[Crimson Dynamo]

The future of The Simpsons character Apu is in doubt after the voice actor
who plays him announced he is stepping down following a race row.

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, played by Hank Azaria, is an Indian immigrant
who owns and owns a convenience store called Kwik-E-Mart and is known
for his catchphrase "thank you, come again".

Critics claim the character is a problematic stereotype of South Asian people,
and claim his portrayal by Azaria, who is white, was racist because of his ethnicity.

Azaria, 55, will continue to lend his voice to numerous other characters in the long-running show,
including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum and Comic Book Guy.

"All we know there is I won't be doing the voice anymore, unless there's some way to
transition it or something," he told Slashfilm.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...d-white-actor/

Time to end this character?

[Rob!]

This to me seems bonkers. Apu is no less stereotypical to his country than Groundskeeper Willy is.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Rob!

This to me seems bonkers. Apu is no less stereotypical to his country than Groundskeeper Willy is.

Almost every character in the show is a stereotype in some way. It's ridiculous if that's why they cut the character

[GoldHeart]

They've been saying for ages that they were going to Axe Apu , I think this uproar is ridiculous.

Why is it offensive all of a sudden? , It's a cartoon show with actors voicing 15 different characters each .

Nobody seems to have a problem with Grounds Keeper Willie The stereotypical "Angry Scotsman" .

What about Bumble bee man , or fat Tony etc , I think it's silly this fuss . And I never found the portrayal of Apu racist atall .

[arista]

Yes it was a Pathetic Online Bunch
who started this some time ago.

That Actor is Great.


Apu is so typical of Los Angeles 7/11 stores
I was served by them
when I was working in California.

[Cherie]

Stupidity, they are saying its a white guy voicing the role, is it a Scottish guy, IAustrian guy etc voicing the other characters... someone needs to get a grip

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Stupidity, they are saying its a white guy voicing the role, is it a Scottish guy, IAustrian guy etc voicing the other characters... someone needs to get a grip

I just googled that and the same guy who does Homers voice does Willies and also Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. He's American

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I just googled that and the same guy who does Homers voice does Willies and also Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. He's American

We all know why Apu is going, I heard someone on radio this morning taking off an American accent about some NFL score, and no one bats an eyelid

[Crimson Dynamo]

Youtube video

[arista]

Yes LT
that Trouble Maker
can Stay on Netflix.


His Parents in the PBS Docu
agreed Hank is good at that job,
voicing Apu in the Simpsons

[Nicky91]

shame politically correctness has to ruin everything these days

i really don't see the problem, the Simpsons is meant for light entertainment and humour

[Oliver_W]

Fricken ridiculous. I didn't open the link, is he stepping down from the role voluntarily, or are the showrunners making the decision?
if it's the former, they should still have him as a background character and just use old voiceclips or something.

[Crimson Dynamo]

maybe Harry can get Meghan a job of doing the voice....

[arista]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

maybe Harry can get Meghan a job of doing the voice....

Yes the Simpsons could do a Test
on one episode.

I bet they would get Extra Viewers

[Tom4784]

From the stories I've read, it seems like they'll look to cast an indian actor to take over the role.

I think it's fair, Simpsons is a product of it's time and if it was still meant to be as edgy as it was considered in it's earlier days then such things would be just considered as part of that humour but it's a show with a wide general audience and it has to be mindful of that and the excuse that it's an old show doesn't mean much when it's still a current show.

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

From the stories I've read, it seems like they'll look to cast an indian actor to take over the role.

I think it's fair, Simpsons is a product of it's time and if it was still meant to be as edgy as it was considered in it's earlier days then such things would be just considered as part of that humour but it's a show with a wide general audience and it has to be mindful of that and the excuse that it's an old show doesn't mean much when it's still a current show.

Groundskeeper willie the angry scotsman is voiced by an american guy who also does the voice of Krusty the clown who's raspy voiced and jewish . Should they also be axed??? . What about bumble bee man the slapstick hispanic character ? . Or Dr Hibbert a black guy who's actually voiced by a white guy?

it's interesting how Simpsons is bearing the brunt , what about other tv shows with more edgier borderline humour? . family guy with the japanese news reporter

Youtube video

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

Should they also be axed??? .

well the whole show should've been axed 15 years ago, so...

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Shaun

well the whole show should've been axed 15 years ago, so...

That's fine , I also think the show has been milked alot and should of ended . But it's not fair for 1 particular character to be axed just because all of a sudden we're being told it's "offensive" . Like i said most of the characters are exaggerated stereotypes anyway so why are they picking on Apu ??.

And other tv shows have done far worse with their minority characters .

[user104658]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

Groundskeeper willie the angry scotsman is voiced by an american guy who also does the voice of Krusty the clown who's raspy voiced and jewish . Should they also be axed??? . What about bumble bee man the slapstick hispanic character ? . Or Dr Hibbert a black guy who's actually voiced by a white guy?

it's interesting how Simpsons is bearing the brunt , what about other tv shows with more edgier borderline humour? . family guy with the japanese news reporter

Youtube video

TO BE FRRR...

Animated shows like Family Guy, South Park (****ty wok? ), Rick & Morty etc. are made for and aimed at adults... they are explicitly NOT kids shows... whereas The Simpsons while it does have in-jokes aimed at adults, has always been aimed at families in a family-friendly time slot.

Leading me into my main point;

Is the stereotyping racist? Yes, objectively it undeniably is, that's the point. Should racial stereotyping be an acceptable part of parody/satire? YES absolutely it should... most people understand what satire is.

Or rather... most ADULTS understand what satire is.

So it's OK in entertainment aimed at adults.

I'm not conviced at all that it's suitable for shows that are aimed at "the whole family". So IMO The Simpsons does need to decide which it is... it can rebrand itself as NOT being for kids any more and a satire aimed at adults, or it can toe the line a bit more in terms of political correctness. Because tbqfh kids DON'T get the joke and buy into stereotypes as being literal, quite easily.

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

TO BE FRRR...

Animated shows like Family Guy, South Park (****ty wok? ), Rick & Morty etc. are made for and aimed at adults... they are explicitly NOT kids shows... whereas The Simpsons while it does have in-jokes aimed at adults, has always been aimed at families in a family-friendly time slot.

Leading me into my main point;

Is the stereotyping racist? Yes, objectively it undeniably is, that's the point. Should racial stereotyping be an acceptable part of parody/satire? YES absolutely it should... most people understand what satire is.

Or rather... most ADULTS understand what satire is.

So it's OK in entertainment aimed at adults.

I'm not conviced at all that it's suitable for shows that are aimed at "the whole family". So IMO The Simpsons does need to decide which it is... it can rebrand itself as NOT being for kids any more and a satire aimed at adults, or it can toe the line a bit more in terms of political correctness. Because tbqfh kids DON'T get the joke and buy into stereotypes as being literal, quite easily.

Simpsons was never entirely a kids show , it has pushed humour and some of the jokes are clearly aimed at older kids and adults. I don't know what the latest episodes are like , but they've always tried to play it safe and i've noticed with the censorship even little things that be be seen as rude or edgy has been cut out of simpsons episodes before watershed .

I would not class The simpsons as solely for children , yes kids watch it but so do adults . The Rugrats & pepper pig are kids shows .

And yes we all know Family Guy & South park are for adults( i'm not a big fan of family guy and i hate south park) , but plenty of youngsters and kids still watch them despite the humour and jokes being 18+ .

So you could argue that those tv shows are offensive and inappropriate and will reinforce daft stereotypes ??? yet those seem to be fine ?? .

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

Groundskeeper willie the angry scotsman is voiced by an american guy who also does the voice of Krusty the clown who's raspy voiced and jewish . Should they also be axed??? . What about bumble bee man the slapstick hispanic character ? . Or Dr Hibbert a black guy who's actually voiced by a white guy?

it's interesting how Simpsons is bearing the brunt , what about other tv shows with more edgier borderline humour? . family guy with the japanese news reporter

Youtube video

Willie and Krusty are white characters voiced by a white man, Hubert's not exactly a stereotype and while Bumble Bee man isn't great, he hasn't caused controversy amongst mexican people while people of indian descent have taken issue with Apu.

Cartoon Network once banned Speedy Gonzalez cartoons in the 90s out of fear of offending mexican people but in truth, Speedy Gonzalez was a very popular character in Mexico and there was a successful campaign in Mexico and other latin countries to reinstate the cartoon. There's been no such outrage about the Bumble Bee man from mexican people from what I know of so there's not a problem there.

This isn't about 'PC gone mad' it's about people who are affected by a stereotype in a show that's aimed a general audience. Family Guy is not a kids' show, Tricia Takanawa is a satire based character that mocks stereotypes. The Simpsons has become a family show and like TS said, satire is a harder concept for kids to grasp so they'll take Apu for what he is without understanding the humour behind the character.

An indian stereotype character in a show made for all audiences has offended indian people and so they'll likely recast the role with an indian actor, that's all this story is. All the pretend outrage from white people about Apu is unneeded.

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Willie and Krusty are white characters voiced by a white man, Hubert's not exactly a stereotype and while Bumble Bee man isn't great, he hasn't caused controversy amongst mexican people while people of indian descent have taken issue with Apu.

Cartoon Network once banned Speedy Gonzalez cartoons in the 90s out of fear of offending mexican people but in truth, Speedy Gonzalez was a very popular character in Mexico and there was a successful campaign in Mexico and other latin countries to reinstate the cartoon. There's been no such outrage about the Bumble Bee man from mexican people from what I know of so there's not a problem there.

This isn't about 'PC gone mad' it's about people who are affected by a stereotype in a show that's aimed a general audience. Family Guy is not a kids' show, Tricia Takanawa is a satire based character that mocks stereotypes. The Simpsons has become a family show and like TS said, satire is a harder concept for kids to grasp so they'll take Apu for what he is without understanding the humour behind the character.

An indian stereotype character in a show made for all audiences has offended indian people and so they'll likely recast the role with an indian actor, that's all this story is. All the pretend outrage from white people about Apu is unneeded.

But most of the characters are stereotypes , the actor voicing Willie is not really scottish they just have the same ethnicity so surely scottish people could take offence to the angry scotsman stereotype??? .

Apu is a cartoon character, there's nothing offensive about him . But why does Bumblebee man get let off the hook ? with his "no me gusta" act and slapstick humour? . Just seems contradicting to me , and feels like people just want to make a fuss for the sake of it .

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

But most of the characters are stereotypes , the actor voicing Willie is not really scottish they just have the same ethnicity so surely scottish people could take offence to the angry scotsman stereotype??? .

Apu is a cartoon character, there's nothing offensive about him . But why does Bumblebee man get let off the hook ? with his "no me gusta" act and slapstick humour? . Just seems contradicting to me , and feels like people just want to make a fuss for the sake of it .

There's nothing offensive to you, you have no right to declare that an Indian stereotype cannot offend Indian people.

The point is that they're recasting Apu because the Indian character offended Indian people. Scottish people aren't up in arms about Willie, Mexican people aren't angry about the Bumble Bee Man but Indian people have taken exception to Apu. That's the difference. They won't change anything else unless people who are affected by those stereotypes rise up about it.

Again, Bumble Bee Man hasn't caused a stink with Mexican people and, like in the Speedy Gonzalez example I posted, if the creators did assume that character was offensive to Mexicans and acted preemptively, it could create a bigger stink with Mexican people who may actually like the character.

It might just be a lot of 'fuss' to you but you're ultimately not affected it by it. You're outraged because you're taking the whole 'PC GONE MAD' angle.

[arista]

Shaun
Simpsons is doing OK
bringing in Top guest Stars.

How dare you say sack them all.
All the Staff that go into that Production

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by arista

Shaun
Simpsons is doing OK
bringing in Top guest Stars.

How dare you say sack them all.
All the Staff that go into that Production

arista don't pretend you care about the staff x