Does The Simpsons really make fun of everyone in the same way?
First of all, I’m not completely sure if you really want a response or not.
Initially, you raised a point that could be discussed legitimately; then you leapt into what looks like sarcasm.
(Which was, by the way, pretty unclear so you might want to work on that.).
Because the issue you raised is so incredibly common, I can’t help but think that you’re more interested in defending The Simpsons and the Apu character no matter what, and you’re just throwing around the point about Southern, Scottish, and Irish accents without really wanting to think about it.
That said, let me try to engage you, and see what happens.
First of all, you’re right. The Simpsons makes fun of lots and lots of people, not just Indians. It’s a show based on being over-to-top, stereotyping all sorts of people and accents and characters, and making us laugh in a sort of “I can’t believe they did that” way. Lots of comedy works that way, and The Simpsons is no different.
So we do have to pay attention to the genre of comedy (and the documentary I review, made by a comedian, does this pretty well).
But we can still ask about the politics of the comedy. What is deemed to be funny, and what is not? What are the lines a comic is willing to cross, and what do they stay away from? What do they think they can get away with — in other words, what ideas are so mainstream and acceptable in society that people won’t think twice about the joke?
If this doesn’t make sense, it’s because when you hear that accent it doesn’t make your skin crawl. You don’t think of assholes who harassed your mother for her accent. You don’t cringe when you see people laughing at the accent, and then turning that onto you and yours.
[But here’s an experiment. Think of comedy that does get you the wrong way. That crosses a line. Maybe it’s the smug way that SNL makes fun of conservatives. Maybe it’s a joke about the Holocaust or rape or Midwesterners (like me) or something else that makes you angry. And think why you can’t just shrug it off as comedy. Then you will get a sense of what I mean.]
I’m arguing — and the documentary is arguing — that the portrayal of Apu is racist because it is part of a long history in the US of demeaning the accents of immigrants of color.
Just think about it: Apu’s accent literally gets used in schools to bully kids; it gets thrown at adults and others walking on street — whereas the Irish and Scottish and Southern accents in the show are hardly remembered one bit.
All sorts of myths and stereotypes of India and Eastern countries are peddled through this character — if you go through those old episodes it will make any anti-racist cringe.
I’m not saying that the other groups you mentioned, historically or today, do not face discrimination. I have many (white) students with strong Appalachian and Southern accents, and they know how they are seen by classmates, they worry about job interviews, etc. because their accent is seen as “backward.” In fact, I would say that people with a Southern accent are discriminated against pretty hard because it’s seen as a working-class and poor accent — whereas Scottish and Irish accents today are more “cute” and “exotic” etc. (And this was also different 100 years ago).
But with all that, racism against people of color in this country and discrimination and prejudice against white people of different ethnicities is pretty fundamentally different.
We are seen as forever foreigners — even when we have US-mainstream accents. We are seen as terrorists, as backward, as exotic, as ugly, as smelly, and on and on. The mocking of Apu — even though he’s a much more rounded character than many others — has a far-reaching effect because of the society which accepts that kind of racism.
The Simpsons played a crucial role in the US of giving vent to a certain kind of racism against Indians and South Asians, who were immigrating in greater numbers through the 1980s and 1990s after the end of racist immigration laws that kept them out.
That’s why when the show makes fun of Apu it’s fundamentally different than when it makes fun of white characters.
Finally — please do see the documentary. It takes up lots of complexities (like why the film-maker is offended by Apu but many Indians aren’t, including his parents, some fellow comics, etc.). Those who don’t like the Apu character wrestle with the fact that they actually like the show overall.
Dig in deeper into this debate and you’ll find a fascinating conversation about race, culture, and society. If you’re open to thinking about how day-to-day things like pop culture and mainstream shows project and shape ideas about society. In this case, racist ones.
