Cmon, you must understand that melanin deprived people making fun of a Indian character in the context of a melanin deprived country isn't ok?
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"The Simpsons" hits back at Hari Kondabolu's "The Problem With Apu"
- Thread starter Richiek
- Start date
Cmon, you must understand that melanin deprived people making fun of a Indian character in the context of a melanin deprived country isn't ok?
its much easier to want things that are actually attainable. like the fact that more current shows are doing a much better job at representation.
Are there any examples of Scottish actors being turned down for roles becuase they didn't sound enough like Willie? Or German actors not getting parts because they weren't enough like Uther?
Because if any of you actually watched the damn documentary, you'd know part of the reason why this is a conversation in the first place is because south Asian actors describe that casting directors have literally turned them down for roles for not sounding enough like Apu.
Because if any of you actually watched the damn documentary, you'd know part of the reason why this is a conversation in the first place is because south Asian actors describe that casting directors have literally turned them down for roles for not sounding enough like Apu.
Oh I have no problem saying white people, I just think of clever ways to get the point across. I have tons of synonyms.
Back on topic though, Simpsons is trash and having Lisa of all people deliver it is BS.
Please tone it down. You don't help discorse, and your comments go off from a reasonable place into nonsenseland.
"I want him removed, I want the VA fired, and I want a fucking written apology and more PoCs that aren't just stereotypes."
So, you want less representation overall because Apu is imperfect, and you want the white actor fired because he voices a non-yellow character? Every recurring character in The Simpsons is voiced by a white person. Hell, Bart is voiced by an white female adult!
Yeah, Apu is outdated -- but the answer is to have The Simpsons flesh out his character more, and bring more life into it -- rather than remove one of the earliest Indian representational characters on American television just because it's not 100% perfect.
I randomly caught this episode last night even though I haven't watched a new episode of the Simpsons in years (it's not my favorite show) but my favorite part was their metaphor boiling down to "we're basically rudyard kipling" like, that isn't a great place to be at.
Criticism is good, jumping directly to histrionic assaults on an imperfect representation is bad. If every imperfect representation (of any level of imperfect) were removed from popular culture, then there would be less total good representation overall.
The Simpsons has done great things with Apu. That doesn't change the fact that he perpetuates harmful stereotypes about South Asian people. This response was supremely tone deaf.
Also, LMAO at people being offended at "melanin deprived". Y'all are some fragile-ass motherfuckers.
Also, LMAO at people being offended at "melanin deprived". Y'all are some fragile-ass motherfuckers.
In Homer the Heretic, Homer is being a moron at a shop display of a Hindu God in Apu's store and Apu says "please do not offer my God a peanut".
The joke there is entirely at Homer's expense - you're meant to laugh at him for being ignorant and disrespectful to Apu and his culture/religious beliefs.
If The Big Bang Theory made that joke, it would be at Raj's expense.
The joke there is entirely at Homer's expense - you're meant to laugh at him for being ignorant and disrespectful to Apu and his culture/religious beliefs.
If The Big Bang Theory made that joke, it would be at Raj's expense.
Don't really have a comment on their comment, but it's pretty fucking stupid they used Lisa to deliver it. I could have seen them turn this in to a far more subtle meta joke that could have actually been funny and addressed it if they would have used another character like Homer or Bart, and wrote the joke well.
But I guess I'm just asking too much from the Simpsons' staff these days.
But I guess I'm just asking too much from the Simpsons' staff these days.
Seems like there's a lot of assumptions that most people here are calling for Apu's removal when it seems like it's only one person. Instead, most people mentioning removal seem to be acting annoyingly defeatist in the face of criticism that seems to be a typical hallmark of diversity discussions. "What do you want them to do?! Remove Apu?!!!"
Like, slow down and read what most people are saying.
I don't think anyone was actually "offended" by that. more so that its just insulting and aggressive in a way that doesn't bring anything to the table other than to get white people to stop listening... which is the oppositeof what should be happening.
That was the joke -- that the next-best representation of Indian culture in American popular media is Raj, who is not positive at all.
That's the joke.
If white people can't take a joke as gentle as "melanin deprived", they never wanted to listen in the first place.
Rackham Sorry, it's called "The Problem with Apu". It should be on Youtube.
"melanin deprived" is a funny way to make a veiled insult towards white people lol it makes me really laugh.
I agree on Apu being problematic but i don't agree that some of you people put it above something like Willie that is also very problematic towards Scottish with him being red haired with bad posture, that likes to pick a fight even with wild animals, that prefers being ignorant and at a lower level of society because "that's just how he is", and all that jazz.
It's great that people are being more vocal about Apu and this stuff in general but you have to include all the bad and not only what is convenient to you otherwise you are not much better than who you are criticizing.
I agree on Apu being problematic but i don't agree that some of you people put it above something like Willie that is also very problematic towards Scottish with him being red haired with bad posture, that likes to pick a fight even with wild animals, that prefers being ignorant and at a lower level of society because "that's just how he is", and all that jazz.
It's great that people are being more vocal about Apu and this stuff in general but you have to include all the bad and not only what is convenient to you otherwise you are not much better than who you are criticizing.
More than one poster has been saying that Apu should be removed, or that The Simponsons should be canceled because of Apu.
Let's be clear: The Simpsons should be canceled because it is no longer funny.
I read the entire thread. More people have called for his removal than have actually suggested other alternatives, such as, I don't know, making the character a better representation.
You're being absurd. Claiming Apu is "one of the most racist things on TV" and saying the Simpsons is now alt-right? Do you even watch the show? It sounds like hyperbolic nonsense. They also make fun of Chinese, Japanese, and all different cultures. Indian culture too. To say you can ONLY make fun of white-based culture is silly. He's still a character enjoyed and loved by many and aside from some cultural stereotypes he's a pretty wholesome character. You're acting like he's a cow fucking perv who is always eating curry or something outrageous. The VA has been the same for 30 years and you now want him fired and removed? You know he voices like 1/3 of all characters on the show? Obviously you don't. There's like 5 actors across like 40 characters. It's the same in South Park.
If you think the character needs updating or refreshing. Cool. That's something worth debating and discussing but you're taking it to an extreme.
I was being sarcastic, and I thought that was clear by the obvious reference to the horrid caricature that is Raj.
Master of None does not have anywhere near the reach into American pop culture that Big Bang Theory (sadly) has.
The problem with Apu is that he's the only Indian in the show, right? He's a token character that represents an entire culture and ethnicity and can never display the same broad spectrum as the white characters in the show. Homer is just one dumb guy, but there is also Lisa Simpson who is smart. Marge a doting mother. Moe who gets easily pranked. Even the black people have different representation with the doctor and the other nuclear plant worker.
Exactly. It's the entire point of the show.
It's like being upset that Hermes in Futurama is Jamacian and is fantastic at limbo.
Hari hit a huge nerve with his documentary. The gull of an Indian guy to examine America's single pop culture representation of Indian people for so long.
This Apu thing is the most the Simpsons has been defended in the last 20 years, too. People been talking the most shit about the show needing to end so long ago but only defend this Apu thing because how dare this brown man have a voice and start a nuanced conversation about something that directly affected his life growing up.
This is one of those moments where you whiteslpain to us how Hari somehow whitesplaining that Apu voice is racist
Or the Indian guy made a documentary about a subject he's invested in and you have to have your head up your ass to be mad at him for discussing Indian representation as an Indian man
We're always at the part where a bunch of white dudes tell PoC how to feel and real with shit they have the privilege not to
If someone made that thread "nerds as oppressed minority", the response would be amazingly tone deaf, I bet
Yeah uh... this looks like a self-deprecating acknowledgement of the Apu issue.
Oh but of course this is "hitting back" if you read the thread title...
Oh but of course this is "hitting back" if you read the thread title...
User Warned: Inflammatory language.
OK? Again, if being called "melanin deprived" offends someone that much, they never wanted to help in the first place. White people are so used to being coddled that the most minor insult gives them the fucking vapors.
I'm not going to lie, from the very first moment I saw Apu (as someone from the UK) I thought it was racist as fuck. I mean it's a 100% stereotypical portrayal of an indian.
I don't know what they should do about it, recast the voice actor?
I don't know what they should do about it, recast the voice actor?
Apu can still be salvaged if voiced by an Indian and having character development beyond the status quo of being a corner shop clerk. A complex and interesting three dimensional character that doesn't espouse stereotypes is possible. Subvert the stereotypes. Just because the medium is 2D, doesn't mean the characters need to be. But I don't see the Simpsons showrunners being open to that with this knee-jerk response.
I grew up in a diverse area. I encountered a lot of Indian people growing up during it, some were classmates, some their parents, some people working with my parents. And some were working at the local convenience store. It was as much a stereotype as the IT/Computer science thing is today. But Apu wasnt a walking negative stereotype, and he encapsulated a lot of parts of the immigrant experience-the "advanced degree overseas equals lower class job here" thing is something that really happens.
There's a disconnect living in a place like LA or NYC or DC where you can contextualize Apu better, and one like well, most of the rural US, where you cant. And I dont think that's fair to entirely pin on the show.
You have clearly never watched s1-10 of The Simpsons.