Is Apu racist?

Agent Coulson

Hank Azaria is now saying he is willing to step aside.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought and my eyes have been opened.

I think the most important thing is to listen to south Asian and Indian people in this country and what their experience with it has been. Listening to voices means inclusion in the writers’ room. I really want to see Indian, south Asian writers in the writers’ room, not in a token way genuinely informing whichever direction this character takes.

“I’m perfectly willing to step aside or help transition it to something new. I really hope that’s what The Simpsons does.

“It just feels like the right thing to do to me.”

Ruat Caelum

Ruat Caelum wrote:

Also it wasn't long ago when half the country seemed to be up in arms about a silly sketch on saturday night live.

The issue with that sketch was that it wasn't funny, not that it was racist.

Mutant z

Has society become so PC that it looks for racism in everything absolutely yes.

DredFX

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I suspect where this will end up is Azaria will make a statement that after careful reflection he will give up voicing the character because of the pain it is causing blah blah blah

About to happen.

Yer Da sells Avon

Hank Azaria seems like a good guy, willing to listen and learn. It's a shame the "nothing is ever racist unless it's directed at white people" brigade are incapable of doing that.

JPCN1

The Simpsons has O'Reilly the Leprechaun who is hardly a good caricature of the Irish, but really I think there are more important things going on in the world to get upset about...

Sleeper12

Apu is no more racist than Irish in the simpsons. We're all drunken idiots. Or the episode when they went out Australia. They hit just about every stereo type they can. They are all racial stereo types but I'm not sure it's racist.

Mutant z

Can you imagine if you transported today's PC sentiments back to the 70s and 80s nothing would have ever been made for fear of causing offence we really need to start to grow up and understand humour which sadly we seem to be losing.

TheBoyFromAus

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Apu is no more racist than Irish in the simpsons. We're all drunken idiots. Or the episode when they went out Australia. They hit just about every stereo type they can. They are all racial stereo types but I'm not sure it's racist.

As an Australian I can confirm that episode was factually correct. Anyone who says otherwise deserves the boot.

superfurry1

I thought I would add my thoughts on the subject
Hens Love Roosters Geese Love Ganders
Everyone else loves Ned Flanders.

Sin City

The Simpsons have satirised all cultures

Just to name a few

Italians The Chef and Fat Tony
French – Wine lovers / cheese eating surrender monkeys
Americans --- Daily
Canadians - Free Healthcare
Germans - Land of chocolate
England – Royal Family/ Scotland Yard etc.
Ireland -- Derry Air lol plus us being drunken idiots who start fights and beat women
Brazil- Corrupt and overrun with monkeys
Australia Drunken idiots with shoes for kicking arses
Japan – Weird gameshows and Godzilla
Africa- a new dictator every few days

Will I Am Not

Almost every character in The Simpsons is a stereotype. People need to get over themselves.

TheBoyFromAus

People love Flanders ducks like grapes
Ned Flanders true love is purple drapes.

Sin City

superfurry1 wrote: »

I thought I would add my thoughts on the subject
Hens Love Roosters Geese Love Ganders
Everyone else loves Ned Flanders.

Not me

razorblunt

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Kal Penn has only himself to blame for all his acting ills.
Imagine being the worst thing about the Superman reboot and he didn't even have any lines.

This is just flag waving for the sake of flag waving. Absolutely pathetic.

TheBoyFromAus

TheBoyFromAus wrote: »

As an Australian I can confirm that episode was factually correct. Anyone who says otherwise deserves the boot.

razorblunt wrote: »

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Kal Penn has only himself to blame for all his acting ills.
Imagine being the worst thing about the Superman reboot and he didn't even have any lines.

This is just flag waving for the sake of flag waving. Absolutely pathetic.

I can't watch anything with him in it. He speaks like he's got something in his mouth.

Mutant z

Family Guy also takes the piss out of everyone which what makes it funny people should really get over themselves and stop getting offended by everything all the time.

Hande hoche!

They should just kill him off.

ricero

The new age liberal left is destroying modern day society. Scary to think what society will be like in the next decade.

briany

Will I Am Not wrote: »

Should we expect a Scotsman to make a documentary called The Problem With Willie? Or a German, The Problem With Üter?
People look for the racist angle wherever they can.

The problem with Üter is that he's full of chocolate.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

ricero wrote: »

The new age liberal left is destroying modern day society. Scary to think what society will be like in the next decade.

It's scary alright. Hank Azaria shouldn't have just rolled over to this mob mentality that cries "racism" at everything. And it is everything, if the character Apu is "problematic" (I ****ing hate that word) then every single character in the simpsons is problematic. They're all stereotypes, all exaggerated characters FOR COMEDY. If these lefty snowflakes keep pushing their "racism" agenda we'll have very little to laugh at in 10 years time.

The problem isn't with the characters, it's in the heads of the people who make EVERYTHING about race. Most people aren't racist, we're all getting on with it but every few days some Hollywood elitest is dragging up racism/sexism for brownie points and slaps on the back from their other Hollywood friends.

Ahhhh for forks sake!

I'm a black, Jewish female midget and I'm a member of the travelling community and I have mental and physical disabilities and I'm an illegal immigrant and a Muslim Gaeilgeoir. Everything offends me. Give me free money.

Absoluvely

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

I'm a black, Jewish female midget and I'm a member of the travelling community and I have mental and physical disabilities and I'm an illegal immigrant and a Muslim Gaeilgeoir. Everything offends me. Give me free money.

You're not even trans, you privileged scum.

job seeker

Mutant z wrote: »

Family Guy also takes the piss out of everyone which what makes it funny people should really get over themselves and stop getting offended by everything all the time.

I find that family guy, don't just make fun of everything. The creaters also push the boundaries, while making fun of everything. There are jokes in family guy and American dad aswell. Which I don't find funny. You really have to have an edgy/dark sense of humour for some of their jokes...

Huexotzingo

valoren

Highlighting the stereotypical depiction of an immigrant Indian in a cartoon comedy show is for me nothing but faux outrage and attention seeking. It's an easy target. To have gotten bullied at school with Apu's catchphrase of 'Thank you, come again' is not indicative of the show's creators enabling that bullying. Part of growing up is realising that other people (including your school mates) are not nice, good or decent people. They can be (and will always be) arseholes. They will latch onto anything up to and including Apu to bully people with.

It's win-win for Azaria. Get plaudits for being willing to walk away having finally found a conscience but only after becoming a multi-millionaire from his work on The Simpsons. If there is a positive to this outrage it would be in Azaria being a man of his word and walking away and the other core voice cast potentially doing the same to give the show the coup de grace it's been needing for two decades now.