By Louis Chan
Additional writing by Gabi Wy
Comedian Hari Kondabolu’s film The Problem with Apu makes its television debut this Sunday on truTV (10 pm Sunday with repeat showings Monday at 1 a.m. and 7 p.m.)
The cutting film on the long running Simpson’s character Apu leaves no doubt what Kondabolu and a who’s who of Indian Americans in Hollywood think of the immigrant owner of the fictitious Kwik-E-Mart.
AsAmNews had an opportunity to screen the film in advance of Sunday’s TV premiere. It’s a must see for Simpson fans and anyone interested in diverse representations in the media.
Apu is voiced by Hank Azaria, faux Indian accent and all. As Kondabolu put it, Azaria is “a White guy-a White guy doing an impression of a White guy making fun of my father.”
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The biggest question permeating the entire 48 minute film is whether Azaria would accept an invitation from Knodabolu to sit down for an interview. The extent in which Kondabolu went to get the actor’s attention provides comic relief and the film’s only suspense. To find the answer, you’ll have to make sure you watch the entire film. Don’t miss the sequence right before the credits. In my mind, it’s the payoff for the entire documentary.
Kondabolu, 35, told NBC News that initially when he saw a “brown face on television” at age nine, he was excited. But he found even as a child he was bothered by the stereotypes Apu seemed to perpetuate.
“To imagine a White dude doing that voice, that was a torment,” Kondabolu said to NBC. “It was like bullying from behind the screen.”
The documentary was inspired by W. Kamau Bell, an African American stand up comic. Kondabolu wrote for Bell’s show Totally Biased with W Kamau.
It was Bell who asked, even demanded, that Kondabolu do a bit on South Asian representation in the media for Totally Biased.
Kondabolu singled out Apu and the history of South Asians on American television. The piece went viral.
“It was all over the internet and it was passed around in classrooms,” Kondabolu said. “I didn’t expect it to have the impact that it made.”
Kondabolu returns to the conversations his original segment created in his new documentary. Topics include the history of minstrelsy, how Apu’s accent came to be and the stereotypical roles South Asian American performers continue to get offered in Hollywood.
“I don’t find Apu offensive, I find him annoying and insulting,” he said to NBC. “But for me, one: It’s inaccurate. Two: It’s insulting to my parents. And three: When that’s the only depiction you have, that’s how the world sees you.”
The documentary includes segments with fellow comedians Aziz Ansari, Hasan Minhaj, Aparna Nancherla, and Russell Peters as well as interviews with actors Sakina Jaffrey, Aasif Mandvi, Danny Pudi, and former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Whoopi Goldberg also has a prominent part in the film.
“I wanted to show the broad range of people affected by it,” Kondabolu said. “Because for me personally those are my parents, you are basically making fun of my parents.”
Kondabolu said he’s still a fan of The Simpsons and states it’s one of the greatest shows of all time.
Azaria has indicated in past interviews that he’s aware of Kondabolu’s problem with his character.
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