Actor Hank Azaria, who voices the Indian character, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, on The Simpsons, has decided to step down.

The Indian, convenience-store-owning character Apu, has long been controversial because of criticism that he is a racial stereotype. Indeed, Azaria, who has voiced the character since its inception in 1990, is a white man who puts on a heightened, over-emphasised and pronounced Indian accent.

Speaking to Stephan Colbert on The Late Show in April 2018, he said; “I’ve tried to express this before, 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; I wanted to spread laughter and joy with this character, and the idea that it’s brought pain and suffering in any way, that it was used to marginalize people, it’s upsetting. Genuinely.”

His comments came after the release of the documentary, ‘The Problem with Apu’ by south Asian comedian, Hari Kondabolu in 2017. In the documentary, Kondabolu spoke to well-known south Asian stars such as Kal Penn and Aziz Anzari about the effect the widely-broadcast racial stereotype had on their childhoods; such as bullying.

The Simpson’s creators have only briefly addressed the controversy once and it was on the show itself. In an episode aired in 2018, in an aside directly at the camera, Lisa Simpson said: “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Then, as she looks at a picture of Apu, her mother Marge Simpson says, “some things will be dealt with at a later date.” To which Lisa adds; “if at all.”

While it is not clear whether the character of Apu himself will remain on the show or not, in an interview with film blog, SlashFilm, Azaria said, “what they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore. We all made the decision together. We all agreed on it. We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.”

Kondabolu for his part has since had to issue tweets saying, “if @HankAzaria is indeed no longer doing the voice of Apu, I do hope they keep the character & let a very talented writing staff do something interesting with him. If not to better the show, then to atleast spare me some death threats.”

And we can’t help but agree with him. Apu is a racial stereotype and watching him as children was difficult, embarrassing and cringeworthy. BUT that doesn’t mean the character needs to be written off. Instead, with cultural consultants and south Asian writers they can make something that is beautiful, funny and doesn’t contribute to generations of psychological harm. It’s 2020, do and be better and please stop sending people you don’t need agree with, death threats.

Sources: https://www.slashfilm.com/apu-voice-actor/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/arts/television/apu-simpsons-hank-azaria.html

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jan/18/simpsons-actor-hank-azaria-says-he-will-no-longer-voice-character-of-apu

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51158261