Apu to run again?

‘THANK you, come again” –those four words, spoken in an exaggerated Indian accent, have followed immigrants and Americans of South Asian descent like a bad penny since The Simpsons premiered in 1989. They helped make Apu, the show’s tight-fisted convenience store owner, a household name. And they are often repeated to us, with a sly grin or a guffaw, by the same people who are surprised that we speak English in grammatically sound sentences.

Last week Hank Azaria, the white actor who has voiced Apu for 29 seasons, said he was willing to stop playing the character as he now understands why Apu is troubling to the community he is supposed to represent. “My eyes have been opened,” Azaria said. “And I think the most important thing is that we have to listen to South Asian people, Indian people in this country when they talk about what they feel and how they think about this character.”

The character also encourages the infantilising of Indian immigrants as simple-minded people who talk in a sing-song voice. Even Apu’s last name – Nahasapeemapetilon – is presented in a way that invites mockery.

Going by what the show’s creator Matt Groening said dismissively about the criticism of Apu – “I think it’s a time in our culture where people love to pretend they’re offended” – and the show’s churlish reaction to Mr Kondabolu’s documentary on an episode earlier this month, Apu will probably remain ensconced in the Kwik-E-Mart.

But keeping Apu on The Simpsons in his current form would be a huge missed opportunity for the show, which has been one of the most thoughtful voices in US popular culture by addressing issues like immigration, discrimination and the power of big corporations that most network TV shows have avoided. Groening has said that he named Apu after Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy, suggesting he of all people ought to understand why many people find this character so troubling.