This year, there has been a bit of controversy surrounding The Simpsons. It's not anywhere to the level of what it was in 1990 with Bart, but it is a big deal for people who get offended way too easily. Indian comedian Hari Kondabolu did a film titled "The Problem With Apu", a "documentary" about the issues Indians have with Apu, the Kwik-E-Mart owner. Personally, I have never had any interest in it, but now, it seems like the writers are looking to kill off the character.
The sad thing with Kondabolu is that he doesn't understand how much development Apu has had since the 90s. Out of all the non family members he has been given one of the biggest attentions to by writers. When you consider working to be a legal citizen, dealing with Indian heritage and marriage, having a family. There was a lot of care put into Apu, and it's all thrown away because of a handful of insensitive crybabies.
I probably haven't watched the show in probably seven to eight years, but even I know how much The Simpsons parodies everything of normal life. It's not like Apu is just a Kwik-E-Mart owner. He has been a volunteer fireman. He's been in the military. He's not one dimensional. Personally, I do think there are some huge issues such as being on for so long, their liberal approach to stuff, and the characters never aging. I could go on with the cracks that they have, but the characters, outside of maybe Lisa and a few other characters, have never been a huge problem.
I don't mind some equality as long as it's not forced and shoved down our throats, but Kondabolu did nothing of value. I hope he enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame, because it's a cruel world out there.
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