Wow... That's a pretty fucked up response from the Simpsons, especially using Lisa as its mouthpiece.
EDIT: Embedded the video
EDIT 2: here’s Hari’s documentary:
https://vimeo.com/244914735
Last edited:
"The Simpsons" hits back at Hari Kondabolu's "The Problem With Apu"
- Thread starter Richiek
- Start date
Wow... That's a pretty fucked up response from the Simpsons, especially using Lisa as its mouthpiece.
EDIT: Embedded the video
EDIT 2: here’s Hari’s documentary:
https://vimeo.com/244914735
Where's the video clip in question?
For these things it helps to have the source material.
Edit: thanks for editing in the video. Yeah that comes off as an apathetic non-answer.
For these things it helps to have the source material.
Edit: thanks for editing in the video. Yeah that comes off as an apathetic non-answer.
The response is in the first tweet, that twitter link:
https://twitter.com/soham_burger/status/983200703660351488
[edit] Beaten
https://twitter.com/soham_burger/status/983200703660351488
[edit] Beaten
Yeah, that’s a weak answer.
First tweet in the OP has the clip.
They're not right. It was as offensive in the 90s as it is now. They just got away with it somehow because Simpsons.
All I can really come up with here is that having Lisa deliver that sort of response is the epitome of not getting it.
What do you guys want done then?
Should they kill off Apu since he's outdated?
Should they completely reinvent his character?
Should they give him a voice actor that's from Apu's actual ethnic background?
I always thought the show dials up stereotypes to 100. Everyone from Comic Book Guy, professor Frink, Willie, Snake etc, are all obviously over the top in characterisation.
But if people now genuinely have an issue with how Apu is handled then I don't think it's wrong to want something done about it.
Should they kill off Apu since he's outdated?
Should they completely reinvent his character?
Should they give him a voice actor that's from Apu's actual ethnic background?
I always thought the show dials up stereotypes to 100. Everyone from Comic Book Guy, professor Frink, Willie, Snake etc, are all obviously over the top in characterisation.
But if people now genuinely have an issue with how Apu is handled then I don't think it's wrong to want something done about it.
They didn't "get away" with anything, it was the 90's or late 80's, it had nothing to do with it being "the Simpsons"
They'll get away with that response because "Simpsons" though.
Something being considered inoffensive decades ago is a terrible argument considering recent history of what used to be inoffensive.
As a person of South Asian heritage, I like Apu, grew up with him and had laughs. Even my parents who are from Pakistan like Apu and Manjula and have done so for decades. Everyone has their own opinion.
It was racist as hell in the 90s. If any other show had done that ridiculous bud-bud ding-ding Indian accent on English TV it would have been shocking. That stuff was definitely considered racist. I remember discussing this back then with friends. We all loved the Simpsons but we were all like WTF is actually going on with Apu? At the time, in England, people were looking back at old sitcoms from the 70s that had that sort of bullshit in them and laughing at how terrible they were but somehow the Simpsons got a free pass. Maybe because of the US context.
I'm not so sure about this.
I grew up with Indian mutual friends and AFAIK they liked Apu. He's a caricature for sure and I don't think that should be the only representation of Asians, but people weren't complaining back then in the UK.
Marge found her favorite book from her childhood in an old book store and wants Lisa to read it. She doesn't care to so Marge reads it to her and finds out it was really offensive. Then she spends time re-editing the book to be more "progressive and woke", and then I blinked and it somehow lead to Lisa looking into the camera and referencing "The Problem with Apu"
The episode got weirdly meta. The opening scene was a montage advertising the "Every Itchy & Scratchy Ever Marathon" on FXX.
So did I and they loved the show but it was clear as day that Apu was racist af. We used to laugh about it. Imagine an English TV show in the 90s having a character with that accent, played by a white man...come on.
(Not that I'm suggesting the UK is not racist - just that there are proportionally much more subcontinental people here so these issues had already happened here by then)
I read that book and I think it's really dumb. The author basically argues that the Simpsons got bad when it started being emotional. He has a very peculiar interpretation of the show as being some kind of nihilistic comedy that I think is just totally off base and incongruent with what is actually happening in the show -- there's an episode in the very first season where Homer is worried about his son's faith in his father!
I have no interest in post-season 9 Simpsons but for completely different reasons, I suppose.
Maybe if he was written and voiced by non-americans for a non-american audience he would be
I wouldn't really call that hitting back? Just seems like a super weak response to some well thought out criticism.
Welp, guess Simpsons is just edgelord Family Guy trash now. Even if you enjoy Apu (I always liked the subversion of expectations seeing him washing his bitchin' Trans Am shirtless and cruising for chicks), you can't defend brushing off legit criticism with "This isn't offensive, you're just too PC!"
I can't remember any of the early Simpsons episodes being anti-PC when it came to depictions of minorities; even the gay steel mill episode makes it clear that Homer is the one to be made fun of, not the gay people.
I can't remember any of the early Simpsons episodes being anti-PC when it came to depictions of minorities; even the gay steel mill episode makes it clear that Homer is the one to be made fun of, not the gay people.
It's from last night's episode.
I guess for people who had no idea that Marge and Lisa were talking about something that is actually happening outside they show they decided to have a photo of Apu there.
OK rephrase - maybe if he was written and voiced by non-whites etc
And even then we know it doesn't really work both ways
Honestly, what I'd want is for the show to fucking end already before it embarrasses itself even further, but we all know that won't happen. What they should do is probably just retire the character quietly like they did with Phil Hartman's characters once he passed on.
There is a massive difference between racial caricatures and caricatures of comic nerds.
Yeah in the US no kids in the playground where discussing this like at all. Because that has been the stereotype in movies and TV forever over here at that point.
Could be somewhat funny if they make Apu speak with his "American" accent and he just tells them that was his normal speaking accent, but only used an Indian accent because he had to keep up appearances of being a convenient store owner.
Wow, what the fuck.
There's a what deal going on now? Sounds like something that could potentially get Fox's shit on some streaming services. Absolutely hate that the older Simpsons stuff isn't available to stream anywhere, but Family Guy, American Dad, Bob's Burgers, etc... is.
Only in a world where Anglo descendant characters weren’t vastly represented throughout all of media due to being marginalized. We don’t live in that world.
Oh wow so you want to put his voice actor out of a job because of this?
What the hell was that? I know the new season try to be all meta humor/self referencial and yet this is their response to the whole look back at Apu. The Problem With Apu is a pretty nuanced documentary that deserves a better response from the show. Otherwise they could have just continued to not use Apu like they have for awhile now because that really speaks volumes about their thoughts on the character.
Also anyone saying "Apu is great" should remember he is voiced by Hank Azaria which is problematic for a ton of reasons.
Also anyone saying "Apu is great" should remember he is voiced by Hank Azaria which is problematic for a ton of reasons.
It's Hank Azaria the guy does like half the characters on the show.