Simpsons star speaks out about Apu ‘stereotype’ claims

THE actor behind one of The Simpsons’ best-loved characters has spoken out about a new documentary which claims Apu is a “racist stereotype” of Indian people.

APU Nahasapeemapetilon — the convivial cartoon shopkeeper from The Simpsons — has become a divisive figure in the past month.

Brooklyn-based comedian Hari Kondabolu said he has been “taunted” by the show’s portrayal of the Kwik-E-Mart owner for the past 30 years. His new documentary, The Problem with Apu, has sparked a fierce debate about one of the cartoon’s best-loved characters.

It has even led to claims that Apu may be killed off.

Now the white American actor, Hank Azaria, who voices the character has finally spoken out about the film.

“I think it’s an important conversation worth having. We’re still thinking about it. It’s a lot to digest,” he told TMZ. “I think the documentary made some really interesting points and gave us a lot of things to think about.

Hank Azaria kept quiet on the film until now. Source: AFP.

“Definitely anybody that was hurt or offended by it, or by any character or vocal performance, it’s really upsetting that it was offensive or hurtful to anybody.”

The documentary filmmaker, Kondabolu, has hit back on Twitter — writing: “Apu doesn’t ‘offend’ me, he ‘insults’ me … and my community. I’m an adult with bigger things to deal with.

“My film was meant to tell you to go f**k yourself and discuss why I want you to go f**k yourself and how we can prevent future incidents of people wishing others ‘self-f**kery’.”

Working with the director Michael Melamedoff, the pair have created a feature-length documentary which will debut later this month.

“Everything with Apu is like this running joke,” Kondabolu told theNY Times. “And the running joke is that he’s Indian.”

Comedian Hari Kondabolu said he has been taunted with Apu’s portrayal over 30 years. Source: Jason Kempin/Getty Images.

“I spent a lot of time revisiting Apu episodes,” Mr Melamedoff told the Washington Post.

“Of course, the character has moments of real wit and insight, because the writing team at The Simpsons was great. But a lot of those moments are also blanketed by very cheap jokes that come at the expense of South Asian culture and South Asian experiences.”

The film explores the broader history of Hollywood’s depiction of Indians, including Peter Sellers’s brownface character from the 1968 Blake Edwards film The Party and the Indians from Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which feast on chilled monkey brains.

Mr Kondabolu also enlisted the high-powered help of fellow Indians from Hollywood to bring his point home, with actors Aziz Ansari (Master of None), Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock) and Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar) all making appearances.

Originally published as Simpsons star speaks out about Apu ‘stereotype’ claims