Kwik E Mart Thank You Come Again

Fox

"I never heard anyone say I like Apu because he exposes the idiocy and bigotry of the average American and showed the struggle of the immigrant," comedian Hari Kondabolu says in his documentary "The Problem With Apu." And yet part of the reason Apu has remained a key character to "The Simpsons" is that, over many seasons, he has been provided with backstories and homo flaws. Withal notwithstanding, the discussion near Apu's stereotypical roots, how he's voiced by white role player Hank Azaria, and whether the character should remain on the show, still continues. Beneath, we've examined some of Apu'southward most prominent moments on "The Simpsons" and how these have shaped the character and the controversy around him.

Play a trick on

"The Telltale Head" (Feb. 1990)

Apu's first appearance came in the series' eighth episode, in which Bart orders four Squishees for his friends, only to realize he was used as a lark so they could steal while Apu's dorsum was turned.

Fox

"A Streetcar Named Marge" (Oct. 1992) and "Marge vs. the Monorail" (January. 1993)

These 2 episodes are early on instances of Apu singing, which Kondabolu says in the film makes him a minstrel character. The first comes in a musical production of "A Streetcar Named Want," where Apu has a small walk-on part in the stage play and gets a brief solo. Apu's accent gets laid on thick before he yelps in excitement when Marge kisses him on stage. In the Monorail episode written by Conan O'Brien, Apu sings, "Is there a chance the rails could curve?" which is rhymed with, "Not on your life, my Hindu friend."

Fox

"Marge in Chains" (May 1993)

In this episode, Apu prosecutes Marge for shoplifting after she accidentally tries to walk out of the Kwik-Eastward-Mart with a canteen of bourbon. He and Sanjay celebrate with stereotypical sounding Indian music. And on the witness stand up, he reveals he knows the number pi to 400,000 digits. "The last number is one," he says.

Play a trick on

"Homer's Barbershop Quartet" (Sept. 1993)

In this Beatles parody, Homer, Main Skinner, Apu and Barney form a barbershop quartet and hitting super stardom. But before they practise, an agent tells Apu that he has to change his last name when he reveals for the first time it's Nahasapeemapetilon. The agent says it'll never fit on a marquee, to which Apu responds, "it is a nifty dishonor to my heritage and my God, just OK!" And when a reporter asks Apu if he'south actually Indian, he denies it by proverb, "By the many arms of Vishnu, I swear it's a prevarication."

Fox

"Homer and Apu" (February. 1994)

This fifth season episode was the outset dedicated solely to Apu. Homer poses as an (unwitting) informant who gets Apu exposed, shamed and fired for selling spoiled, rotten food at exorbitant prices. He then comes to Homer with his hands outstretched, which Apu explains is a gesture of apology, and not as Homer initially interprets -- Apu coming to strangle him. Later a quick song-and-dance number, they travel to Bharat to the first-built Kwik-Eastward-Mart, perched on top of a massive mountain, to win Apu's chore dorsum. The Indian CEO of the Kwik-E-Mart repeats Apu's "Thank yous, come once again" catch phrase and is voiced by Harry Shearer, also a white man. One time back in Springfield, Apu takes a bullet for guest star James Woods, who gets Apu his job back.

Pull a fast one on

"Lisa the Vegetarian" (October. 1995)

In this episode, Apu reveals that he's a vegan. With a fiddling aid from his friends Paul and Linda McCartney, Apu teaches Lisa -- who has converted to being a vegetarian and insists on lecturing everyone in her family -- a lesson about tolerance in the process. He explains that he met Paul dorsum in their Maharishi days in India and came to be known as "The Fifth Beatle." He so regales Lisa with his own rendition of "Sgt. Pepper'southward Lone Hearts Club Band," sung in Apu's thick dialect.

Trick

"22 Short Films Near Springfield" (April 1996)

This episode provides a rare glimpse into Apu's social life, in which his brother Sanjay convinces him to have five minutes off work for a political party. He very quickly paints the town cherry, even getting in a quickie in a pool shed ("no ring I see, so you are simply arranged to be married"), before heading back to a life of eternal work at the Kwik-E-Mart.

Trick

"Much Apu Virtually Aught" (May 1996)

Some other landmark episode for Apu. When a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment hits Springfield, Apu reveals that he'south a "semi-illegal alien." The episode dives into Apu's backstory and Indian heritage in a style no episode had previously. He says he graduated first in his class out of seven meg students from Caltech, "Calcutta Tech." He then came to America to study earlier taking a job at the Kwik-East-Mart to pay his educatee loans, but kept the job because he loved the piece of work. Apu passes his citizenship test and gets to remain in Springfield legally. It'southward also worth noting that all of the actors voicing Apu'south family in flashbacks are done by white actors.

Fox

"The 2 Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" (Nov. 1997)

Apu briefly plays the ladies man in Springfield before his mother contacts him from India, informing him that his arranged matrimony, fix when he was a child, will at present come up to pass. He makes an alibi that he's already gotten married and convinces Marge, Bart and Lisa to pose equally his wife and kids. His ruse doesn't final when Apu's female parent comes to visit, simply he immediately takes to his bride to be, Manjula, who has since become a recurring character. Apu and Manjula accept a traditional Indian wedding, which Homer tries to spoil by dressing up as a Hindu god. An bookish in Kondabolu'due south documentary points to this episode as how Apu's backstory isn't necessarily specific to Indians but rather to s Asians broadly.

Fox

"Viii Misbehavin'" (Nov. 1999)

Apu finds that Manjula was slipped as well many fertility drugs by the Simpsons in an try to go meaning, resulting in the Nahasapeemapetilons giving birth to octuplets. In their agony to treat them, Apu is seen wearing a makeshift bladder on his breast that holds eight milk bottles, and Manjula resorts to carrying 2 babies while balancing a laundry handbasket on her head.

Pull a fast one on

"The Sweetest Apu" (May 2002)

When Apu gets caught cheating on Manjula with one of his delivery ladies, the bear witness probed the couple's marital issues in much the manner it did with Milhouse's ultimately divorced parents.

Pull a fast one on

"Osculation Kiss Bang Bangalore" (April 2006)

When Homer is sent to Bangalore to lead the nuclear power found'due south outsourcing, Apu tells him to meet with his cousin, described every bit having medium tiptop, dark complexion, brown eyes and blackness hair, the joke existence that this describes just about everyone in Republic of india. Homer looks out over thousands of faces and starts surveying the oversupply, but manages to find Apu's cousin later on asking just ii people. While his cousin existence based in Bangalore suggests Apu's Southward Indian heritage, an earlier episode says he's from Rahmatpur in West Bengal.

Play a trick on

"Much Apu About Something" (January 2016)

Several years before Kondabolu fabricated his documentary, "The Simpsons" addressed the Apu controversy with an episode in which comedian Utkarsh Ambudkar voiced Apu's millennial nephew, who confronts Apu for beingness a stereotype. But Ambudkar ultimately was disappointed by the episode, maxim in Kondabolu's documentary that the show then undercut his monologue with the as stereotypical Luigi, shrugging that all of "The Simpsons" characters are caricatures.

Fox

"No Good Read Goes Unpunished" (April 2018)

Apu doesn't announced in the episode where "The Simpsons" accost his controversy, but a photo of him with the line "Don't have a cow man" appears adjacent to Lisa's bedside. Marge has redacted all the offensive lines from an sometime book that used to be her favorite, which Lisa says has fabricated information technology lose all its value. "Some things will have to be addressed at a later on appointment," Marge says. "If at all," Lisa replies, earlier glancing at the photograph of Apu. The episode was widely criticized every bit being an inadequate response, including by Kondabolu.

Getty Images

At TCA on Baronial 2, Fox CEO Dana Walden responded to a question nearly Apu as the testify enters its 30th season. "Nosotros have had conversations with Jim Brooks and his team, and basically, we've left information technology upwardly to them. I think that they've treated the show and the characters on the show with so much respect, we definitely trust them to handle information technology in a way that will be best for their show. I'm not sure yet exactly what they're going to do, simply ultimately, we all decided that it was their determination." After first saying that "people love to pretend they're offended, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening readdressed questions almost Apu, telling the New York Times that he loves the character, but sees the conversation equally "tainted."

archerrundepress.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.thewrap.com/simpsons-apu-stereotype-conversation-15-episodes-photos/

Share this post