The Problem with Apu

source: The Problem with Apu

Does the filmmaker not know that The Simpsons is a satire making fun of stereotypes (1.E. Italians being gangsters, Scotsmen being crazy, or rednecks are stupid). of course not, because when you have a political agenda actually realizing that the show is making fun of these stereotypes and not enforcing them.

People downvoting this perfectly fine documentary to oblivion just shows the need for voices like Hari's to be heard. Disagree with him all you want, but at least have the decency to give him the credit he deserves. The film sheds light about those who are the proverbial butt of a joke. Someone are always hurting when a joke is made, and the one hurting better be someone with power. Apu is not a man with power. (This also applies to e.g. Barney, even Homer, and you may rightfully argue they are problematic characters as well. But now we're talking about Apu.) The problem with Apu is his voice, on two levels. 1. It gave people catchphrase ammo to mock real South Asian Americans ("Thank you, come again!"). 2. Not only was South Asian Americans' roles very limited. It was not even a South Asian American that got to monetize from the stereotype and Apu's success! Hari's goal with his film is to silence Hank Azaria's Apu voice. Ironically, a big part of the film revolves around getting Hank to speak, and it ultimately (and unsurprisingly) fails. (What was he going to say anyway? The Dana Gould interview was cringy and defensive enough.) I'm thinking that this plot got Hank too much focus in this film. If he won't shut up as Apu, Hari should have silenced him by the power of blanking instead of letting him steal the show with his absence. (Even though it works as a reminder about Azaria's privilege.) Anyway, this is ultimately an joyous film with a good sense of humour (although sometimes rightfully bitter) celebrating the recent coming of diverse and serious South Asian American roles, despite hurdles like Apu.

Hari Kondabolu presents a very uncomfortable subject for people who readily embrace racial stereotypes in television by asking "Is Apu a racial stereotype and is he doing harm to the South Asian community?" He draws upon his own experiences and those of other well known South Asian comedians in the film such as Russell Peters, Kal Penn, Aasif Mandvi and Aziz Ansari as well as many others to answer these questions. The continued racially charged portrayal of Apu in the popular cartoon show "The Simpsons" is equated to the blackface caricature portrayal of African Americans in the early 20th century. A very informative and eye opening documentary on the hidden side effect of this famous cartoon franchise on the South Asian community in America.

This is the most absurd thing i have ever scene in my entire life,the worst part is that it work and it made fox disappear apu forever just because of some dumb complains,how come non white man is complaining about homer simpson being stupid or many of the other "stereotypes " in the show,the simpsons is a satire it dosnt want to offend anybody its just a parody of pur society,sadly stupid liberals wont see that,since they are trying to censored everything they dont like maybe we should start censoring gay characters because for some it is offensive...

I'm not sure how this got past any editors or test screeners. it is an awful over reaching mess with many arguments falling short after thinking on them for a few minutes. using Apu as a scapegoat seems like just a way for this m,an to make his money. would not recommend

And he says it would be a terrible thing! What did this clown think would happen?! If Apu goes then so should every stereotype in the show: Homer Simpson as the typical white American male; Groundskeeper Willie as a Scotsman; Cletus as a hillbilly; Barney the alcoholic; Flanders as a devout Christian etc

This documentary is educational and entertaining. Comedian Hari Kondabolu helps viewers explore issues of representation in mainstream U.S. media and how this affects society's perceptions. The folks with negative reviews have clearly not seen the film because he does address the use of satire to make fun of all kinds of people in the series. I plan to share the documentary with my high school students.

Hari did no research. At all. Go watch Hotdiggitydemon's review of this nonsense "documentary". He explains it better than anyone else. So what if the accent and characterization is stereotypical? EVERY CHARACTER ON THE SIMPSONS IS A STEREOTYPE OR EXAGERATION OF ONE THEREOF. Apu is easily one of the most well-adjusted characters in the entire show. Apu even has a Ph.D!! Go watch the show!!!!! Go watch it if only to prove that Hari clearly didn't watch the show at all.

SPOILER: Before anyone says 'You probably didn't even watch it!', I did. Not once, but twice. Not only did I watch this 'documentary' twice, I also watched the interviews with this guy beating a dead horse. The guy cries about how in his otherwise perfect life, Apu is the problem. And when he doesn't get his way (for example, having a sit-down interview with Hank Azaria, the voice of Apu and many other Simpsons' characters), in the usual SJW leftist manner, he calls Hank 'Privileged'. This guy wants nothing more than to become famous by using his 'outrage' of 'being offended' and making a cheap, poor excuse for a documentary, while hanging off Matt Groening's creation. Here's a good example of that too: At about 46 minutes, he says, in quote, 'I certainly deserve a show'. See, I downloaded a torrent because I didn't want to give this guy any ratings by watching his cheap documentary on TruTV, although I could have, I made sure to skip it when it aired. Don't give this guy the opportunity. If you ignore him, he will go away. I had no idea who this guy was until these ridiculous accusations of 'offended outrage' started to surface from mainly leftist posts (coming mostly from CNN and HuffPost, that should say everything right there). Also, during the documentary, at about 4 minutes in, he says 'Now before you call me a Social Justice Warrior who's being very sensitive, let it go snowflake. Well I have let it go, for 28 years.' Yes, you've let it go so well that you felt the need to make a documentary about it. Usually when someone says 'Now before you call me a -Input statement of what they clearly are here-, they're really trying to deflect and say 'Well... I am, but still'. He also refers to Hank as 'A White Dude' several times. I think this guy is the real racist. He is a lousy stand-up comedian who mainly uses racial jokes during his stand-up, so he has already limited himself to that (and we all know you can't go very far on just that). This dude is just screaming 'I want to be famous SO BAD!!! Please every leftist, help make me famous, because my lousy racial stand-up routine isn't cutting it'. If you watch during the documentary, the small bars and clubs where he's on the stage barley have anyone in the audience. That's a pretty good indication that this guy sucks. You can even see a woman WALK OUT during one of his routines, which made me laugh so hard. I had to watch it twice just to see that, and I had to tell myself 'Why would this guy leave this in?'. It's so clear what this guy wants. He wants to hang off the success of The Simpsons by appealing to the 'Safe Space' generation. It's sort of working, because leftists will buy anything that fits into their agenda. But to every logical thinking individual: Ignore this guy. Don't make him famous.