The Simpsons: Hank Azaria on Retiring Apu, How Name Became a Slur (bleedingcool.com)

submitted 1 week ago by Skavau@lemm.ee to c/Television@lemm.ee

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[-] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 72 points 1 week ago

This was so stupid

As far as how Apu compares to his other ethnic characters, "I still get comments to this day, [goes into Italian accent] 'Why can you do Luigi? And that's not offensive.' [Goes into southern accent] 'Why can you talk like Cletus?' [back to normal voice] 'And that's not a problem? But you can't do Apu?'" Azaria said, "Honestly, at first, I thought, 'Let me look into this, and then I'll go back to doing the voice,' and say, 'I understand, but I'm going to keep doing this.' I was surprised myself that I came down on, 'No, I think I'm participating in a harm here.'"

Really? Hate crimes because of a simpsons character? I really doubt it

Bring Back Apu - Akaash Singh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk3svL0GPWI

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Apu was:

A college graduate
Able to earn his American citizenship.
A volunteer firefighter
A vegetarian and made Lisa a better one by telling her not to judge people.
The only playable character in Hit and Run outside of the Simpsons family
A complex character
A good character

I would have rather they re-cast Apu than just get rid of him.

[-] PacMan@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 week ago

Forgetting that he was also the American dream. Being an immigrant and a successful business owner.

[-] musubibreakfast@lemm.ee 14 points 1 week ago

Completely agree, the dude had multitudes. Get an Indian actor to play him.

[-] Nougat@fedia.io 13 points 1 week ago

There are more people in the world who speak English with a subcontinent accent than there are Americans. There is nothing wrong with that accent, and hiding it away does more harm.

[-] lobut@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 week ago

Yeah I understand Hanks reservations on the dude. However, the voice of Cleveland on Family Guy got recast too. I can't even tell the recasting was so perfect.

[-] missingno@fedia.io 10 points 1 week ago

Apu is a complex and multifaceted character that fans have many reasons to love. But no matter how lovable the character is, I don't think it's right to say that the good parts of the character can just cancel out or erase his problematic origins.

Most importantly though, if Hank has decided he does not want to voice the character, that is his right to do so and it would not be right to force him back into the role.

Really though, the best solution is to just... let the Simpsons end already. It had a good run, but it's been trash for far longer than it was originally good. Are you sure you really want Apu back on the new seasons today, or do you just want your nostalgia for classic Simpsons? Because the latter is something you can already have, no one's taking that away.

[-] MimicJar@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

As apparently the only person who still watches new episodes of The Simpsons, yes, I want Apu back.

If Hank Azaria has chosen to stop voicing him, that's fine, I wouldn't force that upon him but I do think he should continue to voice him.

Let's look at Carl & Doctor Hibbert, previously voiced by Hank Azaria & Harry Shearer.

Carl is now voiced by Alex Desert. It took about a season for Alex to get the voice right, but he does a pretty good Carl voice, I'm glad we still have Carl as a character.

Doctor Hibbert is now voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. Kevin tried to voice Doctor Hibbert for a few seasons, but he never quite got it right. He now does pretty different voice for Hibbert, one that feels a little more Family Guy. (FWIW I like Family Guy, it just has a different vibe than The Simpsons.) I'm glad we still have Doctor Hibbert, but I'm bummed that the character has changed.

Of the two, which is the better approach? Is it better to mimic or create someone new?

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago

Eh, I gotta respect him for his decision.

However, not recasting the role is shitty as hell. It relegates a really cool character that helped people more than racists used it badly, and removes a very important source of representation.

[-] Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 6 days ago

The fact that there were dozens of Indian Subcontinent heritage American comedians saying they'd love the role, but they didn't even get to audition for it really drives home how much of this was for PR over doing right for the character and the Indian subcontinent heritage American community.

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

That's my opinion as well.

It really could have been a total win. But, hey, why do something great with a small risk when you can do something meh and lower risk while also spending less money.