Simpsons episode addressing Apu stereotypes completely misses the point

The Simpsons finally addressed the controversy over the racial stereotypes in the character Apu, but all it really talked about was political correctness.

The creators of The Simpsons finally addressed the criticism of its Indian character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the show’s latest episode. But let’s just say, it was lackluster at best.

People have had issues with how Apu represents South Asians for years. There’s no denying it’s a very stereotypical caricature, and it’s led to some pretty racist stereotypes, including the character’s voice, job and more — especially since Apu was nearly the only South Asian character in entertainment for a while.

This led to Hari Kondabolu’s documentary The Problem With Apu, which came out last year. The documentary showed the problematic nature of the character, especially since Hank Azaria, who voices the character, is white.

The documentary then went on to tackle the issue of South Asian representation in general and showed why it’s important to have increased representation and how hurtful and harmful it can be to both have few characters from a marginalized group and have those characters play into and push racial stereotypes.

But as The Hollywood Reporter points out, The Simpsons finally addressed the controversy in the episode “No Good Read Goes Unpunished.” In the episode, Marge reads a book called The Princess in the Garden to Lisa. However, it’s an old book that has been rewritten because it’s become problematic in modern times. But Lisa and Marge aren’t happy with this newer, more “PC” version.

“It’s hard to say,” Lisa said when Marge asked what she was supposed to do. “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” She then literally looks at a framed picture of Apu with “Don’t have a cow!” written on it.

So apparently, people didn’t think Apu was offensive when he first appeared on The Simpsons (which I don’t think is even true), but now they do. Too bad. Let’s make a joke about cows.

They seemed to have completely missed the point. Representation matters. As Kondabolu said on Twitter, his documentary was a conversation about representation and why it’s important that marginalized communities are able to see accurate, positive versions of themselves on screen.

Instead, The Simpsons made a flippant jab. “This is not a jab at me,” he said, “but at what many of us consider progress.”

Writer and executive producer Al Jean was ready for a “Twitter explosion in act three.” And Twitter was surely on it.

While some agreed with The Simpsons, many fans were angered at the way The Simpsons refused to engage in the conversation and shrugged the criticism off. They were also upset that The Simpsons said Apu wasn’t offensive at first and that they had Lisa, who’s the most liberal character, deliver the line.

Next: Why die-hard Simpson fans Hari Kondabolu hates Apu

20th Century Fox told ABC News that “the episode speaks for itself,” and had nothing else to say on the subject.