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The Simpsons & # 39; Apu may be dead, but the stereotype of South Asians is certainly not. In fact, from the debates that preceded the contradictory report on his disappearance, we can conclude about Hollywood.
First, Hollywood does not know how to respond to criticism of its racism. second, Hollywood does not know how to recognize racism even if it perpetuates it consciously; and third, as an audience, we sometimes perpetuate the cycle of racist representations because our options seem so limited.
Even though Apu, the Indian-American troubleshooter who speaks with an exaggerated accent, is going away, his output would only signal the end of a character, not the end of what Apu and D & D Other South Asian characters have meant on television.
YouTube producer Adi Shankar announced for the first time the end of Apu last week, as shown on IndieWire. Shankar was organizing a script contest to rotate the Apu character in a YouTube parody. But as he was about to announce his winner, he discovered The simpsons let Apu slowly disappear. The executive producer of the Simpsons, Al Jean, refuted this assertion.
Right out of Hari Kondabolu The problem with Apu, a 2017 documentary about Apu, The Simpsons & # 39; The creator Matt Groening and Apu's white spokesperson Hank Azaria found themselves under fire for what Shilpa S. Davé, a media specialist, called "brownface performance" and the stereotypical aspects of the story. Apu character.
Getting rid of Apu may be the most practical way to end criticism. After all, while Apu is a cartoon character, South Asian characters, like other minorities, have often been eliminated on television. This is all the easier when they represent acolytes, comics or criminals.
Nerd, terrorist, acolyte: As good as the roles are?
The famous actor Kal Penn confessed to having a little apprehension when he accepted a role in 24where he belonged to an apparently successful and integrated American family. Of course, as it was Hollywood, the family was really a facade for a dormant terrorist cell (spoiler alert: most brown people are dying).
Abhi Sinha briefly featured Ravi Shapur, developer of apps, and the soap star's passion, Eileen Davidson, on Young and agitated, Only to disappear from the screen without explanation, neither for the fans nor for the actor himself.
However, at least Sinha's character had a certain depth and the possibility of a love relationship was allowed. The actor Utkarsh Ambudkar notes that typical Indian male roles involve being both nerdy and emasculated, although he says that when South Asian artists gain visibility, they are pushing to get Changes.
Is not everyone in 'The Simpsons' a stereotype?
Apu, created by a white writer and expressed by a white actor, occupies a stereotyped role as a convenience store owner, in reference to his arranged marriage and his eight children. Kondabolu's documentary includes a clip where Azaria notes he was invited to play the Indian accent for laughter.
Despite the evocation of blackface shows and minstrels, Groening denies that the intention is racist. The overall defense of the writers of the series and fans has been consistent only in its weakness, with claims that everything about The simpsons is a stereotype. More recently, this defense has focused on the neoconservative discourse.
In an episode earlier this year, The simpsons reacted to the controversy by making Lisa's character – generally considered the most intelligent, liberal and empathic of the show – decry the politically correct.
Many members of the audience, including those from the South Asian heritage, also denounce the politically correct. More than 10 years ago, I conducted a study of young Canadians of South Asian descent, curious to know what value they saw in Bollywood movies, which circulated widely in the diaspora and contained many offensive tropes, including portraits of Muslim terrorists, punjabis drunkards and promiscuous Christians.
Some of the interviewees acknowledged these problems but noted that they had grown up in Canada, where the media showed mainly whiteness, affecting their identity, sense of self and belonging. Even though Bollywood was problematic, it was still a platform for characters that looked like them.
The media teaches us the world
I imagine that it is a familiar experience for viewers, and now, some Apu fans of South Asian origin roll their eyes, rejecting accusations of racism. And yes, of course, there are more important issues related to racism in North America than to wonder if Apu is a racist caricature. However, as many have argued, representation matters.
For many of us, the media is the way we learn about the world around us. If you do not know many people of South Asian descent, or if you do not know them very well, you may come to think that the Apus and Rajesh Koothrappalis offer a great idea of what it means to be southern. -Asian.
Fortunately, with the success of actors such as Priyanka Chopra, Mindy Kaling and Hasan Minhaj, the picture is diversifying.
This desire for change does not negate criticism of Apu, nor the effect his existence has had on some members of the public. It is totally insufficient to say that The simpsons offered a brown stereotype because its stock in the trade is stereotypes.
A stereotype based on a person's ethnicity is racist and, therefore, when Azariae says, "They have really done a good job, say, uniformly offensive without being really hurtful", one might ask a white actor Brownface is able to determine who is hurt by this not so uniform offensiveness.
Whether Apu lives or dies, stays or goes, I would say that his legacy shows how much racism lives in Hollywood, and it's not a matter of laughter.
Faiza Hirji, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Multimedia Studies, McMaster University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article
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