The Controversial Character Apu Nahaspeemapetilon May Be Disappearing From ‘The Simpsons.’
A year ago, Apu, the owner of the Springfield grocery, was the focus of a significant controversy, heralded by comedian Hari Kondabolu. In his documentary, The Problem with Apu, Kondabolu highlighted the problematic features of the character, emphasising the fact that he reinforces harmful stereotypes about the Indian American community, and Indians more generally. As an Indian woman myself, I cannot help but agree.
However, the problem is apparently going to be resolved once and for all, in a way that is likely to cause more problems than resolve them.
Adi Shankar, known for producing Castlevania, launched an open competition to come up with an intelligent way of sorting out the Apu problem. However, despite the imaginative contributions he received, Matt Groening and his team have taken a different approach.
According to Indiewire,
It was Shankar’s intention to crowdsource a script that “in a clever way subverts him, pivots him, writes him out, or evolves him in a way that takes a creation that was the byproduct of a predominately Harvard-educated white male writers’ room and transforms it into a fresh, funny and realistic portrayal of Indians in America.”
Shankar also found the perfect script for this to happen; however, this was not the case.
“I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” Shankar revealed, “They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy.
In a clumsy response, The Simpsons poked fun at Hari Kondabolu’s documentary and other critics in an ironically titled episode, “No God Read Goes Unpunished,” that took a jab at the political correctness of the show’s critics.
However, whilst The Simpsons is a show that does subvert boundaries and politics, in a time where an audience is so politically aware, surely a show that everyone enjoys ought to catch up to the times rather than reinforce harmful stereotypes? How about actually addressing them and showing progression rather than covering up the tracks?
All we can do now is wait to see if Apu will make any sporadic appearances in the lives of Homer and family; however, I doubt we will see him again.
For a look at the casual racism behind Apu, check out this article here.
