The problem with Apu

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Movie
Original title The problem with Apu
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 49 minutes
Rod
Director Michael Melamedoff
production Michael J. Cargill ,
Michael Melamedoff
camera Lara Aqel ,
Miguel Drake-McLaughlin
cut Rebecca Beluk ,
Kristen Huntley
occupation

The Problem with Apu is a documentary by and with the US comedian Hari Kondabolu from the year 2017 , produced and directed by Michael Melamedoff. The film focuses on the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon , an Indian immigrant from the animated series The Simpsons , who for a time was the only character of South Asian descent to appear regularly on American television. The film is about encounters with negative stereotypes , microaggressions and racism against people of Indian and South Asian origin.

Production and publication

The shooting for The Problem with Apu began in April 2016. The film was shown in autumn 2017 with live appearances with Hari Kondabolu before it was released on November 19 on the truTV network.

background

Kondabolu grew up watching the animated series The Simpsons , calling it a great influence on his comedy and prowess. At first he liked the character Apu because it was the only representation of his family culture that was regularly televised in the United States. Kondabolu told the BBC , "Apu was the only Indian we ever had on TV, so as a kid I was happy about any portrayal". As he got older, Kondabolu became more critical of the figure of Apu. Kondabolu explained on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah that in his view the Apu character had a serious and insidious effect and that the use of humor in the performance was an artistic way of making racism more attractive.

In an interview, Kondabolu reports about his mother, who taught him that “you can criticize something you love because you expect more from him.” His first public criticism of the “Simpsons” character Apu came through pressure from W. Kamau Bell during the first season of his FX television show Totally Biased . In 2012 Kondabolu worked as a writer on the show, and Bell noticed his criticism of Apu for stirring up racial stereotypes about Indians. Bell expected Kondabolu to add this issue to his stand-up comedy program. Kondabolu, on the other hand, criticized Apu's voice actor ( Sephardic - Jewish descent) in his documentary, calling him “a white man who makes the impression of a white man who makes fun of my father.” Kondabolu also names other depictions of South Asians on mainstream television and film as racist - such as For example, a man who eats monkey brains in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and an actor petting a stuffed meerkat in a metroPCS commercial. Kondabolu finally decided to expand the one-minute section on Apu into a full hour-long documentary.

Simpsons creator Matt Groening named Apu after the protagonist of the Apu triolgy by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray . Hank Azaria based the vocal character of Apu on a 7-Eleven employee who worked near his home in Los Angeles, as well as on Peter Sellers ' character Hrundi V. Bakshi, an Indian actor from the movie Der Partyschreck . In a 2015 interview, Azaria confirmed the character's impact as "fodder for widespread racially motivated bullying " that children of South Asian descent are exposed to. Kondabolu asked Azaria for an interview for the film, but Azaria declined, fearing that his words would be manipulated by the film's editing process. He agreed to a discussion that was to be made possible either by Terry Gross on the public radio show Fresh Air or on Marc Maron 's podcast WTF , but withdrew his offer after Kondabolu accepted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The comedian Hari Kondabolu at bbc.com, accessed on November 16, 2018.
  2. ↑ November 13, 2017 - Hari Kondabolu (video). In: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Season 3 , Comedy Central , November 13, 2017. 
  3. ↑ 'Simpsons' Doc 'The Problem with Apu' Confronts South Asian Stereotypes at rollingstone.com, accessed November 16, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hari Kondabolu is the best Polizical Comedian you don't know yet at wired.com, accessed on November 16, 2018.
  5. ↑ Apu from 'The Simpsons' haunts comedian Hari Kondabolu at abeautifulperspective.com, accessed on November 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ a b Racism in the "Simpsons"? Hank Azaria reacts to the "Apu" controversy on rollingstone.de, accessed on November 16, 2018
  7. ↑ You Love 'The Simpsons'? Then Let's Talk About Apu at nytimes.com, accessed November 16, 2018.
  8. ↑ The Simpsons Apu at bbc.com, accessed November 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Interview with Hank Azaria at interviews.televisionacademy.com (English), accessed on November 16, 2018.