Yeah, Apu actually has some good episodes. Of the side characters I would say he, Skinner, Moe, and Flanders are probably some of the best.

^That. But when your only frame of reference is Aziz Ansari ...

This is the beginning of the end of The Simpsons. If this is true then it won't be the last time The Simpsons will be a target for an offended group to demand the elimination of an offensive stereotype since the show is packed with offensive stereotypes: racial or otherwise. The Simpsons used to follow the axiom of "everyone should be made fun of or offended equally". Whether that's right or wrong is up to the individual. This capitulation will be the show's death knell.

The Simpsons will survive this...just as it has other controversies.
BTW, I'll miss Apu.

Between the Apu thing, Harry Shearer having one foot out the door and the quality of the show being about 15 seasons past its expiration date, I really hope they just put the show out of its misery. Matt Groening wasn't kidding when back in the day he said they would do the show until its run into the ground.

It's not how the Simpsons portray the character necessarily, it's how it's perceived by the viewers. I'm of Indian descent and I got Apu related jokes thrown at me alllll the time when I was younger. Him being smart, hardworking and having an outsider's understanding of American culture wasn't exactly what bullies latched on to in middle school. I loved the Simpsons but hated Apu for a long time because I knew if an Apu-centric episode came on that I'd get an extra dose of those jokes the next day. Years later, upon revisits, I grew more of an appreciation for the character and didn't care about how much of a stereotype he was but that's mainly because I knew I wouldn't get made fun of anymore because of him.

I don't know if that happened with other Simpsons characters.

Either way, I don't think eliminated Apu is the right way to do it - and personally I think it sends the wrong message. They should shift the character to be less of a blatant stereotype. Maybe do an arc where he sells the Kwik-E-Mart and changes careers or something like that.

If Apu is an issue, should we expect to see Christmas Story removed from airing every year, too? Cause that shit is blatantly racist, yet we all flock around the TV to watch it on a religious holiday.

How is A Christmas Story racist?

Serious? The depiction of Asians in the Chinese restaurant is about as racist as you can get.

You haven't watched enough. They have done some great episodes of Apu away from the store including his past before coming to America. I feel this is a few people complaining about the character after seeing a couple of episodes.

He straight up acknowledged the stuff about Apu’s positive traits and said that he grew to like the character. That wasn’t the focus of his complaints.

I don't watch the movie every year and I only saw it for the first time probably in the last 5-7 years. I don't know every frame of the movie so honestly I don't remember that scene.

Indeed. Towards the end they go to a Chinese restaurant due to their turkey getting messed up. It's probably the most racist thing we still allow on TV, IMO. And that's probably only because the Asian community hasn't put up a fight over it.

Only because they haven't gotten Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sixteen Candles, and Full Metal Jacket banned yet. I kid. A little. As someone who works for an Asian-American film organization, we often have discussions of the worst portrayals of Asians in film. Breakfast at Tiffany's I get, that's just straight up ignorant. Sixteen Candles is pretty bad too, I don't know what the hell Gedde Watanabe was thinking when he took that role. But FMJ? I think it's more due to 2 Live Crew sampling the Vietnamese hooker that gets people angry. Because I'm pretty sure American servicemen could tell you it's a pretty accurate experience when serving overseas.

I've always thought the Apu controversy could be stifled if it was revealed that he really has no accent, he just puts one on when interacting with Springfielders because that's the way they expect an Indian-American to act.

why couldnt the world end? fucking people getting triggered for the most stupidest shit.

Funny, I was literally in India last week on business. The Simpsons came up in conversation one night at dinner. It's a popular show there with the people I work with. Why? In part, because of Apu.

We had a guy from India dress up as Apu for Halloween one year. He thought it was funny, we thought it was funny, and it was great. Everytime someone left the room he would yell "Thank you come again!" and it was just fantastic.

That was back when people were allowed to have fun.

I can't believe this is a real thing. I saw an article in passing on another site and thought WTF?

The funny thing to me is that no one seems to care about the show (including a lot of people posting here), but the second there’s a controversy everyone has to chime in with their two cents either to demean the show or try and shame it for its portrayal of Apu. Not saying that the show is completely irrelevant, but it was hardly ever in the news or talked about before this came up.

Yeah, it’s not like the heyday when every kid had Bart t-shirts and the butterfinger commercials were popular. Even the comics ended (or will be) soon.

Not even just that so much, but it’s funny that it’s a thing as a result of people watching the show more than anything the show actually did. At most you can maybe say the show reinforced a stereotype, but ultimately it’s not like this is the result of an offensive/tasteless joke the show made about Indian culture or something. The story basically stems from people who have watched the show and use the Apu character as a way to antagonize Indian people. I’ve seen far more tasteless jokes done by the likes of Seth MacFarlane for instance on his various shows that haven’t gained traction like this. Maybe because a lot of those are one off jokes and not a recurring character, but again Apu isn’t portrayed in a negative light because he’s an Indian.

Everyone saying "It's no big deal" should read Goat's post. Then read it again. You think it's "no big deal" because no one ever made fun of you using Apu's lines from the show. Because if you did, you might think differently. And I'm not saying that just because Goat is a fellow New York Jets sufferer fan.

I’m not saying it’s right that people made fun of him, but that isn’t inherently the show’s fault in my opinion. That’s people being assholes who would have found a reason to make fun of someone different with or without Apu. If you look at the episodes that feature him specifically it’s not like he’s being made fun of for being an Indian or that jokes are being made of people of that culture. Is it right that he or others were made fun of? Absolutely not, but I don’t think it’s entirely fair to peg the blame on the show/character for people being assholes/bullies.

Instead of removing him they should, over the course of a season, make him more and more successful, opening kwiki marts all over the country and become the rich, family man of the show that every looks up to.