Last year comedian Hari Kondabolu made the unfunny documentary “The Problem with Apu,” in which he bitched and complained that The Simpsons character was racist against people from India. It made the news for about 2 seconds and then everyone stopped pretending like they cared about this. To say there is a huge controversy is a lie, but Fox is apparently getting rid of the character to avoid the controversy. It’s one thing to cowardly bow to pressure from hysterical screaming liberals, but another to cave to nonexistent pressure because it’s the politically correct thing to do. The show that satirized society and culture is now a satire of itself.
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is the Indian American owner of the Kwik-E-Mart on the animated TV show The Simpsons. He speaks in a thick Indian accent but is generally portrayed as a good guy. He first appeared on the show in 1990, meaning he had been a character for 27 seasons before anyone suddenly had a problem with him being a stereotype.
After Kondabolu tried to raise some stink over Apu, The Simpsons actually made fun of the non-controversy in an episode. The basic gist was that it’s stupid to apply modern outrage to classic characters. The show also poked fun at PC culture, but now it looks like they are capitulating to it.
Producer Adi Shankar, who is not affiliated with The Simpsons, was working on script to “fix” the Apu problem when he learned that Fox is unceremoniously getting rid of the character. He had this to say in an interview with Indiewire:
“I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether. They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy,” said Shankar.
Those multiple sources include two people who work on The Simpsons as well as someone who works directly for show creator Matt Groening.
If this is indeed the case, The Simpsons just started rolling the snowball down the slippery slope and will soon have to eliminate other stereotypical characters to appease the easily offended:
Akira is an Asian waiter and Karate instructor voiced by liberal loon George Takai. Do I even need to explain why this character is racist?
Jasper Beardly is a stereotype of an elderly person and keeping him on the show only promotes ageism.
Boobarella is a caricature of horror host Elvira who objectifies women with her large breasts.
Bumblebee Man is a Spanish-speaking entertainer who portrays Hispanics as bufoons.
The Crazy Cat Lady makes fun of people with mental illness.
The Comic Book Guy makes fun of both the obese and losers.
Lunch Lady Doris insults minimum wage working-class women.
Fat Tony and all of his “Gentleman’s Club” associates defame Italian Americans.
Ned Flanders and family is an attack on Christians.
Baby Gerald’s unibrow makes light of children with birth defects.
Barney Gumble is an insult to those struggling with alcoholism.
Dr. Julias Hubbard is clearly supposed to be Bill Cosby and that’s so problematic I don’t know where to begin.
Krusty the Clown is a stereotype of a Jewish entertainer, which is anti-Semitic.
Cookie Kwan is another stereotypical Asian, portrayed as rude and ambitious.
Myopic Hans Moleman makes light of people with poor eyesight and blindness.
There’s actually a character named the “Old Jewish Man.”
Luigi Risotto is such an offensive Italian stereotype, he makes Fat Tony look okay by comparison.
Dr. Nick Riviera is another character who portrays Hispanics negatively.
Cletus Spuckler is an uneducated hillbilly who makes fun of the poor struggling people of Appalachia.
Drederick Tatum is Mike Tyson.
Üter Zörker is a stereotype of a fat little German boy.
Police Chief Clancy Wiggum makes cops look overweight and incompetent.
Groundskeeper Willie is deeply offensive to the entire country of Scotland.
If they are going to eliminate Apu, they have to scrub the show of any character that might be offensive to anyone. After 29 seasons the show is more stale than year-old bread, but I’m sure sanitizing it for maximum political correctness will bring it back to its glory days. Or maybe Fox will finally put this thing out of its misery.
