Racial stereotypes come ... racial stereotypes go.
... Hank Azaria said he will no longer provide the voice on “The Simpsons” for the convenience-store owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, whose thick accent and penny-squeezing ways have led to criticism that the character was a racist stereotype.
It was not clear what Mr. Azaria’s decision, first reported on Friday by the website Slashfilm, meant for Apu, which Mr. Azaria had voiced since the character was created in 1990. The producers of “The Simpsons” and Fox, its network, would not comment on whether Apu would get a new voice or perhaps be retired from the show. ...
The way these things generally unfold is, an amusing character is created back in the writers' room; the amusing character gets used in an ongoing series. Over time the character gains acceptance in the culture or parts thereof and becomes part of the fabric of a television show.
So it was with Amos & Andy and various black characters on theater and television screens. So it was with native Americans, Chinese Americans, and the depiction of gay men in various motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s. All those representations of different races and character types, which seemed so knee-slappingly funny in 1938, are discomforting to watch now. Cultures and the acceptable boundaries inside them change over time, and so Apu Nahasapeemapetilon finds himself outside the chalk lines, at least so far as Hank Azaria is concerned.
The lesson to be learned here? Nothing is immutable. Asians wearing thick round eye glasses and buck teeth become cringe-inducing. Women on interstellar craft in the Star Trek universe no longer wear miniskirts as they did in James T. Kirk's time. Just seems wrong. Because, like it or not, acceptable norms change. It's the way of the world.
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