Simpsons racist?
Penny Ward
The Simpsons being a racist show. The town's (only?) doctor is
black, and there are usually co-workers and students of various
skin colors around, even if they don't figure prominently in the
scripts. The problem of Abu is a little more troubling. He
does have an accent, he does work at a convenience store...on the
other hand, he isn't portrayed as a simpleton, social misfit, or
anything else negative--he's a nice guy with a successful business
and a good-looking girlfriend! What do other people think about
this?
--Penny
Amitava Biswas
>The problem of Abu is a little more troubling. He
>does have an accent, he does work at a convenience store...on the
>other hand, he isn't portrayed as a simpleton, social misfit, or
>anything else negative--he's a nice guy with a successful business
>and a good-looking girlfriend! What do other people think about
>this?
I'm pretty sure it's "Apu", not "Abu", actually, and it leads me to believe
that this is another movie reference, albeit a relatively obscure one.
Satyajit Ray is a Bengali film director with much reknown among certain circles
(the same circles that are into Kurosawa, Bergman, etc). One of his seminal
works is "Pather Panchali" or "Song of the Road", which is about a young boy
named Apu. This film was so successful that it spawned two excellent sequels,
both by Ray- "Aparajito" and "Apur Shangsar" (this last one might be translated
as "Apu's Family" or "Apu's world" or "The World of Apu"). They really are
excellent films, and if you get a chance, do see them, or bug your local video
place to get them.
But back to racism....
It seems clear to me that the Apu character is supposed to Indian, given the
name, accent, that his brother (who deplores violence in all of its
manifestations) is named Sanjay,etc. The film reference would make him Bengali
(like me!), but
my experience has been that the stereotyped convenience store owner is not
Indian, but Arab. In New York City, where I'm from, there are many newsstands,
however, which are Indian owned. Sometimes it seems like all of them :-)
But, usually (another gross generalization), these merchants tend to be Gujrati
not Bengali. Gujuratis have a reputation for being the businesspeople of
India. So if it is an attempt to stereotype, it's not very accurate.
I personally don't find it offensive, neither does my family. Actually, we get
quite a kick out of the character, as there aren't many Indians on TV. As you
point out, he is cast in a rather positive light - he's a nice guy, successful,
likeable. So the only complaint someone might have is "he works at a
convenience store", to which I say big deal, what's wrong with that? There
are a lot of worse things on TV, not to mention society, to get worked up over.
Apu's cool, man!
Ami
Glenn Wallace
>--Penny
I was a bit surprised about the original post re: Apu.
I think MG is just making Springfield more like the real world.
Every 7-11 in Australia you go into is run by Indians (not the red
kind), and its the kinda thing you notice.
I'm not racist, and I don't mind Indians owning every 7-11 and Pizza Hut
in Australia.
The whole Apu thing is funny because every time I go into my local 7-11
I feel like saying "Hi Apu!" or "Triple Chocolate!".
I assume that, similarly, 7-11s (or whichever) in the US are mainly
staffed by Indians or Pakistanis.
+-------------------------------------+
| Glenn Wallace |
| Hacker 2nd Class |
| Telecom Australia - Drift Project |
+-------------------------------------+
Ken Staggers
There are still a few people that you can stereotype on tv without much
public outcry. Native Americans, Indians, Arabs, Italians and their alleged
connections to the mob, etc. Abu is a stereotype. The stereotype doesnt
say anything about home life or competency. All it says is that people like
Abu own all of the 7-11s (similar to a stereotype in NYC which says all the
Koreans own grocery stores). Until someone complains, much like Native
Americans are doing now, nothing will be done.
--Ken
Rob Steele
> Apu's cool, man!
I like him too--he's one of the most sympathetic characters on the show. He's
the American dreamer. The Simpson family is middle-class and mediocre; Apu is
lower on the social scale but higher morally. He is "four years off the boat"
(Spike Lee, "Do the Right Thing") and by hard work has built a business and
become a productive member of the community. But Homer, despite better
opportunities, is lazy and a net drain on the community (unless his children
somehow redeem his fat butt).
I don't know what racism is anymore but I don't see anything in Apu to offend
tender sensitivities.
-------------------------------------------------------
Rob Steele r...@ll.mit.edu
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
244 Wood St. What is man that thou
Lexington, MA 02173 art mindful of him?
617/981-2575
Jonathan R. Ferro
>Abu is a stereotype. The stereotype doesnt
>say anything about home life or competency. All it says is that people like
>Abu own all of the 7-11s (similar to a stereotype in NYC which says all the
>Koreans own grocery stores). Until someone complains, much like Native
>Americans are doing now, nothing will be done.
... except that NOTHING NEEDS TO BE DONE! A major criterion for a
stereotype is that it reinforce a negative attitude. As far as I can
tell,
[a] there is no prevailing attitude relating Indians to convenience
stores in a negative sense (none of the Indians I know run convenience
stores)
[b] there is no prevailing attitude relating convenience stores to
Indians in a negative sense (in fact, in my opinion, there is NOTHING
relating Indians to convenience stores. My current tally for the
person-behind-the-counter is roughly 60% white, 40-minus-epsilon% black
and epsilon% hispanic. If you want to say there is a stereotype
relating people who look like my mother plus 40 pounds to convenience
stores then I might agree)
[c] his home life and competency HAVE been addressed: he lives in a nice
apartment, he has a cool girlfriend, and has survived numerous counts of
armed robbery while still turning enough profit to hire even boobs like
Homer to work the graveyard shift.
In fact, the only stereotype you got right is the one relating ignorant
attendees of state schools to the idea of political activism ==
political correctness, which received a major boost in my mind by your
post. Satisfied? Now shut up.
ObSimpsons: I loved McBain, I loved the whole father-son thing, I loved
the new hairdos, I DESPISED the happy ending. Anyone ready to start a
petition? (Might as well get several gripes off my chest in one post :-)
-- Jon Ferro MIT Transportation Modelling Research Center
jf...@andrew.cmu.edu "We can hack it!"