Yahoo Movies Simpsons fans' anger after show brushes off Apu stereotype row
The makers of The Simpsons have finally broached the simmering debate over accusations that Kwik-E-Mart franchisee Apu in the show is an offensive stereotype.
However, it’s unlikely to satisfy critics of Apu’s portrayal, and many fans of the show are furious about it.
In last night’s episode of the long-running cartoon series, it appeared to simply characterise any criticism of the character as ‘political correctness’.
The episode, called ‘No Good Read Goes Unpunished’, found Marge editing a version of a book called The Princess in the Garden to make it more appropriate for a modern audience.
However, after reading the much-abridged story to Lisa, it’s decided that it now has no ’emotional journey’ for the central character.
Lisa, looking at a picture of Apu at her bedside, then says to Marge: “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive, is now politically incorrect. What can you do?”
The Simpsons response to The Problem with Apu: a callous and resentful shrug. pic.twitter.com/8N6XRzNvsi
— William Mullally (@whmullally) April 9, 2018
Across the picture is the none-too-subtle message ‘Don’t have a cow, Apu’.
Many took to Twitter to slam the show for the apparent brush off, among them US comedian Hari Kondabolu, who last year fronted the documentary The Problem With Apu (Check the trailer below), in which he detailed how the stereotypes peddled by the show through Apu could be considered offensive.
It featured actors and comedians like Master of None’s Aziz Ansari, and actor and former White House official Kal Penn.
Wow. “Politically Incorrect?” That’s the takeaway from my movie & the discussion it sparked? Man, I really loved this show. This is sad. https://t.co/lYFH5LguEJ
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) April 9, 2018
In “The Problem with Apu,” I used Apu & The Simpsons as an entry point into a larger conversation about the representation of marginalized groups & why this is important. The Simpsons response tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress.
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) April 9, 2018
Other fans – and some former fans – followed suit.
I was curious if The Simpsons was ever going to address this, and tonight they did …
Lisa: "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?"
~ Looks at photo of Apu with "Don't have a cow" written on it. ~
— Shawn Headrick (@IronManRust) April 9, 2018
I wish the Simpsons writers had some idea of how shitty they made the childhood & teenage years of so many brown kids. The show turned our parents into punchlines. We never clapped. Apu was a cheap joke in an otherwise clever show. How hard would it be to admit that? https://t.co/f3rgT1RYP0
— Erika H. (@DrCanonic) April 9, 2018
I think the fact that they put this "argument" in the mouth of Lisa's character, the character who usually champions the underdogs and is supposed to be the most thoughtful and liberal, is what makes this the most ridiculous (as in worthy of ridicule) and toothless response.
— Wakanda Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) April 9, 2018
I now live in a world I never thought was possible, a world where @TheSimpsons let me down. Why did you choose to respond that way?! Ugh. https://t.co/MG48ia2kYt
— HUSE MADHAVJI (@HuseM) April 9, 2018
Yes #Simpsons we all know you miss using Apu but progress involves acknowledging the flaws in your craft and working to fix them. Sorry not sorry.
— Peyton [Work in Progress] Presgrove (@ASliceofComics) April 9, 2018
Not all agree with the outpouring, of course, one fan suggesting that Apu’s character is a skit on Indian stereotypes, and not a stereotype itself, though whether that will convince anyone with their minds already made up is perhaps unlikely.
The Simpsons is a show which pays out and stereotypes everything. Literally everything including itself. Apu is a joke on Indian stereotypes not Indians. How do people not get this!!!
— Scott Murphy (@ScottMurphyAUS) April 9, 2018
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