The Problem with Apu
1
I was doing this show
in Brooklyn --
in Brooklyn, diverse Brooklyn!
This kid comes up to me
and he's like,
"Dude, I think
you're really funny.
That's a big deal
coming from me.
I don't usually
I was like, "Why would you
say that to my face?
You could've tweeted that.
Why...
Why are you hurting me
in real time?
Why is this happening
right now?"
Ethnic comedy?
It's not like my whole act is,
"Hey, brown people
look like this.
Hold up.
White people,
they look like that!"
I'll take your laughs,
nonetheless.
I mean...
Thank -- Oh, that's a racist
Apu joke in Denver.
Boulder just went up
another notch,
just like that.
I know you from high school,
even though I don't.
You're the reason
I do comedy, sir.
You're the reason
I thought to myself,
"Nobody like us exists
except this cartoon character.
I'm gonna show up,
and I'm gonna be the best
comic in the country,
and I'm gonna make less
than I deserve in Denver."
28 years later, and the words
"Thank you, come again"
still follow me wherever I go.
Hey, my name is Hari Konadabolu,
and I'm a stand up comic
in Brooklyn, New York.
I'm the son of two immigrants
from India who,
despite me being
a stand up comic,
are still alive.
My brother Ashok and I
grew up in Queens.
Here is a picture of us
pretending to have Christmas.
I've had a great career filled
with laughter,
critical acclaim,
and me shaking the hands
on television.
I should be completely happy.
But there's still one man
who haunts me --
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
Serving the customer
Thank you, come again.
Hey, Ganesha.
Want a peanut?
Please do not offer
my God a peanut.
You're stealing wishes?
Please pay for your purchases
and get out and come again!
Oh, look.
It is encrusted with filth.
Oh, well.
Let's sell it anyway.
Now, this is just
between me and you.
Hari Konadabolu, everybody!
Hari Konadabolu!
I publicly declared
my war on Apu in 2012
on the FX show,
"Totally Biased
with W. Kamau Bell."
I did a piece about
Indian-Americans in the media.
We've had an amazing run
the last few years
with more Indians in
the public eye than ever before.
There's, like, 14 of us now.
There's now enough Indian people
where I don't need to like you
just because you're Indian.
Because growing up,
I had no choice
but to like this.
Yeah.
This all started
because you asked me
to do a piece
on your old television show,
"Totally Biased,"
when I used to write for it.
You said,
"If you don't do this,
I will fire you."
And I'm like,
"You know what?
That's -- that is...
That's good advice.
That's good advice."
That's good advice.
I couldn't imagine anybody
wanting to hear
about Indian representation.
As soon as people
got what you were doing,
and it wasn't like it was
an all Southasian audience,
but it was an audience who
understood about representation.
And it was, like,
the pop of like,
"Yes, we know exactly
what you're talking about.
We're ready.
Take us on the journey."
Apu -- a cartoon character
voiced by Hank Azaria,
a white guy.
A white guy doing an impression
of a white guy
making fun of my father.
If --
If I saw Hank Azaria
do that voice at a party,
I would kick the
out of him.
Yeah.
Or I'd imagine
kicking the out of him.
Now, I realize some of you
think I'm some annoying
P.C. social-justice warrior
that's very sensitive
and is obsessed
with a 28-year-old
cartoon character.
You're probably thinking,
"Come on, snowflake.
Let it go."
Well, I have let it go...
for 28 years.
Look, man.
I don't hate "The Simpsons."
In fact, I have always
loved "The Simpsons."
It's one of the main reasons
that I knew you could be smart
and funny and political
at the same time.
It taught me about
Pablo Neruda
and Gore Vidal
and Stanley Kubrick.
It shaped me into
the person and the comedian
that I am today.
And, yes, I know Apu is one of
the smartest characters
on "The Simpsons."
Granted,
the bar isn't very high.
But that's not
They just liked his accent.
they liked Apu
because he exposed the idiocy
and bigotry of Americans
and the struggles
of the average immigrant.
No.
It was just, "I love Apu.
That voice is hilarious."
Pardon me, but I would like
to see this money spent
on more police officers.
I have been shot
eight times this year.
And as a result,
I hate Apu.
Hate Apu?
Hate Apu.
And because of that,
I dislike "The Simpsons."
Wow, the whole series?
Yeah.
The whole series?
Yeah.
I love "The Simpsons."
I just don't love that character
but the whole thing?
I have never been able
to divorce the two.
I love "The Simpsons"
because...
You hate yourself.
...'cause I comple--
This whole film
is me trying
to get over the fact
I hate myself.
How many of you were bullied
in any capacity as a child?
-Are we raising hands?
-Yeah, raising hands.
We'll do the hands thing.
Yeah. Okay.
Now, how many had
to deal with, like,
being called Apu
or that being referenced.
I'm driving with my dad
as a little kid,
and someone goes like,
"Bing, bing!"
They say like, "Oh, hey," --
and they're doing, like,
like, "Hey, I need to get
another Slurpee.
Can you tell me
where the Kwik-E-Mart is?
Thank you, come again!"
And they drive off.
actually, being bullied
by this guy
who would speak to me,
actually,
with Apu's accent
or the accent that he thought
We lived next
to, like, 7-Eleven.
And there was always, like,
a sense of like,
"Oh, please don't let it be
an Indian person
working behind the counter
because if it is,
like, the Apu thing."
I just would wonder
how many Indian-American,
Southasian-Americans,
have had to deal with this.
This guy,
this Apu,
this one character created
so many problems
psychologically, emotionally,
for so many people.
They didn't mean for it
to happen.
We just were underrepresented,
and so we struggled.
And the kind of racism that made
Apu possible in Hollywood
still exists everywhere.
Apu represents an America
that makes fun of immigrants
and anyone who is not white.
Yes, trolls, I know.
They're yellow.
how we ended up with Apu
and how we can get rid of him.
And I think I know someone
who might be able to help us.
1989 was a big year.
The Berlin Wall fell.
Billy Joel claimed
he didn't start a fire.
I got the chicken pox.
But most relevant for this film,
"The Simpsons" was created
and my life was never the same.
Can you give us a brief history
of "The Simpsons"?
There was a brand-new
network, Fox,
and they were
desperate for content.
no one else was doing,
that would sell, and that
was a little controversial.
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"The Problem with Apu" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_problem_with_apu_21117>.
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