Apu to be axed from the Simpson’s after racial controversy

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https://news.sky.com/story/the-simpsons-indian-character-apu-axed-after-racial-controversy-11537982

Somehow I don’t think those that were complaining about this will be best pleased..

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Reply 1

viddy9

Yeah, I don’t understand the furore here. ‘The Simpsons’ is filled with stereotypes. The main family themselves are a stereotype of the ‘typical American family’.

Reply 2

Andrew97

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Original post by viddy9

Yeah, I don’t understand the furore here. ‘The Simpsons’ is filled with stereotypes. The main family themselves are a stereotype of the ‘typical American family’.

It seems stereotypes only matter when the person has a different skin colour....

Reply 3

viddy9

Original post by Andrew97

It seems stereotypes only matter when the person has a different skin colour....

No doubt there will be complaints about other aspects of the show, in due course. In fact, there probably already have been.

Reply 4

It's****ingWOODY

Good luck axing him from the daily repeats of old episodes on Channel 4 :biggrin:

Reply 5

AngeryPenguin

A cowardly and petty move by the producers, who clearly cannot be bothered to rewrite Apu to be a less demeaning representation of Indian-Americans, and are simply throwing a tantrum and removing him altogether.

Reply 6

Andrew97

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Original post by AngeryPenguin

Why should they rewrite him when every single character is a stereotype?

Reply 7

username521617

This. The show reached its peak in the 90s and has been going downhill since then with fewer decent episodes each year. They should just axe the show altogether instead of getting rid of harmless Indian characters.

Reply 8

ThomH97

It's been ages since I watched it, are there any other Indian characters apart from Apu and his family? I assume his wife and octuplets are going to be written off as well.

Might as well get rid of Dr Hibbert and Carl too and just yellow-wash the whole show to avoid controversy.

Reply 9

username521617

Original post by ThomH97

I think he's the only one.

The backlash against him recently is ridiculous. Oh no, an Indian guy with an accent who owns a convenience store! It's not like that's totally a real thing in America. Can't have that on a show that lampoon's stereotypical American life.

He's a kind, decent character and they should have left him alone. Most people didn't have a problem with him, but it only takes the R-word and the show is doomed to capitulate. Next will be Bumblebee Man, then maybe even Willie... Then Marge because it's sexist for her to be a housewife, then the twins because they're offensive to twins somehow...

Reply 10

Hirsty97

Just axe the whole show. It's gotten to the point where The Simpsons has been bad for longer than it was good.

Reply 11

TimmonaPortella

Shankar said he was disappointed with the decision, having launched a contest in April for the public to help write a script which transformed Apu from a bad stereotype into "a realistic portrayal of Indians in America".

The arrogance and entitlement in this is stunning. He actually thought he could tell the show's creators what the character should be.

And that was to be 'a realistic portrayal' in the context of a cartoon comedy show. In this guy's vision, the show was presumably to be comprised of cartoon stereotypes of every other group in America, written by the show's actual writers, and then a singled-out, 'realistic portrayal' of an Indian man, written by particularly humourless members of the public.

This man seems to have helped ruin Apu for everyone. After doing so, he has shown the nerve to turn around and accuse the show's creators of 'cowardice' for taking what is really an obvious step in response, and, most importantly, for not following his own, particular plan for their character.

This whole affair is just awful.

Reply 12

anosmianAcrimony

''Now get out, and never darken my doorstep again! ...and come again.''

- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

Reply 13

quasa

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Dandaman1

In fairness, season 26 was decent and had a few good episodes (personal favourites were the treehouse of horror 25, the xmas episode, simpsorama (the futurama crossover) and the highlight imo was "blazed and confused" which had Willem Defoe)
But mostly, i agree, the post 2000s simpsons is rubbish save for a few surprising episodes (although those are mainly parodies, along with the 2014 world cup episode which predicted fifas mass corruption exodus)

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 14

Everglow

The Simpsons is little more than a cash cow nowadays. I am a huge fan of the early seasons, so I don’t say that lightly. The axing of Apu is really just the sour icing on a very stale cake

Reply 15

Wōden

Original post by AngeryPenguin

I don't see anything particularly demeaning about his character. Apu has generally been depicted as having a much stronger work ethic, greater sense of honour, higher intelligence and conscientiousness than most of the other characters in the Simpsons. I think it's quite a flattering and endearing depiction of a friendly, Indian shopkeeper.

Contrast this with the only Scotsman in the show, who is portrayed as little more than a drunken, violent and uncivilised hillbilly (and as someone of mostly Scottish descent, I'm not even complaining, I still find the character funny). Stereotypes exist for a reason and they are funny to us because they tend to contain grains of truth, but most people are fully aware they are just exaggerations to be taken with a pinch of salt.