Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE/ARTS
Wednesday 15 november 2017
Comedians not laughing at

character in ‘The Simpsons’

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Growing
up in New York in the 1980s,
comedian Hari Kondabo-
lu was like many young
people. He watched “The
Simpsons” and he adored
“The Simpsons.” There was
This image released by Fox shows the Apu from the animated just one thing that both-
series “The Simpsons.” The character is the subject of a docu- ered him about it.
mentary called “The Problem With Apu,” airing on truTV on Nov. Amid the fictional Spring-
19. field barflies, incompetent
Associated Press doctors, clowns and crazy
eggheads was a truly car-
toonish character — Apu,
the Kwik-E-Mart clerk who
sold expired food, ripped
off customers and deliv-
ered the sing-songy slogan
“Thank you, come again.”
To Kondabolu and plenty
of other people of South
Asian heritage, the pot-
bellied, heavily accented
Apu led to real world bul-
lying, self-loathing and
embarrassment. Apu was This image released by truTV shows Hari Kondabolu, a come-
one of the only Indian im- dian who stars in the documentary, “The Problem with Apu,” air-
migrants portrayed in pop- ing on truTV on Nov. 19.
ular culture and yet he was Associated Press
a buffoon.
“This character — the only grade by a kid using Apu’s for Apu, people would un-
representation that we accent. derstandably, and very
have — led a lot of kids “It’s not about him being rightfully, raise hell and the
who were born and raised funny. That’s not the is- studio would say, ‘We can’t
here to feel non-Ameri- sue. He’s a fundamentally do this. This is not funny,’”
can,” said Kondabolu. “If flawed character, based said Penn.
you don’t nip racism in the through the lens of a ste- “They would do it both be-
bud from the beginning, reotype. I think sometimes cause they would see it as
it mutates and finds other people confuse sometimes deeply problematic and
ways of surviving.” funny and wrong,” Kond- offensive but they would
Kondabolu, whose stand- abolu said. also say, ‘This joke is played
up and podcasts have a Kondabolu grew up in out.’ That’s how I see a lot
socially conscious focus, is the diverse New York bor- of ‘The Simpsons’ stuff — it’s
now fighting back with the ough of Queens and was played out.”
documentary “The Prob- shocked to not see on To those who push back
lem With Apu,” airing on film or TV what he saw on and say “The Simpsons” is
truTV on Sunday at 10 p.m. the streets every day. The an equal-opportunity of-
EST. message he got was that fender that mocks various
He hopes the film is as fun- non-whites didn’t exist. He ethnicities and cultures,
ny as it is illuminating — an became so desperate to Kondabolu argues that
important thing if you’re connect with anyone on some images have lasting
going to war with one of TV that he found solace in impact, especially if you
TVs most beloved animat- the immigrant Balki from have so few of them.
ed institutions. “As a co- the sitcom “Perfect Strang- “If you only have a hand-
median, if you’re going to ers.” ful of representations, each
kill joy, you better kill it with Penn, the “Designated one counts more because
joy,” he said. Survivor” star who has that’s the only thing you
The documentary features mocked racial stereotypes get,” he said. “If you’re a
interviews with other per- in his “Harold & Kumar” middle-aged white dude,
formers of South Asian heri- films, suspects Hollywood you can be anything. You
tage, including Kal Penn, can get away with a lot can be a detective, you
Aziz Ansari, Aasif Mandvi more mocking of Asian- can be the crook. You can
and Hasan Minhaj, who Americans than it can with be the president, you can
share their own distaste for another ethnic group. be the assassin.” Brown
Apu. Vivek Murthy, who “If you had an African- people, on the other hand,
became surgeon general American character — come in two options: either
of the United States, recalls even a cartoon — with the crafty terrorists or clerks
being bullied in seventh types of stereotypes done and cab drivers.q