Comedian Hari Kondabolu is the man behind a controversial new documentary that premieres in the United States on November 19 – a doco that promises to go deep into the problematic depiction of one of our favourite cartoon characters: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
The Problem With Apu focuses on the beloved Simpsons character as a tool of colonialism, a racist caricature that’s haunted Kondabolu, the American child of Indian migrants, for his whole life.
As he told the New York Times:
Everything with Apu is like this running joke. And the running joke is that he’s Indian.
Kondabolu is a fan of The Simpsons, so this documentary is clearly fraught for him – and for the many other South Asian Americans he speaks to in the course of the film, including Aziz Ansari and Maulik Pancholy (from 30 Rock).
Many of his interviewees discuss the pain of having people “do the Apu thing” as a means of bullying them; Kondabolu describes Apu’s accent, performed by Emmy award-winning white actor Hank Azaria, as “a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father.”
It’s a hard line to hear, especially for the millions of people who have grown up with The Simpsons close to their heart, and as such feel like the show is untouchable – regardless of whether it was perpetuating harmful stereotypes or not.
And obviously, because it’s 2017 and this is how we deal with conflicts now, many people have taken to Twitter to vent their feelings at the upcoming film.
“Apu is a racist stereotype.”
Oh bore off. Literally *every* character in @TheSimpsons is an exaggerated stereotype. And that’s kinda the point. What else do these worry-warriors expect from a cartoon comedy? Smh. pic.twitter.com/FKSs7w7C84
— Marc 🏳️🌈🚍🚇 (@MarcWinsland) November 9, 2017
Apu was a family favorite if only because he was an Indian on American TV. Sure it was a racist stereotype, but..Hey look! We exist! https://t.co/qLG115F2nb
— SonOfMogh (@BaltimusPrime) October 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/Darwin_Prime/status/929693009129693184
https://twitter.com/TmluZXM/status/929692598133981184
Of course, there are plenty of people who totally see where Kondabolu is coming from as well.
https://twitter.com/Lord_Draper/status/929182457827614721
“When you don’t squash racism when you see it, it mutates and comes back.” — @harikondabolu #CodeSwitchLive
— Arionne (ARE-ree-ahn) Nettles (@ArionneNettles) November 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/LooneyMatthew/status/928400312414568448
Here’s hoping we get an Australian – or at least a Netflix – release. I’m ready to get uncomfortable about the racial politics of the longest-running American sitcom.