Simpsons

When I was a kid, I would have to sneak in a viewing of The Simpsons every week. It wasn’t allowed in my house, but I was able to manage. The show had a profound impact on me, especially in shaping my sense of humor. To this day, it easily ranks among my favorite shows of all time, if not straight up at the number one spot, and one of my dreams has always been to write an episode. I even still watch the show today, despite the obvious overall decline. There’s always a few gems that air every now and then, reminding me that they still got it.

But let’s go back to when I was a kid. I loved the show, and would obsess over it. Then Apu became a bigger deal as the show went along. I thought it was cool. Back in 90s, presence of South Asian characters, much less Indian, were incredible rare (and I have also yet to learn that Ben from the Short Circuit movies was just a white dude in brown face). Plus, he was a convenience store owner, just like my parents, and the occasional gag about his less than proper business tactics were hilarious in that rebellious, “ha, screw you mom and dad” kind of way.

Then things changed once I started school. It didn’t take long before some kids would ask me to do an accent, which really confused me, and I couldn’t comprehend why. Then there was this one guy who just always had a hard on for annoying me, and one day, he told me to say, “thank you, come again.” I refused. He proceeded to repeat the phrase over and over again, but with a really bad Indian accent. That’s when my brain put two and two together.

My relationship with the character of Apu has been soured permanently, and as I became more aware of how TV shows worked, and how they were made, I became further alienated from him. Every joke suddenly had this uncomfortable “get it? it’s because he’s Indian” undertone to it that I have never been able to shake off. Yes, I’ve heard the argument about how The Simpsons is full of stereotypes, and no one complains about them. Here’s the thing, if you’re offended by – let’s say for example – Luigi Risotto, you could start channel surfing, and within seconds, you’ll be able to stumble onto an Italian American character that isn’t a stereotype. With Apu, that was all I had to work with for my entire childhood. And while I can certainly appreciate the attempts over the years at making him more fleshed out, and more culturally sensitive, it never really rang true or authentic to me. Even now, despite the progress we’ve made with plenty of South Asian creatives working in film and TV, there’s still a ways to go.

The reason I’m talking about all this now is because The Simpsons recently responded to these concerns after Hari Kondabolu released his documentary, The Problem With Apu (which is great, by the way). In the episode, No Good Read Goes Unpunished, which aired on April 8th, 2018, Marge is reading Lisa a book, which she revised because she didn’t realize it was full of stereotypes when she was a child, and in doing so, removed everything that could be seen as offensive. Lisa mentions how some of the changes get rid of what made the book special in the first place, to which Marge asks what she is supposed to do. Then this happens:

I was busy at the time, so I didn’t see the episode when it aired, but when this popped up on my feed, I was beyond disappointed. Of all the ways to address the discussion that’s been happening about Apu and representation in general, they went with the most laziest, ineffectual, and disingenuous route possible. It’s such a bad look for all involved. And not only that, it’s basically the show’s way of saying, “I hear you, but I don’t care.” This breaks my heart because I think the writers of the show are smart, and clever, and could easily come up with ways to satisfy people’s concerns if they simply thought about it for a minute. The Simpsons writers room has always been predominantly white and male, and it really shows in their response to this because it seems like they still don’t fully understand what the problem is. And to give the whole speech to Lisa feels so out of character. Some of the things she says doesn’t even make sense, like Apu being “applauded and inoffensive” decades ago? Who applauded his character? And “inoffensive?” The Simpsons began as a button pusher, and not only that, Hank Azaria has stated that he was told to make the voice as exaggerated as he can. This whole attempt at pushing the discussion aside is a cowardly move.

Neither I, nor anyone else as far as I know, is asking for Apu to be removed from The Simpsons altogether, that’s actually counterintuitive. I don’t even think they have to fix him immediately. I just want the people involved in the show to step back and think about what they’re doing and what they’re saying, and how it might reflect on them. There are so many ways to write a joke that don’t just boil down to a funny accent. Maybe start by looking at your writers room, and see if it could use a little more color? That’s where I would start. Look, I don’t know all the answers, and I won’t pretend like I do, but I would at least like to see some effort. This Simpsons has rightfully earned their place as a cultural institution, I just think it’s time they live up to that.

The Problem With Apu is available through TruTV, and on various VOD platforms.