In 2017, comedian Hari Kondabolu released a documentary titled The Problem with Apu, a feature that tackled the stereotypical Indian character on The Simpsons. Though Kondabolu, who is Indian-American, loves the classic comedy series, Apu rankled him for years, so he used the documentary to explore the problematic tone of the character (voiced by Hank Azaria, who is white), in addition to broader issues about representation. In an interview last year, he told Vanity Fair that Apu is fatally flawed for a number of reasons, but predominantly because it’s “a white person’s perception of an Indian immigrant.“ The documentary made waves. Azaria himself told TMZ that he watched it and thought it made “some really interesting points.” And that, essentially, was that—until now.
On Sunday, The Simpsons baked a response to the Apu controversy into the latest episode, titled “No Good Read Goes Unpunished.” In one scene, Marge Simpson is seen reading a book called The Princess in the Garden to her daughter Lisa. Though the book used to be considered problematic, it has been re-written to meet modern standards. Despite the effort, Lisa isn’t impressed by the new version. “Well, what am I supposed to do?” Marge…
