The Problem With Apu

About

The Problem With Apu is a documentary made by comedian Hari Kondabolu about the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons, an Indian convenience store owner. While Kondabolu is a self-professed fan of The Simpsons and the influence it has had on his comedy career, his documentary argues that while the character was a rare form of South Asian representation in the early 90s, his portrayal reinforced negative racial stereotypes against South Asians. The documentary was referenced by The Simpsons several months later in a fourth-wall-breaking scene that was interpreted by some to be dismissive of the rise of so-called politically correct culture that led to the discussion surrounding the character.

History

In 2007, Hank Azaria, the voice actor for Apu, did an interview on Paltalk, where he described the creation of Apu. In the talk (shown below, left), Azaria jokingly said that when originally reading for the part, producers said, "Can you do an Indian voice and how offensive can you make it?" He then refers to him as a "stereotype." Azaria has been reluctant to comment on the developing backlash to Apu. In 2015, he conceded that Apu may have contributed to bullying of South Asian-Americans but refused to appear in Kondabolu's documentary or have a discussion with Kondabolu.

In 2012, Kondabolu performed a segment on the television series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell about Apu, specifically the racial implications of the character (shown below, right). He described Apu and Azaria as "a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father."

In April 2016, a feature-length documentary starring Kondabolu about Apu and the character's cultural significance was green-lit. The documentary talks to other Indian-American stars, Simpsons writers and viewers their thoughts on Apu and how his voice has created an unfavorable stereotype of Indians in America.

On July 27th, 2017, TruTV released the trailer for the film. As of November 2017, it has been viewed more than 120,000 times. The film was released on November 19th, 2017. Several news outlets have covered the film's release, including The New York Times, The AV Club, NBC and more.

The film features South Asian-American comedians, including Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn, Maulik Pancholy, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Samrat Chakrabarti, Sakina Jaffrey, Aasif Mandvi and Hasan Minhaj, talking about how they were called Apu as children and asked to read lines in Apu's voice early in their careers. Whoopi Goldberg also appeared in the film and agreed that Apu represented a type of racial minstrelsy akin to other exaggerated portrayals of people of color by white people, such as blackface.^[1]

Reception

The documentary was mostly praised by critics. The film has a score of 77/100 on Metacritic^[2] and a score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[3] Critics praised the construction of Kondabolu's argument, though some did express frustration that the film spent too much time focused on Kondabolu's quest to interview Azaria.

The Simpsons Response

On April 8th, 2018, The Simpsons addressed the controversy in a scene of their show. Marge Simpsons reads a book to Lisa featuring an updated version of a children's book that has erased potentially offensive characters. After Marge asks what she should do, Lisa addresses the camera and says "Something that started decades ago that was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect." The camera then pans to a picture of Apu.

The clip was interpreted by some as The Simpsons' defense of Apu and a criticism of politically correct culture. Twitter user @TravelersDepot said the scene represented the creators saying "Meh" and not worthy of the best Simpsons writing (shown below, left). Kondabolu expressed disappointment that the only takeaway The Simpsons writers seemed to get from his documentary was that Apu was now not politically correct (shown below, right).

Amar Shah's Tweets

Following the online discussion over the cultural relevance of Apu and The Simpsons's response to the controversy, on April 9th, Twitter^[4] user @amarshahism posted a series of tweets about his personal story about growing up in a Desi family with a father who owned a gas station and worked in the service sector. The thread began: "Everybody has an opinion about Apu, but did they ever talk to someone who owned a convenience store or gas station or work in one or grow up in one? You know, like my dad and I? #simpsons #apu." The first tweet (shown below) received more than 3,900 retweets and 13,000 likes in two days.

Throughout the thread, he discussed doing homework in the freezer, experience racism and being inspired by his father's work ethic. His father, at 17, traveled from Guarat, India to Forest Hills, New York, where he worked at a gas station and took classes on electrical engineering. After working at various engineering firms, he moved to New Jersey, where he bought a store, and later, his own pizza parlor. The family eventually moved to Florida, where he bought a gas station.

Towards the end of the thread, he tweeted a pictures of his parents. First tweeting a series of pictures of his father. He wrote, "The engineer, the pizza man, the gas station owner. Each is a wonderful story that inspires me everyday." The tweet^[5] (shown below, left) received more than 390 retweets and 6,000 likes in two days.

Next, he tweeted^[6] a picture of them together with the caption "Need I mention I will never be as cool as my parents." The post (shown below, center) received more than 280 retweets and 6,900 likes in two days. He also tweeted^[7] a current-day photograph of them, which received more than 500 retweets and 5,700 likes in two days.

That night, Hari Kondabolu retweeted^[8] the thread and added, "Brother, thank you for sharing. We interviewed Desi small business owners & it was left on the cutting room floor due to time. This still haunts me. There’s nothing wrong with working in a gas station or store. These stories should be told with the honesty & care you just showed." The post (shown below) received more than 640 retweets and 4,000 likes in two days.

The following day, Twitter^[9] published a Moments page regarding the thread.

Several media outlets covered the thread, including The Daily Dot, ^[10] TIME^[11] and more.

Hank Azaria Response

On April 24th, 2018, Azaria was interviewed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Colbert asked him about his response to the ongoing controversy surrounding Apu. Colbert asked Azaria, "Do you understand why some Indian-American or South Asian-American actors are offended by the character?", to which Azaria responded, "It’s come to my attention more and more… It sparked a lot of conversation about what should be done with the character going forward. The idea that anyone, young or old, past or present, was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu--it just really makes me sad. It was certainly not my intention." He also added that he was "perfectly willing and happy to step aside or help transition [Apu] into something new… It not only makes sense, but I feel it’s the right thing to do."

Additionally, Azaria responded to The Simpsons' episode in which they appeared to shrug off the controversy, saying "I had nothing to do with the writing or voicing of the episode. Certainly not the way I feel about it… not the message I want to send."

Azaria's response was well-received by Hari Kondabolu, saying he appreciated what Azaria and how he said yet it (shown below). The moment was covered by Daily Dot^[12] and Twitter Moments.^[13]

South Park Parody

On October 10th, 2018, South Park aired an episode that cast their character Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo as a racist. At the end of the episode, they send the character to a place that "accepts racist, awful beings like him." It is then revealed that Mr. Hankey has been brought to Springfield, where he is greeted by Apu (shown below).

Online people seemed to approve of the ending, including The Problem With Apu-director Hari Kondabolu, who tweeted,^[14] "Did @SouthPark just side with me? WHAT IS HAPPENING? #CancelTheSimpsons #PleaseDontThough." The tweet received more that 30 retweets and 400 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Over the next day, people continued to tweet about their enjoyment of the ending. That day, Twitter published a Moments page about the episode and the reaction.

Search Interest

External References