Last November, truTV aired The Problem With Apu, a documentary by comedian and filmmaker Hari Kondabolu that explored how The Simpsons‘ character, Apu, is not only represented on the animated series, but became the most well-known character from South Asia depicted in pop culture. Last night, the series took a moment to address the controversy over the character’s representation, but fans aren’t happy with how it was handled.
In last night’s episode, Marge and Lisa were shown discussing an old fantasy novel which contained politically incorrect themes. In the scene, Lisa turned to directly address the camera, saying, “Something that started decades ago was applauded and inoffensive, is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Marge then added that things would be handled “at a later date” before chimed in with a dismissive, “if at all.” The scene also included a shot of a framed photo of Apu signed “don’t have a cow, man”.
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While Kondabolu took to Twitter to express his disdain for how The Simpsons handled things, but he wasn’t alone in his unhappiness with out the long-running animated series chose to handle the situation with Apu and his portrayal. Many fans took to Twitter as well to express how they felt about the show’s handling — or non-handling — of the situation.
Read on for a roundup of fan reactions to The Simpsons response to the Apu controversy.
@alteregobae
#TheSimpsons has been poorly written fanfiction for awhile now so I’m not surprised they wrote Lisa so OOC and handled a conversation involving race so terribly.
— high-shy-sub (@alteregobae) April 9, 2018
@LexFeldstein
“What can you do?” How about admit to your mistakes and come up with a clever workaround , instead of selling out your only main character with a moral backbone? #TheProblemWithApu #thesimpsons https://t.co/ZroTUvEwgs
— Jenny FC (@LexFeldstein) April 9, 2018
@wkamaubell
I think the fact that they put this “argument” in the mouth of Lisa’s character, the character who usually champions the underdogs and is supposed to be the most thoughtful and liberal, is what makes this the most ridiculous (as in worthy of ridicule) and toothless response.
— Wakanda Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) April 9, 2018
@JesseThorn
The biggest disappointment, to me, is that the Simpsons ran with a classic fallacy of the “PC culture” debate: essentially, “it didn’t used to be offensive, but now it is!” The actual issue is that it was always offensive, it’s just that the people hurt by it didn’t have a voice.
— Jessy! Jessi! Jessé! (@JesseThorn) April 9, 2018
@soham_burger
Beyond sad… they even threw this in for good measure pic.twitter.com/qjYthF0ckz
— Soham (@soham_burger) April 9, 2018
@angryasianman
“‘Dealt with at a later date. If at all.’ In other words: we have heard how we have hurt people, and we honestly don’t care.” https://t.co/r1AfbltbP0
— Angry Asian Man (@angryasianman) April 9, 2018
@sadydoyle
Admittedly, The Simpsons has not been relevant in years, but just casually destroying Lisa Simpson’s entire character in the effort to flip off their few remaining viewers is a good clue as to why that happened https://t.co/a3BjfLpY7D
— Sady Doyle (@sadydoyle) April 9, 2018
@amaditalks
The worst part of the Simpsons glib dismissal of the concern about Apu is that it’s given white people a whole new opportunity to tell Desi people how they should feel about this character and his portrayal.
— Mx. Amadi (@amaditalks) April 9, 2018
The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8/7c on FOX.
Do you think The Simpsons handled the controversy the right way? Let us know your thoughts in comments.
