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Matt Groening
Jews are not new to cultural appropriation in the media. We have long been stereotyped as big noses and anxiety. The character of Paul Rust, Gus, in the "Love" tube of Netflix is perhaps the most recent of countless examples. No minority is immune to the dominant cultures that are trying to adopt aspects of their own culture on the screen or in real life.
But for Americans of South Asian descent, the entertainment industry goes a step further. Before Aziz or Mindy Kaling or Rice Ahmed made their way into an intolerant culture, there was Apu – the Indian convenience clerk on "The Simpsons." Apu, a heavily still vaguely accented cashier, voiced by a white, Jewish man, Hank Azaria
Today, the creator of "Simpsons" Matt Groening has argued in the New York Times that any criticism of any kind can be made. Apu, even of his show, is "corrupt" and lacks nuance.
The observation that the Apu character is The comedian Hari Kondabolu made the question very definitively in his 2017 documentary titled "The Problem with Apu", which brilliantly demonstrated how only one influential character has formed the perspective of our nation on billions of people. The film opened a major conversation about racism in entertainment that raged with as much fire as the Internet can muster
"The Simpsons", again, somehow airing new episodes, replied:
In this scene, intended to downplay the racial accusation, Lisa Simpson says: "Something that started decades ago and that has been applauded and harmless is now politically incorrect.What can you do? While Lisa is looking at a picture of Apu, Marge Simpson said, "Some things will be dealt with at a later date." Lisa adds, "If ever." The answer from the left hand Kondabolu was quick to point out the Clear misrepresentation of Indian roles on Twitter.And Azaria, in a remarkable moment of apparent teshuva, apologized for the harm that he caused to the role.
In "The Problem with Apu" , I used Apu & The Simpsons as a point of 3 9, entering into a broader conversation about the performance. marginalized groups and why it is important. The Simpsons answer tonight is not a hit for me, but what many of us see as progress. – Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) 9 April 2018
But months later, in an interview with USA Today Groening added, "I'm proud of what we do in the show. And I think it's a moment in our culture where people like to pretend to be offended. "
On Wednesday, Groening spoke with the New York Times about surfing." In response to claims that people are really offended by the Apu character, he said: "
" C & # 39 is something that I have noticed for 25 years. There is the outrage of the week and it comes and goes. For a moment it was, believe it or not, the kids were stealing quarters off their mothers' purses to go to the video game room, and that was going to bring down the civilization. Nobody remembers it, because it lasted a week. I'm thinking in particular right now, people feel so aggrieved and crazy and helpless that they choose the wrong battles. "
In his last words from the interview, he notes," I've probably said too much. "Finally something we can
Bonnie is a trainee for the function Forward
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