[reece(:]

After a year of controversy surrounding the character of Apu, the hit animated show ‘The Simpsons’ may soon be dropping the character from the show.

The impact and lasting legacy of the fictional Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (voiced by Hank Azaria), has been sharply debated since the debut of comedian Hari Kondabolu's documentary “The Problem With Apu” in November 2017, which examined the stereotypes about Indian Americans that Apu embodied. The documentary featured several South Asian celebrities and newsmakers, including comedian Aparna Nancherla and actor Kal Penn, as they recalled the way Apu made them reflect on their own identities.

Social media began buzzing on Friday when IndieWire published an interview with film producer Adi Shankar, who told the site that he had heard from several people close to "The Simpsons" that Apu would soon be dropped from the animated show. While Shankar is not affiliated with "The Simpsons" or its network Fox, he began a contest in April inviting creators to write scripts in which the character of Apu is reimagined beyond his current portrayal of a stereotypical Indian immigrant.

“I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” Shankar told IndieWire. “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.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-a...racter-n925096

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[RileyH]

Omg what

[Jason.]

Can they axe the show too

[MB.]

Originally Posted by Jason.

Can they axe the show too

.

[Epic.]

****ing ridiculous. The Simpsons satirically makes fun of every race, background and religion and just one example gets singled out, and it's one of the more level-headed and better represented characters. If an Indian is getting abused and compared to Apu as an insult, how is that the show's fault instead of the one doing the abuse? They might as well just cancel out every single character if one is being taken an issue with this much.

[Ant.]

Hm I feel like this will be a given but does this mean that his family will be cut out as well?

[JoshBB]

...why??

People are ****ing idiots if they can't tell that The Simpsons deliberately shows stereotypes

[montblanc]

mess isn't the simpsons a satirical cartoon though?

i don't watch anyways so i don't really care

[Jordan.]

Pathetic, but it's what the people who whined about it deserve. Now they can whine about lack of representation all together I guess.

[Marsh.]

Erm... he's been on the show 30 years hasn't he?

Isn't it a bit late to say "Hang on this is offensive!"

I wonder how many of the offended are actually Asian.

[MB.]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

I wonder how many of the offended are actually Asian.

Did... did you miss the entire second paragraph of the article in the OP?

(this has been going on for about a year now and the show's initial response to the documentary was frankly pitiful)

[Wizard.]

tank u cum again

[Shaun]

The show needed axing about 15 years ago.

[Tom4784]

People getting upset over satire will never fail to depress me.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by MB.

Did... did you miss the entire second paragraph of the article in the OP?

(this has been going on for about a year now and the show's initial response to the documentary was frankly pitiful)

"I wonder how many..."

The maker of the documentary is not an isolated complaint.

It's also ridiculous since it acknowledges "stereotypes" but fails to make a good argument for racism so why this stereotype or satire is suddenly offensive but none of the others are is utterly absurd.

[Elliot]

get ha off air already

[Beastie]

As long as Krusty the clown is still in it.

[TomC]

I don't really get why ppl are so up in arms about this... firstly, not having Apu on your tv anymore won't really affect you, and secondly it's quite obvious that the stereotyping they use for Apu is quite different to any other on the show...

[Alf]

Grounds keeper Willie is going nowhere because despite being every bit as stereotypical and funny as Apu, your Jocks have nae problem laughing at themselves

[Mokka]

Originally Posted by Alf

Grounds keeper Willie is going nowhere because despite being every bit as stereotypical and funny as Apu, your Jocks have nae problem laughing at themselves

This is actually a very good point towards the fact that most of their characters purport a stereotype of one type or another... and for years (30 or so it seems) that humorous take was used to break down tensions between race and culture. Apu specifically, while being very stereotypical, was a character that we didn't just see behind the counter, we had episodes that showed his home life and religion making that a part of normal American culture.
But this is how our new societal norms are now... we are certainly in a new era.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by TomC

I don't really get why ppl are so up in arms about this... firstly, not having Apu on your tv anymore won't really affect you, and secondly it's quite obvious that the stereotyping they use for Apu is quite different to any other on the show...

I imagine having him remain on the show won't affect you either, you're still allowed an opinion though.

Different in what way?

[TomC]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

I imagine having him remain on the show won't affect you either, you're still allowed an opinion though.

Different in what way?

I was making the point that the ppl it affects most is ones affected by the stereotyping

Different bc it's racial satire/stereotyping

[reece(:]

Silently dropping him won't silently drop his character in the 100s of episodes that he'll still be in tho

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by reece(:

Silently dropping him won't silently drop his character in the 100s of episodes that he'll still be in tho

This. He's still in the only episodes anyone will ever remember or watch.

[Matthew.]

Originally Posted by Alf

Grounds keeper Willie is going nowhere because despite being every bit as stereotypical and funny as Apu, your Jocks have nae problem laughing at themselves

i am offensive and i find groundskeeper willie highly scottish