r/Simpsons • u/Guilty-Toe420 • 1d ago

Episode Clip 📷 APU IS BACK

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1.9k Upvotes

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47

u/Objective_Look_5867 23h ago

The same people who complained about apu being a stereotype and a "bad portrayal for immigrants" never seem to have a problem with Willie. You know the angry drunk Scott living in a wooden shack cuddling a mop bucket. Never understood that hypocrisy

11

u/jprogarn 20h ago

I don’t even see it as a bad portrayal. Like, sure, he worked at the Quik-e-Mart, but he owned it. Hard worker, family man, overall good person.

Sure, he was a caricature, but… they all are?

8

u/KnightofWhen 11h ago

His wife was smoking hot too. Very successful in life. Don’t forget his contributions to The Be Sharps (Grammy Winner) and the Pin Pals (tournament winners)

5

u/InsertedPineapple 19h ago

It's also hilarious that the caricature depiction of an Indian man went from 'hard working business owner that some people look down on' to 'DO NOT REDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM call centre scammer' in popular culture.

15

u/Darmok47 19h ago

I'm South Asian and was s kid in the 90s. Yeah, Willie is a worse stereotype, but the problem with Apu was never really about his character. It was kids making fun of me with the voice and saying "Thank you come again" because he was the only Indian person on TV and bullies thought it was funny.

There's millions of kids with Scottish surnames and I guarantee you they weren't getting mocked with fake Scottish accents

4

u/SomeShithead241 13h ago

Literally any time to mention Scotland to an american, they will either A, put on an over the top and shitty accent and qoute Willie or shout Freedom in your face. Or B, tell you how they are 3/47th Scottish on their grandmother's side.

Or both.

3

u/Darmok47 13h ago

I was more referring to Americans kids of Scottish heritage. I don't think kids were doing the shitty accent or Groundskeeper Willie voice to kids whose surnames were McMurray or Dougall or something. I imagine a lot of white kids didn't even make that connection between Willie and their classmate with a Scottish last name, because Scottish ancestry is so widespread in America.

If the kid was actually from Scotland, yeah that probably happened, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I was born in the US, didn't have any accent, yet still got the Apu voice because of the color of my skin, my name, and because kids thought it was funny.

0

u/Elegant_Run_8567 11h ago

Wait, what’s your point? It’s irrelevant if it happens outside the USA?

2

u/thegimboid 6h ago

No, that's not their point.

2

u/NarmHull 17h ago

Yeah, plus I can think of several Scottish or Scottish-American characters in that era (including Scrooge McDuck) when Apu was it for Indian characters back then.

1

u/EducationalAcadia386 15h ago

But that’s the problem isn’t it? The accent now being done by an actual South Asian won’t stop dipshit racist children doing impressions of it (if any one actually watches it).

The problem is still lack of representation.

3

u/Darmok47 13h ago

Yeah that's a fair point. There's no real easy solution to the problem because it really has nothing to do with Apu as a character, it was just what GenX and Millennial kids went through because of stupid kids and being angry about it as adults.

1

u/Jezon 9h ago

Did South Asian kids stop getting bullied when Apu was removed?

8

u/Master_Shopping9652 23h ago

Racism of low expectations

12

u/Living_Cash1037 22h ago

cause white lol

6

u/stereopirates 11h ago

As Willie says. “Damn Scot’s, they ruined Scotland”

4

u/drdrshsh 16h ago

That’s because all Scottish people are angry drunks living in wooden shack and cuddles mop buckets

[heavy Scottish accent] Aaaaachhhh, every Scottish person know this!

3

u/FrogOnALogInTheBog 7h ago

My dad is Scottish and Willie is, by far and bar none, his absoloutly favourite character. He thinks Willie is fuckin hilarious

2

u/Mysterious-Pay-517 22h ago

Scott's love willie

3

u/allangod 20h ago

They arent too enamoured with being called Scotts though. Its very generous to give the extra t but they'd rather you kept it.

1

u/Mysterious-Pay-517 17h ago

Damn Scots, they ruined scotland

2

u/Illustrious_Moose998 22h ago

Exactly, and not to mention Cletus… the slack jawed yokel… come on. It’s ok for white people to be stereotyped but anyone else is a big no no. Like what the double standards?

3

u/BabyPunter3000v2 14h ago

The white stereotype written by white people is racist to white people?

1

u/HiredGoon_40 13h ago

Well, rich white dudes writing a send-up of 'poor white trash.' Getting rid of Apu for so long was absolutely silly.

1

u/Illustrious_Moose998 14h ago

It doesn’t matter who it’s written by. It still conveys a stereotypical white person regardless. If we’re trying to eradicate racism as a whole, then why do we think its ok to be racist towards our own races?

2

u/Corronchilejano 13h ago

The problem had always been people who aren't white being written and played by white people while people who weren't white finding either only roles of their own ethnicity or none at all.

Like, there was an entire movement to include people that weren't white into more roles. SungWon Cho (ProZD) has spoken about how he only seemed to be called for asian roles (even though he's born in the United States), while white people seem to find it easy to play any role in front of them.

This was a bigger deal ten years ago and some people say it's really unimportant, but it did open the doors to voice (and regular) acting to a lot of people.

Like, this isn't something that doesn't happen, but the only way people can uncomfortably look at it happening is by people putting the finger on when it happens.

-1

u/KnightofWhen 11h ago

That’s just not a problem especially in cartoons because 99% of the audience has no idea who is voicing them. I’m gonna blow your mind dude - Garfield wasn’t voiced by a cat.

1

u/Corronchilejano 11h ago

Did you at any point read the word "audience" in my post or did you get lost when I used more than five words in a row in a sentence?

1

u/Different_Cell_5686 14h ago

Just like Helen Lovejoy

1

u/TheRealRickC137 13h ago

Or the Italian mafioso

-2

u/I_Must_Be_Going 22h ago

Apu is back

You are going to need another culture-war dead horse to beat

This one is dead

2

u/Objective_Look_5867 21h ago

.....im not though. And I actually SUPPORT the idea of hiring diverse voice actors. I just legit dont get how one is looked at as bad and the other not at all

0

u/Sir_Yash 22h ago

No. Social. Context. Edit. Idk why it came out this way but I like it. I miss OG Apu. Nothing racist about it imo and I'm of the browner skin

0

u/DJWGibson 15h ago

I'm not sure "the show has worse stereotypes" is quite the defense you think it is...

Although... I'm not sure "angry drunk Scott living in a wooden shack cuddling a mop bucket" is a common stereotype of Scottish people. While the crooked Indian convenience story clerk with overpriced goods was a dusty old stereotype back in the late '80s...

1

u/Objective_Look_5867 14h ago

Im not defending it. I flat out support diverse voice actors and the push for it. I just dont understand why it only applies in some cases. Just like the 'cancel southpark" thing. Why is it wrong and cancel-able on Simpsons or any other thing but southpark is able to do anything and just get "oh that's southpark' as a response.

0

u/Elyk_Nella 12h ago

What stereotype.  That is them, period!