The Problem with Apu

Hari's stand-up is second-rate and contrived, which did not garner him the fame he desired despite having access to the media apparatus through connections and wealthy parentage. So he went the route of feigned offense and propelled the zeitgeist of "cancel culture" along its unfortunate trajectory.

As we can see after the release of the film and its brief discussion in the press, Hari has again disappeared into obscurity, no doubt wondering what famous piece of entertainment he can latch onto next. Perhaps he will next cover issues which actually affect Indians and Indian-Americans instead of being critical when cartoon voice actors are not the same ethnicity as their characters (for very specific instances). That, however, is doubtful because it would not get him very much attention and would require considerable effort.

SPOILER: Before anyone says 'You probably didn't even watch it!', I did. Not once, but twice. Not only did I watch this 'documentary' twice, I also watched the interviews with this guy beating a dead horse.

The guy cries about how in his otherwise perfect life, Apu is the problem. And when he doesn't get his way (for example, having a sit-down interview with Hank Azaria, the voice of Apu and many other Simpsons' characters), in the usual SJW leftist manner, he calls Hank 'Privileged'.

This guy wants nothing more than to become famous by using his 'outrage' of 'being offended' and making a cheap, poor excuse for a documentary, while hanging off Matt Groening's creation.

Here's a good example of that too: At about 46 minutes, he says, in quote, 'I certainly deserve a show'. See, I downloaded a torrent because I didn't want to give this guy any ratings by watching his cheap documentary on TruTV, although I could have, I made sure to skip it when it aired.

Don't give this guy the opportunity. If you ignore him, he will go away. I had no idea who this guy was until these ridiculous accusations of 'offended outrage' started to surface from mainly leftist posts (coming mostly from CNN and HuffPost, that should say everything right there).

Also, during the documentary, at about 4 minutes in, he says 'Now before you call me a Social Justice Warrior who's being very sensitive, let it go snowflake. Well I have let it go, for 28 years.' Yes, you've let it go so well that you felt the need to make a documentary about it. Usually when someone says 'Now before you call me a -Input statement of what they clearly are here-, they're really trying to deflect and say 'Well... I am, but still'.

He also refers to Hank as 'A White Dude' several times. I think this guy is the real racist. He is a lousy stand-up comedian who mainly uses racial jokes during his stand-up, so he has already limited himself to that (and we all know you can't go very far on just that).

This dude is just screaming 'I want to be famous SO BAD!!! Please every leftist, help make me famous, because my lousy racial stand-up routine isn't cutting it'. If you watch during the documentary, the small bars and clubs where he's on the stage barley have anyone in the audience. That's a pretty good indication that this guy sucks. You can even see a woman WALK OUT during one of his routines, which made me laugh so hard. I had to watch it twice just to see that, and I had to tell myself 'Why would this guy leave this in?'.

It's so clear what this guy wants. He wants to hang off the success of The Simpsons by appealing to the 'Safe Space' generation. It's sort of working, because leftists will buy anything that fits into their agenda. But to every logical thinking individual: Ignore this guy. Don't make him famous.

Well Indians stereotype foreigners in their movies with an awfully hinglish accent from dacades! Show them as sluts and bar dancers, drug dealers, and what not, but that's alright but apu is a problem, hmm. Hypocrisy? I'm an Indian an I love Simpsons! Apu doesn't represent every indian guy.. get a life! It's a comedy show.

After watching this film, I think Hari Kondabalu is reaching with a lot of these arguments. For example, "'Thank you come again' has haunted Indian children for over a century." I am of Pakistani and Indian descent, and not once was I "haunted" or compared to Apu growing up in the United States during the 90's. I have talked with many of my South Asian friends/family about this film, and most of them also have never experienced such a comparison.

Look I appreciate these actors sharing their stories and creating a dialogue about the lack South Asian representation in Hollywood, but using Apu and the Simpsons as a scapegoat is completely misguided. Like many others have mentioned, the film seems to miss the point that the Simpsons is a light-hearted satire, and the show pokes fun at SO many different stereotypes. That's one of the many reasons why we love the Simpsons! Overall, I really don't think there's a strong argument here, and I wouldn't recommend this film...

• "You're the one who hate Indians, Hari. Not Simpsons"

Yes, I mean what I wrote. Yes, WE are stereotyped, we are mocked, our accent is mocked, and what not.

• How is this disrespectful when it used to be true for first generation immigrants? Your family got its privileges and you don't have that accent because you're not an Indian, just of that descent. So, don't speak on our behalf, you idiot!

• What, whoever this guy is, doesn't understand is, he is not Indian enough to have a say in it. In fact, he is probably more racist towards people of South Asia than the writers he is blaming. He hates our accent but welcomes our victim card, making all his stand ups about this and this only.

"How many times has been in India? How many shows has he had here? I didn't even know he existed till now and he feels entitled to represent my entire race."

• He also completely disregarded one thing: however racist it might feel:

The Simpsons and Fox did put an entire Indian family in the most popular animated show of all time. When? Way back in the 1990s.

You should be grateful to them, not grumpy. Don't try to convert your emotional baggage into others' guilt.