1. I'll add one thing to the great Apu debate: until recently I was also an Desi who didn't mind Apu. I've changed, largely because I've started listening to people younger than me. https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/984418135632760832 …
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2. Cards on the table: born in india, family of immigrants (to Canada but also England, Fiji, USA & all over), parent's ran a small convenience store, fan of classics Simpsons (by which I mean the Tracey Ullman shorts)
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3. I've been pretty indulgent towards Apu because I saw him as an affectionately intended character (as against, say, Peter Sellers in The Party,which I loathed when I saw it as a kid).
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4. I think the big difference between me and many Desi who dislike Apu is generational. I was already an adult when Simpson appeared. They are more likely to have been kids in school.
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5. As an adult, The Simpsons was something in background to me. For younger Desi in school, Apu was a taunt they heard in school. Big difference.
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6. If I wanted to, I could easily write one of those anti-PC articles: "Hey, I was born in India, I don't mind Apu." But I won't because I'm not an asshole and I'm willing to listen to people younger than me.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
The challenge here is that a lot of sociological comedy depends on the concept of what you might call the "friendly stereotype" -- a charming exaggeration of a particular identity or type.
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Replying to @DouthatNYT @HeerJeet
So if you purge a figure like Apu -- quite likeable, certainly no more egregious than the other stereotypes on the show -- you end up with less representation in the end. And if you "correct" him he's just boring.
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I think that's a legitimate problem.
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Replying to @HeerJeet @DouthatNYT
You "correct" the problem by having non-stereotyped characters on the show and/or show the richness of Apu's life that goes beyond what white people perceive.
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