Is The Problem With The Simpsons – And Family Guy
“Comedian Hari Kondabolu is tired of staying quiet about his dislike for Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Hank Azaria-voiced Indian shop owner on The Simpsons. So he’s gone and made a whole feature-length documentary exploring The Problem With Apu,” Vulture reports.
“The trailer was unveiled [last Thursday] at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, with its airdate still TBD on truTV.”
–
Comments welcome.
–
1. From Steve Rhodes:
I’ve never been able to figure out if the stereotyping on The Simpsons and Family Guy is ironic or playing with the stereotypes or just racist and yet somehow acceptable to fans – including me – because . . . I don’t know why. It’s funny in a smarter way than dumb ol’ redneck racism?
For example, I’m hugely offended by the Max Weinstein character on Family Guy, which touches all the buttons of anti-Semitism.
And I have thought about Apu.
Maybe it’s because the characters are lovable in some way? Apu certainly is. And yet . . . ultimately offensive.
Maybe because the audiences for these shows are presumably smart, urbane and relatively progressive, there is no one to call out these stereotypes – those who typically do are fans!
I can only say I’ve wavered between being offended and thinking these shows were playing with the stereotypes – there does seem to be something different about how the characters are handled, but maybe that just makes an underlying prejudice more insidious.
Posted on July 31, 2017