't going to stop Nintendo doing what they do.

Veggeta X posted...

Caution999 posted...

And most people only understand an Italian stereotype as a greasy guy on their pizza box, but we aren't complaining.

Well let me know when there's a cartoon dedicated to shoving this stereotype down our throats and showing society that this SHOULD be acceptable and not discriminatory at all.

Besides, Italians have a ton of variables from your stereotype where as Indians don't thanks to The Impsons.

You mean like how The Simpsons does exactly that?
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Veggeta X posted...

Well let me know when there's a cartoon dedicated to shoving this stereotype down our throats and showing society that this SHOULD be acceptable and not discriminatory at all.

Well good news, The Simpsons didn't do that either, and was targeted anyway.
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Veggeta X posted...

Caution999 posted...

Mario is racist. Is the Mario voice actor Italian?

Please. Nintendo made Mario a construction worker, a plumber, a doctor, a world saver and literally a super hero.

And Apu was one of the smartest, if not THE SMARTEST, person on The Simpsons. Guy has a DOCTORATE in Computer Science.

Mario has a doctorate in eating pizza.
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Caution999 posted...

THE SMARTEST, person on The Simpsons. Guy has a DOCTORATE in Computer Science.

Not an Indian stereotype nope
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And eating pizza and dreaming about Spaghetti and ravioli isn't an Italian stereotype? Voiced by a FRENCH guy.

Mario 64 is racist.
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Simpsons gets worse and worse.
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Caution999 posted...

And eating pizza and dreaming about Spaghetti and ravioli isn't an Italian stereotype? Voiced by a FRENCH guy.

Mario 64 is racist.

what about
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Hes a voice actor... voice actors do voices. This is stupid.
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So, if Mario was Mexican (and voiced by a French dude) and dreamed about Tacos would that not be racist?
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darkjedilink posted...

You mean like how The Simpsons does exactly that?

Let me know where it has hurt or impacted any other race.

l Dudeboy l posted...

Well good news, The Simpsons didn't do that either, and was targeted anyway.

WTF the guy just said he did that and you're saying they didn't? Because they fucking did.

Caution999 posted...

And Apu was one of the smartest, if not THE SMARTEST, person on The Simpsons. Guy has a DOCTORATE in Computer Science.

Doesn't stop an ignorant dumbass to past by an Indian and say "Thank you come again" does it?

Stop having a meltdown, Caution. Mario is no way stereotyped as Apu did, you just reaching hard as usual.
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ledbowman posted...

Caution999 posted...

THE SMARTEST, person on The Simpsons. Guy has a DOCTORATE in Computer Science.

Not an Indian stereotype nope

A positive and correlated one? When I was in grad school for chemical engineering, the Indian guys were some of the best in terms of deriving equations.
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Caution999 posted...

So, if Mario was Mexican (and voiced by a French dude) and dreamed about Tacos would that not be racist?

I'm not sure what you want here. People complain about Mario.
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Not surprising, Hank has always seemed to take this stance when speaking recently about it. I know the show made that silly clip attacking it recently, but I have to imagine he wasn't involved in the direct writing of the scene when doing the voices.

Meh, I have a hard time caring about this when the show has been running on fumes for over a decade now and been down right horrible at times. At least back when I watched it regularly, which admittedly has been forever ago
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Dumb as hell, but whatever floats your boat.
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Mario is literally the same exact thing given the evidence I have provided.

We all have Mario 64. We all have put the controller down to see what he dreams about as he lays there. He's voiced by a French guy.

It's literally the same thing.

You've opened up pandora's box, and now you gotta deal with every other character being racist.
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why does apu's voicer have to be indian? i don't get this at all. So many indian people are offended by the character? it came out like 25 years ago.
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Caution999 posted...

Mario is literally the same exact thing given the evidence I have provided.

Godfather. Came out over twenty years before Mario had a voice.

Italian representation and similarly stereotypes have been a thing since long before Apu or Mario. Mario does not remotely have a monopoly on stereotypical representation of Italians by a long shot.

Literally not the same thing.
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Personally I think all Simpson characters that are just stereotypes should be written out of the show.

That way it's just 30 minutes of dead air each week.
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Tmk posted...

Personally I think all Simpson characters that are just stereotypes should be written out of the show.

That way it's just 30 minutes of dead air each week.

wuht?
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This is dumb.

So no more Australians playing americans? No more Americans playing Europeans? No more Korean people playing Chinese people?

What the fuck is acting if you cant act.
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And why is this now making big news? the apu character first started like 25 years ago right?
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Veggeta X posted...

WTF the guy just said he did that and you're saying they didn't? Because they fucking did.

Well they definitely haven't dedicated The Simpsons to forcing Apu's stereotype down our throats, unless Apu suddenly became a main character and every episode is now centered around him.
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gatorsPENSbucs posted...

This is dumb.

So no more Australians playing americans? No more Americans playing Europeans? No more Korean people playing Chinese people?

What the fuck is acting if you cant act.

It's "regressio.. I mean "Progression"
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Smallville posted...

And why is this now making big news? the apu character first started like 25 years ago right?

Not to mention the documentary came out last year and not many people cared then.

People only cared after the Simpsons writers gave their response.
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CyricZ posted...

Smallville posted...

And why is this now making big news? the apu character first started like 25 years ago right?

Not to mention the documentary came out last year and not many people cared then.

People only cared after the Simpsons writers gave their response.

so the simpsons writers said like, we don't give a shit?
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As a male, i feel like Bart Simpson should be voiced by a male.
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CyricZ posted...

Caution999 posted...

Mario is literally the same exact thing given the evidence I have provided.

Godfather. Came out over twenty years before Mario had a voice.

Italian representation and similarly stereotypes have been a thing since long before Apu or Mario. Mario does not remotely have a monopoly on stereotypical representation of Italians by a long shot.

Literally not the same thing.

Yeah, and you know what the difference was? My family didn't give a fuck. We aren't a bunch of wimps that can't handle being stereotyped.

Godfather came out, and instead of bitching and whining about the stereotypes, they embraced the film. Perhaps because this was a different generation. A generation that faced WWII and Vietnam. You know, REAL PROBLEMS.
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Smallville posted...

why does apu's voicer have to be indian? i don't get this at all. So many indian people are offended by the character? it came out like 25 years ago.

No, LIBERALS are offended NOW over it.
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You got me wrong. I'm not a PC police.
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Smallville posted...

And why is this now making big news? the apu character first started like 25 years ago right?

Because people are running out of things to be offended by.
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This Mario comparison is trash.

There's is a lot of Italian representation in Western media. Italian influence (and representation) has been present in Western exploration of film for nearly a century. So even if Mario were an exaggeration of Italian stereotypes, there are several other stories and actors of Italian descent one might have seen to see nuance and variety in Italian Americans.

Step outside of film, and you see even ripples of Italy through American culture, in food, architecture, music, and fashion, even religion that give Italian immigrants and their children layers. Since the 1870's Italian Americans have become the icon of the American melting pot's success.

Do you homework and stop peddling trash.
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FLAMING EVIL HOMER posted...

As a male, i feel like Bart Simpson should be voiced by a male.

Start a campaign to change it then. Complaining to us isn't going to stop Fox doing what they are doing.

hollow_shrine posted...

This Mario comparison is trash.

There's is a lot of Italian representation in Western media. Italian influence (and representation) has been present in Western exploration of film for nearly a century. So even if Mario were an exaggeration of Italian stereotypes, there are several other stories and actors of Italian descent one might have seen to see nuance and variety in Italian Americans.

Step outside of film, and you see even ripples of Italy through American culture, in food, architecture, music, and fashion, even religion that give Italian immigrants and their children layers. Since the 1870's Italian Americans have become the icon of the American melting pot's success.

Do you homework and stop peddling trash.

And I feel Indian Americans have integrated themselves into our culture within the last 30 years. There's plenty of India-American movies out there. What about Buddhism ? That has seen a Western growth like never before! And you know what else? Buddhism is one of the few religions that isn't mocked by ANYONE. It's well respected, and more peaceful than literally any other religion.
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Buddhism isnt even the second biggest religion in India.
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I didn't really care about this until the god awful response they did where LISA, the SJW prototype, was defending Apu being a stereotype

I hope this kills the show tbh
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Caution999 posted...

hollow_shrine posted...

This Mario comparison is trash.

There's is a lot of Italian representation in Western media. Italian influence (and representation) has been present in Western exploration of film for nearly a century. So even if Mario were an exaggeration of Italian stereotypes, there are several other stories and actors of Italian descent one might have seen to see nuance and variety in Italian Americans.

Step outside of film, and you see even ripples of Italy through American culture, in food, architecture, music, and fashion, even religion that give Italian immigrants and their children layers. Since the 1870's Italian Americans have become the icon of the American melting pot's success.

Do you homework and stop peddling trash.

And I feel Indian Americans have integrated themselves into our culture within the last 30 years. There's plenty of India-American movies out there. What about Buddhism ? That has seen a Western growth like never before! And you know what else? Buddhism is one of the few religions that isn't mocked by ANYONE. It's well respected, and more peaceful than literally any other religion.

Not subtle enough
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Caution999 posted...

Yeah, and you know what the difference was? My family didn't give a fuck. We aren't a bunch of wimps that can't handle being stereotyped.

Godfather came out, and instead of bitching and whining about the stereotypes, they embraced the film. Perhaps because this was a different generation. A generation that faced WWII and Vietnam. You know, REAL PROBLEMS.

"Italians are better than Indians." Thanks for that, sir. Good to know where you stand on that little issue.

Godfather was my example because it was so pervasive in culture, and not nearly the comedic footprint that Apu is.

Still what a powerful and brave family you must have for not getting offended by one of the greatest films of all time.
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No, I'm comparing generations, not cultures.

Nice try putting racist words in my mouth, but that's always the last resort of the radical leftist.

"losing the argument? Say the magic word! RACIST!"

RACE CARD DENIED.
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Apu isnt the problem. If any Indian American has encountered some sort of strife it was from ignorant and/or racist people. Not a cartoon. Human beings will always be dumb and influenced by the media they consume, you cant just censor and block it all. Thats not the source of the problem.
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vbty3 posted...

Buddhism isnt even the second biggest religion in India.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/30/5-facts-about-indian-americans/

and only something like 0% of indian americans are buddhist
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CapnMuffin posted...

Apu isnt the problem. If any Indian American has encountered some sort of strife it was from ignorant and/or racist people. Not a cartoon. Human beings will always be dumb and influenced by the media they consume, you cant just censor and block it all. Thats not the source of the problem.

i completely agree
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Caution999 posted...

No, I'm comparing generations, not cultures.

Nice try putting racist words in my mouth, but that's always the last resort of the radical leftist.

"losing the argument? Say the magic word! RACIST!"

RACE CARD DENIED.

Caution999 posted...

Yeah, and you know what the difference was? My family didn't give a fuck. We aren't a bunch of wimps that can't handle being stereotyped.

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Smallville posted...

so the simpsons writers said like, we don't give a shit?

More specifically, they took the character that is the very picture of "SJW" and used her to directly address the camera, and threw a no-context picture of Apu in the scene.

It was sloppy. It was heavy handed. It was punching down. It was still their right to respond however they want, but they're the ones with all the power in this scenario, and this response just underlines the creative bankruptcy that has plagued this show for well over a decade.
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Yes, my family that lived thru and participated in WWII and Vietnam weren't a bunch of wimps.

You know, the older generation.
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CyricZ posted...

Smallville posted...

so the simpsons writers said like, we don't give a shit?

More specifically, they took the character that is the very picture of "SJW" and used her to directly address the camera, and threw a no-context picture of Apu in the scene.

It was sloppy. It was heavy handed. It was punching down. It was still their right to respond however they want, but they're the ones with all the power in this scenario, and this response just underlines the creative bankruptcy that has plagued this show for well over a decade.

what is your opinion then? no problem with the character but a problem with how the simpsons's people handled it? Idk are most of the people complaining about apu really mostly indian americans?
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Caution999 posted...

And I feel Indian Americans have integrated themselves into our culture within the last 30 years

They had been doing that before we started broadcasting the Simpsons. We just choose to play up the stereotype because that's what we always did in the nineties. It wasn't right then, we just didn't know any better.

Caution999 posted...

There's plenty of Indian-American movies out there.

Are there? I'm struggling to think of more than five.

Caution999 posted...

What about Buddhism? That has seen a Western growth like never before!

Mostly by moneyed white people on the west coast wearing yoga pants and cycling through fashionable diets. Buddhism is all over southern and eastern Asia. I might have started there, but it's stopped being associated exclusively with India long before we started making appropriative films about shaolin monks and started drinking kombucha.
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