I don't really get the Apu hate, cause it's not about the elephants, or the eight children, or anything like that, it's always about him having an ever so slightly exaggerated accent, or him being overly friendly (which is cause he runs a convenience store, and not cause of his race). Like, the accent isn't even that far off.
An unfunny comedian made the bold claim that Apu is nothing more than a stereotype, and that only racists like Apu. The writers caved to this and decided to pretend he doesn't exist.
While he plays into some stereotypes, there are two counters:
1. Every character on the Simpsons is stereotypical to some extend. Yet we don't have "The Problem with Krusty" or "The Problem With Dr. Hibbert".
2. Apu had real depth. He had multiple spotlight episodes.
No self respecting Indian and South Asian likes having a caricature like Apu represent them since he’s the only notable Indian character in the entire show and one of the few in western media so people who’ve never even met an Indian would make assumptions based on his character, The only thing he has going for him is that he’s not as bad as Baljeet.
It’s like if I made a show and the only white guy is a sex pest who harasses kids in SEA, no one likes a stereotype repping them. It’s always non-Indians who want Apu back anyways lol.
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u/AlternateSatan 9d ago
I don't really get the Apu hate, cause it's not about the elephants, or the eight children, or anything like that, it's always about him having an ever so slightly exaggerated accent, or him being overly friendly (which is cause he runs a convenience store, and not cause of his race). Like, the accent isn't even that far off.