Apu being written out of The Simpsons [split topic]

[Sebastian Cobb]

Note: Apu died on the way back to his home planet

This really would be an amazing way to handle it.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Apu dies of starvation after Amazon Fresh and gig-economy deliveries from Uber Eats put him out of business.

[Replies From View]

Homer should become transfixed with this puzzle:



Nicely racist undertones, so everyone is happy.  Apu is gone after that.  Bosh.  Move on.

[Replies From View]

Either that or "Penis Compendium".  Honestly not fussed which one.

[Paulie Walnuts]

LOL, removing one of the few BAME characters from one of the biggest shows in history because WOKE

if you go far enough left, you come out on the far right, there really is very little difference in the outcomes of both ideologies - both despicable, both constantly race baiting

[Sin Agog]

Seems like I'm continually reading complaints by red-faced cloud-yellers kvetching about programs having more than the alotted single minority in a cast.  I think the world will survive.

[Cuellar]

Oh who cares what The Simpsons does anymore.

[BritishHobo]

LOL, removing one of the few BAME characters from one of the biggest shows in history because WOKE

if you go far enough left, you come out on the far right, there really is very little difference in the outcomes of both ideologies - both despicable, both constantly race baiting

I mean, sure, if you intentionally ignore the entire discussion here about literally everything that has happened and how it has happened.

[Ferris]

Oh who cares what The Simpsons does anymore.

[wub1234]

The original comments by Kondabolu indicate that he has minimal comprehension and interpretive abilities, and has completely misunderstood the character in the first place.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/apu-from-the-simpsons-being-written-out-after-claims-of-racial-stereotyping-a3973431.html

Specifically, the comedian said that the character was problematic because he is defined by his job.

This is literally the entire point of the character. The whole point of Apu is that he in fact a highly intelligent, informed and articulate person, who works in a dead-end job (with incredible diligence) because he's an economic migrant, continually serving people who have none of those qualities, but ostensibly have better lives because they're not economic migrants.

If Apu were to make minimal effort with his job, and slack off like Homer, then it would be absolutely absurdly unbelievable. And if he was, instead of a convenience store clerk, working in an occupation that was befitting of his ability then the character would no longer make any sense. Arguably it would also be less realistic. The reason they picked someone from South Asia for that job is because....it's representative of what actually happens in reality. Same as the parking attendant in Ferris Bueller (which was certainly a less positive representation than Apu, but still believable).

Apu isn't defined by his job because the writers of The Simpsons believed that all an Asian would be capable of doing is working in a convenience store. He is defined by his job in order to demonstrate and satirise the actual treatment of economic migrants in the United States. It would be difficult to do that if Apu became a massive success!

Did Kondabolu ever see the Proposition 24 episode, which makes all of this explicitly clear? Equally, there are many other references to it throughout the series, including in Lisa's Pony, during which Apu says (when Homer briefly works in the Kwik-E-Mart): "Oh, how I dreamed the day would come when one of <you> would be working for <me>."

I'm sorry if the guy experienced racism when younger. It's not something I've ever had to tolerate, but I'm fully aware that young people can be w*nkers. However, perhaps he should ask himself the serious question of whether he had a legitimate complaint here, against what was an extremely sensitive and well-written show, or whether he's just determined to see racism everywhere.

[Thursday]

LOL, removing one of the few BAME characters from one of the biggest shows in history because WOKE

if you go far enough left, you come out on the far right, there really is very little difference in the outcomes of both ideologies - both despicable, both constantly race baiting

...I... you...you know that's the exact opposite of what's being said here, right?

So basically you're in agreement with the "far left" here... removing Apu from the show is bad.

HEY EVERYONE PAULIE WALNUTS IS AN SJW!!! PASS IT ON!

[selectivememory]

Specifically, the comedian said that the character was problematic because he is defined by his job.

You really should watch his documentary before writing him off so patronisingly, because his position has a lot more to it than this quote.

[BritishHobo]

I get the feeling that the vast majority of people (I'm talking generally, not here) who are railing against him haven't actually watched it and are just conjuring up an image in their minds of what they imagine an SJW to be.

[wub1234]

You really should watch his documentary before writing him off so patronisingly, because his position has a lot more to it than this quote.

I'm not going to watch a documentary made by someone who has either (a) fundamentally misunderstood something that is quite obvious, and which is also explained explicitly, or (b) failed to watch the episodes in which this is explained and made really obvious, or (c) both. Sorry, it's not a worthwhile usage of my time.

He's got what we wanted now anyway, although obviously he's complaining about that as well. Would there indeed have been any conceivable outcome that would have resulted in him not complaining?

The Simpsons have already trashed their own legacy by making 20 sh*t series. Is it really necessary for someone to come along and p*ss all over the first 10 seasons as well? Especially as he doesn't seem to have watched them, or if he has then he has completely failed to understand something fundamental about the character that is the subject of his documentary.

Apu is extremely sensitively portrayed. I don't see how anyone could possibly suggest otherwise. However, there is no reason why every single ethnic minority character on TV has to be a positive example of an admirable human being.

[selectivememory]

Fair enough. You have completely missed the point of the documentary and what Kondabolu set out to do with it though. Which is fine, but I'm not going to waste my time discussing it with you if you can't even be bothered to try to understand his position.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

I get the feeling that the vast majority of people (I'm talking generally, not here) who are railing against him haven't actually watched it and are just conjuring up an image in their minds of what they imagine an SJW to be.

bingo

but also, yes, here as well

[Clive Langham]

I've seen the documentary. I don't think it's great – he makes some good points (and I can certainly sympathise with his annoyance at people shouting "thank you come again" at him for the last twenty years) but a lot of his arguments don't really hold water (it's hardly the Simpsons' fault that the Indian Subcontinent has historically been underrepresented on U.S. TV.) It's also full of deliberately-used out-of-context Simpsons clips, and what looked to me like some dodgy Michael Moore-style edited interviews.

[selectivememory]

a lot of his arguments don't really hold water (it's hardly the Simpsons' fault that the Indian Subcontinent has historically been underrepresented on U.S. TV.)

Did he argue that it was The Simpsons' fault that the Indian Subcontinent has historically been underrepresented on U.S. TV?

Apu was only really the jumping-off point for the discussion he wants to have. An example of the problem - and a perpetuation of it - rather than the cause.

[Clive Langham]

He says that Apu was the only person from the Indian subcontinent on the telly when he was growing up, and that because of this people used to associate him with Apu. I assume he blames the Simpsons for this otherwise why bring it up?

[rue the polywhirl]

The problem along the end of this road - Any representation of anything will be deemed offensive by someone so should we be prepared to erase every past thing so we don't risk flicking on anyone's PC sirens? Imagine if Italians took a unified stance and said 'we don't think Dolmio Day dude or Super Mario is a fair reflection of our collective personages'. No more Super Mario games. World is worse off. It's really inconsistent as well because arguably the Indian dude in Big Bang Theory is as bad a stereotype. If they wanted to rejuvenate Apu's image then they should have just transplanted him in that show as Rajesh's replacement dad.

[Clive Langham]

His three main complaints are

a) It's racist and wrong that a white man is doing the voice of an Indian-accented man in this day and age.
b) People from the Indian subcontinent have been shockingly underrepresented in American TV.
c) Apu is a horribly reductive and stereotypical portrayal of a man from the Indian subcontinent.

Of these only a) is a fair complaint in my view. It *is* outrageous that a white man should be doing a Peter Sellers-esque "oh blimey"  Indian voice these days. b) is scarcely the fault of the Simpsons, and c) is debatable.

[rue the polywhirl]

His three main complaints are

a) It's racist and wrong that a white man is doing the voice of an Indian-accented man in this day and age.
b) People from the Indian subcontinent have been shockingly underrepresented in American TV.
c) Apu is a horribly reductive and stereotypical portrayal of a man from the Indian subcontinent.

Of these only a) is a fair complaint in my view. It *is* outrageous that a white man should be doing a Peter Sellers-esque "oh blimey"  Indian voice these days. b) is scarcely the fault of the Simpsons, and c) is debatable.

a) is arguably not racist at all. In fact, it is racist to demand that a person of be of a particular race to perform or voice a role. Colour or creed should no matter in a perfect or inperfect world. Azaria had been doing it from the start, the role of Apu is naturally his.

[Clive Langham]

I think it's a fair complaint.

[selectivememory]

His three main complaints are

a) It's racist and wrong that a white man is doing the voice of an Indian-accented man in this day and age.
b) People from the Indian subcontinent have been shockingly underrepresented in American TV.
c) Apu is a horribly reductive and stereotypical portrayal of a man from the Indian subcontinent.

Of these only a) is a fair complaint in my view. It *is* outrageous that a white man should be doing a Peter Sellers-esque "oh blimey"  Indian voice these days. b) is scarcely the fault of the Simpsons, and c) is debatable.

The point is that (b) is what he actually wants to talk about! People are so fixated on Apu, when Apu is just an example. He never blames The Simpsons for lack of representation. It's a symptom of the problem, and as I said, it perpetuates it, but it's not the cause of it.

(c) really should be considered in light of (b). I don't really think you do him justice in reducing his argument in this way. It's a much more nuanced discussion that he's trying to start.

[Clive Langham]

I don't think it's nuanced at all really. It's a very post-Michael Moore documentary; gimmicky, tricksy, ranty, a bit insubstantial, full of shots of the documentary maker looking sad and thwarted when security guards or secretaries won't let him near his quarry.

What I really think is that he had a very funny "why I hate Apu" five minute stand-up rant, and someone said "hey man, you should do a proper documentary about that" and so he did, and he didn't really have the facts to back up what he said, or many coherent arguments, but he went ahead and made it anyway.

[biggytitbo]

A) is a fair complaint, but then it was 29 years ago when it started and nobody was acting with ill intent back in the 80s. You wouldn't do it now, but that kind of leaves such a long running show in an impossible position.


Apu as a great character, he is treated no differently from any other in the Simpsons and is an inclusive, important part of the show and not mocked or belittled.


Whilst I have a lot of sympathy with the guy I do think it's a bit of a bad precedent for one person's feelings and experiences to dictate the content of a work of art or entertainment that is enjoyed by millions of people.

[Glebe]

[tag]Thank you very much, don't come again.[/tag]

[machotrouts]

a work of art or entertainment that is enjoyed by millions of people.

Sorry I thought this was a Simpsons thread

[Ferris]

[tag]Thank you very much, don't come again.[/tag]

Glebe, what are you doing outside of HS Art? I'll shield you, and you run as fast as possible to the safe subforum and I'll follow ya. It is not safe for us out here!

[BritishHobo]

Why are people still saying it's bad that Hari's got the show changed to suit his sensibilities, when it's been emphasised multiple times that it's not what he was trying to do and not what he wanted to happen? It's like these days you can't be critical of something without everyone immediately projecting 'ahh so you want to ban it and censor it and erase it from history'?