The Problem with Apu Page #4

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"Who will float my corpse

down the Ganges?"

So, that's you guys.

Today, you look like

Apu today, somewhat.

No, that's not funny.

Why do I look like Apu today?

The hair, I think.

-Apu hair.

-Apu hair!

I don't have Apu hair.

Hey, Apu.

Apu hair.

When you see that character,

do either of you identify

with that character

in any way?

No.

I don't think so.

Does it bother you at all

that it's a white actor

that does the voice of Apu?

Hank Azaria

is a talented guy.

They paid him, he did it.

And he did it good.

Why do you think you tolerate

this kind of stuff

more than we would?

First of all,

we came here.

We had to succeed,

no matter what.

It doesn't mean that

we are not offended by it.

Why do you feel like

we don't tolerate it?

Times have changed.

You have security,

and you belong here.

You're an American.

So, "Simpsons" creator

Matt Groening makes

this Indian store clerk

a series regular,

and names him

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

But where does the name

come from?

Well, his last name,

Nahasapeemapetilon,

comes from the Sanskrit word

for.

And his first name, well,

I'll let Matt explain

why he chose "Apu."

I named Apu

after the trilogy,

the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray.

And I highly recommend

this series of movies --

fantastic landmarks

in world cinema.

Can you tell us

what the Apu Trilogy is?

The Apu Trilogy is the story

of it's hero,

a young boy named Apu,

who we follow over

the course of three films.

You see in the course

of his life both a young man

grow up

and actually deepen,

but also, you see

the modernization of India.

As someone

who's a scholar of Ray,

who knows those films

very well,

how do you feel

about that choice?

His story's the story of

a multidimensional human being

who grows living through pain

and tragedy and beauty.

And to have that name then be

associated with the Apu

of the convenience store,

of course, is such

a huge diminishment.

And even though

Matt Groening

created "The Simpsons,"

it's Hank Azaria

who does the voice

and can literally silence Apu.

I was feeling hopeful I could

get Hank to speak to me,

especially since he had

spoken about this once before

in a Huffington Post article

from 2013,

entitled,

"Is It Time to Retire Apu?"

by Mallika Rao.

When you spoke to Hank Azaria,

was there a defensiveness?

For the first time,

he wants to talk about

how he feels uncomfortable

with the voice.

Did he do Apu

over the phone?

He did briefly.

He-He talked about

how the voice is very musical.

He did the accent.

He mentioned you --

Well, he didn't know

your name,

but he said that there was

an Indian comic

who he'd seen a video of,

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