good one rohin. and i would say its a racist assumption to boot. kind of like someone saying oh you’re not white so you wouldn’t understand. boy that would really piss so many people off! ( and did in the past of course when it was used widely, ‘white’ civilisation – remember that one?!)

Their race indicates nothing of their understanding of Indian culture. It is an assumption to think all Asian people will understand Asian culture.

dearieme, not at all. I SPECIFICALLY mean American society and NOT ‘some Americans’. If you are saying that there are just ‘some Americans’ that make fun of Indians then so what, we have that in the UK too. The very linchpin of why I empathise with Indian Americans who dislike Apu is based on the fact American Society is, as a whole, racist. That’s what I hear.

It’s not excused by Indians being less visible in America than here – the message I take out of that is that America is racist. If it isn’t (which I’m equally willing to believe) then I can’t acknowledge many of the criticisms of Apu.

Kismet, I actually deleted a para from the piece about Rory Bremner doing Trevor McDonald (stop it) and no one finding that racist. He’s poking fun at the man, but because his accent is ‘done well’ people are appeased. If Bremner was a bad impersonator, that would suddenly make him racist in the eyes of those who don’t like a white man voicing Apu.

Mala, thanks for your comments. One line resonated “Maybe I’m a bad Indian-American because I didn’t ask if they felt oppressed?” This is something I have felt uncomfortable about with this whole issue. I got the impression that those that weren’t offended by Apu were somehow sell-outs. It smacked of a condescending attitude that we’re not ‘real Indians’ or something.

zucchini, you touch on an important point. People moan that Apu is an unethical Indian, but he’s just an unethical shopkeeper. People create false links. Sure, it’s his overall character that counts – but by that token no one can argue Apu is a bad guy.

You have to do your own funny voice though…

First off, his surname seems like a piss-take of long South Indian names and as a South Indian you’d expect me to be offended – not really, if you break the name down, yes…it SORT of sounds like an unpronounceable name, but it’s gobbledegook…and funny with it.

In some ways there is little to separate Apu & Manning (WHAT ! you say) – they both, as characters, don’t give a f*ck – Apu drops a weiner on the floor and has no qualms about selling it – but why should this be appealing or funny ?

I like Apu simply because, unlike most Asians who live abroad, he does’nt seek validation for his actions, right or wrong, from the host community – his sole aim is to make a living, not be an apu-logist (sorry) for being an Indian or cry for special treatment.

One problem we face as a community, and as artists, is this need for validation from non-asians, which I think is a post imperialist hang over.

I was in Cannes recently and attended a seminar held by various members of the Indian film community to discuss why there were hardly any films from India in competition, and by the end there was this feeling that although by “Western” film critic standards, most Hindi cinema is unwatchable tosh, you can’t simply sweep it aside as invalid – whatever you may think about its merits or de-merits, it should be seen for what it is, not from the stand point of someone elses critical benchmarks.

So in short, we should just do our stuff and not worry too much about how it might seem to others – as far as Apu is concerned , the genius of the Simpsons is that he just seems a stereotype in a medium which is concerned with stereotypes in a kind of fantasy version of reality (TV Land), but actually he isn’t one at all…he’s just Apu.

Justforfun

I want one! *stamps foot*

Justforfun

Now I feel much better.

I have let you all play with your vowels because I trusted you to be mature and sensible and nice to each other. But I will not hesitate to take your vowels AWAY if you cannot play nicely with them.

That is all.

?

yeah and you can be thankful you’re still not eating boiled grass your peers shovelled out to you and you’re not wiping your ass on your own furniture. That and bathrooms and bathing in general. harrrrumph!

Now – How do I disenvowel myself? or commit hr kr

Seriously – is this an issue of the colour of ones skin or is it really just an issue of aggrieved entitlement to a ‘parity of respect’

Why a Indian – Americans get upset that another bunch of hyphenated – Americans are making fun of them , when they are the first to bleat on about colonialism and the suffering under the Anglo-saxon colonialism – but seem quite happy to catch ride on the tailcoat of the Anglo-Saxon colonialism of the American continent. Give or take a 100 years the timescale for the Anglo-Saxons in India, is the same for the Anglo-Saxons in America. The Anglo-saxons left India , but will they leave America?

Summary –
So being on the receiving end of colonialism is BAD. Being on the giving end is GOOD.
Being on the giving end when others on the giving end are making fun of you is BAD.

Parity of respect is all that self professed victims demand – I love the that phrase.

Boo Hooo – One set of thieves upset that others in the gang are laughing at them – I weep for them.

Get a grip – and be thankful that you’re not still in India and that the Red Indians were so decimated that they can’t kick you into the sea.

Justforfun

Sorry this is not quite how I meant to word this and ignores the context of any given situation. I, for example remember gently taking the mick out of a Sri Lankan friend on the basis of his accent as he had previously taken the mick out of my “skinny white-boy glow in the dark legs!”. I also remember having to-and-fro banter with a friend from Leeds on the basis of her northern tongue and my posh plummy accent.
Is either of these examples more or less offensive than the other?
Sorry to harp on about this but I truly feel that mockery of a person’s accent should not automatically be considered racist unless it is further backed up by racist sentiment. I would consider mocking the accent of someone I did not know offensive no matter the colour of their skin. If the mockery is followed up with further vehemence and violence then this is equally abhorrent regardless of the colour of the victim’s skin.
The Simpsons makes jokes about a huge number groups of people based on race, occupation, social status, religious beliefs and many more but they are just jokes. It is my genuine opinion that none of these jokes are in themselves hugely offensive and the reason an Indian will take more offense than a Scotsman is simply because there is more of an underlying racist sentiment against Indians in America than against the Scottish in America. This however reflects only on American society and not on the acceptability of the jokes in the Simpsons.

I can’t believe anyone has not mentioned It Ain’t Half Hot Mum

I did mention 1970′s sitcoms!