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The Problem with Apu

The Problem with Apu is a 2017 American documentary film written by and starring comedian Hari Kondabolu and produced and directed by Michael Melamedoff. It focuses on the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian immigrant in the animated sitcom The Simpsons who, for a period, was the only figure of Indian heritage to appear regularly on mainstream U.S. television. The film explores encounters with negative stereotypes, minstrelsy, racial microaggressions, and slurs against people of Indian and South Asian heritage.

The Problem with Apu

Michael Melamedoff

United States

English

  • Michael Melamedoff
  • Michael J. Cargill

49 minutes

November 19, 2017 (2017-11-19)

Themes[edit]

In the film Kondabolu speaks with other South Asian-American entertainers about the impact of Apu on their lives. Actors Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn, Maulik Pancholy, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Samrat Chakrabarti, Sakina Jaffrey, Aasif Mandvi and Hasan Minhaj[10][6][11] relate childhood anecdotes of being called "Apu" by other children or having the character's catchphrases from the show said to them by strangers because of their perceived heritage.[1] They also relate stories of becoming trained professional actors and being asked to deliver lines in the style and accent of Apu.[6]


Kondabolu compares this instance of Azaria portraying a caricature of an Indian shopkeeper to blackface and interviews African-American actress Whoopi Goldberg, who is a longtime collector of racist ephemera from the 20th and 21st centuries. Goldberg agrees with the interpretation of Apu as a form of brownface.[12] Kondabolu traces the origins of The Simpsons character to a legacy of brownface performance by actors such as Peter Sellers in The Party.


In parts of the documentary, Kondabolu expresses his appreciation for The Simpsons as a subversive and culturally astute institution on the landscape of mainstream North American media.[13] Additionally, he draws out a range of opinions from his peers; for instance, while Kondabolu said that despite Apu he still loved The Simpsons, Kal Penn said the character ruined the show for him.[6] Kondabolu said: "I made this film to not only talk about the origin of Apu and highlight the impact of such images in media, but also to celebrate the diversity and complexity of my community."[2]

Production and release[edit]

Filming for The Problem with Apu began in April 2016.[6] The film was given special screenings featuring live appearances and talkback with Hari Kondabolu in the fall of 2017, preceding its release on the truTV network on November 19.[11] 250,000 people watched the initial airing on its first-run.[14]


Kondabolu appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to promote the film. He argued that the Apu character had a serious and insidious effect, and that the use of humor in the portrayal is an artful way of making racism more appealing; this would hypothetically be relieved by the introduction of a range of brown characters, although he did say he didn't really care about Apu.[15]

Reception[edit]

The documentary received mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 21 critics, with an average critical score of 8.3/10,[16] Metacritic gave it a score of 77 out of 100, based on four reviews.[17]


Daniel Fienberg, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, praised the documentary for providing "its thesis against the character's acceptability ... with such clarity, it's hard to imagine it generating an adversarial response more cogent than that hoary classic 'It's a joke, stop taking it so seriously,' which is no response at all." Fienberg criticized it as being "half a documentary", saying "it becomes disingenuous when Kondabolu declares, 'I realize some of you think I'm some annoying PC social-justice warrior' and then calculatedly skips those voices, and disappointing when Kondabolu and friends wonder what can be done about Apu now and there's nobody around to make it into a real conversation."[18]


Scott Pierce of The Salt Lake Tribune found the documentary "thought-provoking and entertaining", and concluded that "Kondabolu raises some troubling questions. I’ll never be able to watch The Simpsons without thinking about this again."[19] Meenasarani Linde Murugan, writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books, contrasted the documentary's progressive advocacy with the view of media diversity promulgated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: "In celebrating how far we have come, we should not only remember how brownface and brown voice persist on contemporary television, but also call out those public South Asian figures who would use this same history of ridicule to leverage a vision of the future wholly run by corporations that would further racial and economic inequity."[20]


Justin Charity, writing for The Ringer, agreed with the film's argument, but found the pursuit of Hank Azaria to appear in the film "a prevailing distraction from more ambitious consideration of the ideal future of The Simpsons and the cultural shifts that have rendered Apu increasingly unpalatable." He also found the documentary lacked imagination in finding a solution to creating a more nuanced portrayal of Apu: "that lapse of Kondabolu's imagination is the documentary's real waste."[21] Neal Justin of Minneapolis Star Tribune noted "any criticism directed at the show's portrayal of the convenience-store owner in his documentary ... is drowned out by frustration that he can't land an interview with the character's voice actor."[22] Many Indian fans expressed dissatisfaction with the documentary and genuinely liked Apu.[23][24][25]


In October 2018, in the South Park episode "The Problem with a Poo", Mr. Hankey is expelled and sent to a land where "people don't care about bigotry and hate" – Springfield – where he is welcomed by Apu. The episode ended with a title card, #cancelthesimpsons, similar to the promo for South Park which called for the cancellation of itself, leading many to assume that the episode was South Park siding with the documentary.[26] On the DVD commentary, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone stated that the people on The Simpsons are their friends, and that the episode was not a jab at The Simpsons but at the documentary and the critique of Apu, and that they found it amusing how many misinterpreted the joke as an attack on The Simpsons.[27] In addition, a writer for The Simpsons, Al Jean, tweeted about the episode: "It's actually in favor of us saying people are too critical."[28]

at IMDb

The Problem with Apu

at Rotten Tomatoes

The Problem with Apu

at Metacritic

The Problem with Apu