So apparently this Sunday night, a channel called TruTV, which I may even have even though I've never watched it, is going to air a program by Indian comedian Hari Kondabolu on the stereotyping of Indians in the media as typified by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian convenience store owner on The Simpsons.
In reading through the article linked below, Kondabolu and other Indian actors he interviews don't offer any solutions to a character who has been part of The Simpsons for their entire 29 year history. It would also seem the biggest problem they have with Apu is that his Indian "accent" is voiced by a white guy, actor Hank Azaria.
What does everyone think about this? I have always loved The Simpsons, but admit that at times the thought has crossed my mind that Apu might be just a little offensive. Yet if even these Indian actors who are clearly upset by it don't recommend dropping the character, how can it be addressed? Or should it?
So, legitimate complaint or snowflakery?
Some things are horrific, and we need to keep them because they are horrorific. They do not need to be hidden, nor should they be hyperfocused on, but they should be pointed out as a product of its time and place and that it is offensive...
And used as a reminder that human beings are flawed creatures, and we do not always think things through, and this should be both an individual and a group lesson.
An individual lesson to allow people to change and feel that they do not need to defend all the things they have done in the past and they are allowed to change their mind and create new things, and if no physical harm occurred that people are not their past selves from decades ago. The icons and artifacts we make as humans are separate from their humans creators and they do not define the human creators, furthermore once created art / artificats is not about the creator's will but instead art changes over time and the people who view art add to it just as much as if they themselves are arche / origin of the art themselves.
But also a group lesson to prevent "mob mentalities" and "group hysteria," for creating this "group think" collections of either people or ideas is another form of artifice that has limited utility. Group think do not posse an individual will and this prevents "group think" the ability to have true introspection, true logic, and the power to create its own destiny. At its core group think is either destructive or containing forces of society. These group collections can not create something new and fresh, they can only preserve and destroy. Group think can't breath life into things, it can't birth or be used in creation, it is a dead end.
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And that is one of the powers of humor, humor allows us to acknowledge the horrific and not be threatened by it. Humor allows us to see things that are horrific yet not feel existentially threatened by them. Apu is offensive, but it is a children's cartoon! Is it really as big of deal as you think it is? Is your outrage better spent on other things that are truly outrageous?
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God the rehash of George Bush (41) and Barbara Bush vs the Simpsons seems apt.
The only thing is the person we find offensive now vs 25 to 27 years ago is not Bart but now Apu.
