Issue 3

In normal circumstances, news of a heated debate
concerning racial insensitivity and minority
representation might be what you would expect to
hear emanating from the likes of Parliament or the
Senate, as opposed to Springfield. Over the last
few months however, the world of Hollywood has
found itself increasingly challenged on the nature
of a once acceptable form of comedy. Controversy
is a man, and his name is Apu
Nahasapeemapetilon.
So, what’s the issue? After twenty-eight years of
entertaining viewers as the industrious owner of
the Kwik-E-Mart, concerns have gradually begun
to emerge that ‘The Simpsons’ unapologetically
eccentric portrayal of Apu, built on stereotypes
ranging from a thick Indian accent to his clichéd
choice of profession as a convenience store worker,
has simply run its course. In the eternal words of
The Smiths, perhaps ‘that joke isn’t funny
anymore’. With the humour involved being part of
a problematic, two-dimensional portrayal of
Asians within wider society. Nevertheless, this is
by no means a view that commands the approval
of everyone involved within the discussion. Many
fans of the show are keen to defend the existence
of a character they believe represents far more than
just another token face used for cheap laughs. With
so much disagreement, what should Apu’s future
be? Each side presents an interesting take.
Critics of the show have argued that the depiction
of its brown protagonist is at best a misleading
impression of an already under-represented group
within the entertainment industry, and at worst a
racially insensitive caricature that has contributed
towards mockery and abuse of Indians in the real
world. In a sense, both of these issues are
inherently connected: what was initially intended
to serve as a satirical reflection of American society
has only lost relevance in a time of increasing
social diversity. If it ever was true, the idea of the
Indian immigrant existing only to pump fuel and
serve supermarket products of questionable
quality to unsuspecting customers (that means
you, Homer) now feels like an anachronism that
hasn’t really managed to keep up with the
developments of the present, something ‘The
Simpsons’ was once so widely praised for doing. In
contrast to the 1990s, South Asians within the US
media sector have begun to prove themselves as
capable of so much more than the typical go-to
roles of cab drivers or terrorists in action movies,
with a new generation of talents such as Hasan
Minhaj or Mindy Kaling paving the way for a
bright future. Apu, on the other hand, remains an
isolated figure within his own universe, the
flagship poster boy for what it means to be Asian.
This failure to update and acknowledge changing
demographics arguably harms the fight for better
representation, allowing people to cling to harmful
tropes such as poor English and use them to
generalise an entire race of people.
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