Acclaimed actor Hank Azaria, who voices several characters on “The Simpsons,” says he would “step aside” from voicing the character Apu if it were the “right thing to do.”
Acclaimed actor Hank Azaria, who voices several characters on “The Simpsons,” says he would “step aside” from voicing the character Apu if it were the “right thing to do.”
In recent days, social justice warriors have attacked “The Simpsons” character Apu, the beloved Kwik-E-Mart owner, for perpetuating Indian stereotypes. Spearheading the attack was documentary filmmaker Hari Kondabolu, who actually spent his time and money to create a full-length film about how Apu perpetuates Indian stereotypes. Rather than cave to the social justice mob, “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening essentially flipped Kondabolu the bird in a recent episode where the character Lisa told the critics to take their outrage elsewhere.
The gesture from Groening deeply angered the SJWs and they have been out for blood since. Enter actor Hank Azaria, who appeared on the Stephen Colbert show last night to issue an apology for voicing the character.
“You know, the idea that anybody was – young or old, past or present – was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad. It was certainly not my intention,” Azaria told Stephen Colbert. “I wanted to spread laughter and joy with this character. And the idea that it’s, you know, brought pain and suffering in any way, that it was used to marginalize people, it’s upsetting, genuinely.”
Azaria also disagreed with the episode that handled the Apu controversy by saying it’s “not the message” he wanted to send. If that was not enough, Azaria said he would abdicate the role “if it were the right thing to do.”
One thing that the critics miss about Apu is that he is not presented as a dumb Indian immigrant who runs the Kwik-E-Mart. Many episodes have spent time developing his complexity as a character throughout the show’s near three-decade run. He holds a Ph. D. in computer science, graduated from the top of his class at “Caltech” (Calcutta Technical Institute), and only runs the Kwik-E-Mart because of the joy it brings him to spend time with friends and customers.
