It seems that satire is no longer to everyone's taste. According to IndieWire magazine, Apu is expected to disappear from The Simpsons series very soon. The reason? Well, it seems that this character is "too stereotypical".
The controversy began in November 2017, with the broadcast of a report called The Problem with Apu. The latter denounced the caricature aspect of this character, which would not represent sufficiently faithfully the Indian culture and the Indians immigrants to the USA. Faced with this criticism, The Simpsons responded a few months later through one of their episodes.
#TheSimpsons completely toothless response to @harikondabolu #TheProblemWithApu about the racist character Apu:
"Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect… What can you do?" pic.twitter.com/Bj7qE2FXWN
— soham (@sohamberlamps) April 9, 2018
In this short excerpt, Lisa can be heard asking her mother:
Something that started decades ago, which was applauded and harmless is now politically incorrect…What can I do?
A clear answer, supported by the photo of Apu on Lisa's nightstand (which is slightly creepy right?).
Anyway it was not enough to extinguish the fire of controversy, so much so that one of the producers Adi Shankar announced to IndieWire magazine that Apu Nahasapeemapetilon would disappear from the show:
"I checked the information with several sources. They will abandon the character of Apu. They're not going to make a big deal out of it, they're just going to abandon it to avoid controversy."
Political correctness and The Simpsons : an inadequate relationship!
Let's set one thing straight away: yes, racist stereotypes are legion in Hollywood and in popular culture. And it goes without saying that they must be fought on all fronts. However, it would be good to know how to differentiate a racist stereotype from a satirical stereotype, in order to avoid missing out on very laudable messages.
Apu is, like ALL The Simpsons characters, a caricature. Simply because The Simpsons represent a social satire of America and its various aspects. Most often, it is not Apu who is mocked, but those who are unable to see him as a normal person because of his foreign nationality. The series denounces the inability of American citizens to accept immigration, even if foreigners do everything to adapt (and Apu represents the epitome of this desire for integration).
The first characters to be stereotyped are Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa Maggie, Chief Wiggum, the Snake and all the others… Because these clichés serve a canvassing of denunciation of American society, locked in its prejudices. Before mocking Indians, The Simpsons mock Americans and their narrow-mindedness. A saving approach, insofar as it is by pointing out the imperfections of a society that it can be corrected.
Yes, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a cliché of an Indian immigrant to the USA. In the same way that Willy the Gardener is a caricature of Irish, that Big Tony is a caricature of an Italian mafioso, that Ned Flanders is a caricature of religious, etc, etc, etc… The Simpsons hit where it hurts in order to advance morals and they are right. There are countless episodes based on the acceptance of various nationalities, religions, sexualities, opinions and others…
Making Apu disappear would therefore not be a victory against clichés, but a victory against satire. This is regrettable in today's America, which does not shine by its policy of tolerance. Let's hope that this decision is not implemented in the end, because we would miss the Kwik-E-Mart terribly!
