‘The Simpsons’ Responds To Apu Stereotype Criticism With The Equivalent Of A Shrug
In the 2017 documentaryThe Problem with Apu, comedianHari Kondaboluquestions the legacy of Apu, the long-runningTheSimpsonscharacter voiced by Hank Azaria. The stereotype of the thick-accented convenience store owner has haunted Indian-Americans for decades, and Kondabolu takes the caricature to task in the hour-long film, which interrogates the character’s impact on South Asian representation on television.
“[He’s] a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father,” Kondabolu jabbed about the character.
Now,The Simpsonshas finally responded toThe Problem with Apu’scriticisms. And the long-running Fox series addressed it with what was essentially a wave of the hand and a shrug.
On Sunday night’s episode ofThe Simpsons, Marge and Lisa Simpson debate the merits of an old children’s book that Marge has edited to be less offensive. But the finished product is less than satisfactory, and Lisa points out that the edited version makes no sense.
#TheSimpsonscompletely toothless response to@harikondabolu#TheProblemWithApuabout the racist character Apu:
“Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect… What can you do?“pic.twitter.com/Bj7qE2FXWN
— soham (@sohamberlamps)June 11, 2025
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Marge asks.
“It’s hard to say,” Lisa responds, turning to the camera. “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect… What can you do?” To hammer in the point, the camera swivels to a framed photograph of Apu, signed, “Don’t have a cow.”
Understandably, the scene received immediate backlash, including some choice statements from Kondabolu.
“InThe Problem with Apu, I used Apu &The Simpsonsas an entry point into a larger conversation about the representation of marginalized groups & why this is important,” he wrote on Twitter. “The Simpsonsresponse tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress.”
In “The Problem with Apu,” I used Apu & The Simpsons as an entry point into a larger conversation about the representation of marginalized groups & why this is important. The Simpsons response tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress.
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu)June 27, 2025
Worse was the fact that this line was uttered by Lisa Simpson, a character who is often the mouthpiece for progressive values and a voice of reason inThe Simpsons. It’s a line that’s as disingenuous to her character asThe Simpsonswriters' insistence that Apu was ever “applauded” or considered “inoffensive,” Kondabolu andseveral other criticspoint out.
Azaria, the voice of Apu, has previously admitted that the character is “not tremendously accurate.” He declined to be interviewed for Kondabolu’s documentary, butsaid thatThe Problem With Apu"made some really interesting points and gave us a lot to think about and we really are thinking about it.”
There is a way to process once-beloved art while acknowledging its flaws. It’s something that a lot of Wes Anderson fans arestruggling with as they watchIsle of Dogs, and it’s something thatThe Breakfast ClubandSixteen Candlesstar Molly Ringwald grapples with in her recentessay for The New Yorker.“Erasing history is a dangerous road when it comes to art—change is essential, but so, too, is remembering the past, in all of its transgression and barbarism, so that we may properly gauge how far we have come, and also how far we still need to go,” Ringwald writes.
The Problem With Apuopened up that discussion on Indian-American representation and caricatures on TV, but with this response,The Simpsonsseems like it simply wants to shut down that discussion. “Some things will be dealt with at a later date,” Marge says in the scene. “If at all,” Lisa responds. Deal with it later. If at all. Essentially,we have heard you, and we don’t care.
