“Shifting forward, The Simpsons will no more time have white actors voice non-white figures,” Fox spokesman Les Eisner reported in a statement Friday.
Above the a few many years considering that the animated sitcom started, it has made use of white actors to enjoy a amount of non-white characters together with Harry Shearer as Dr. Julius Hibbert and Hank Azaria as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
In January, Azaria announced he would stop voicing Apu following 30 yrs participating in the thickly accented Indian-American character. Azaria is not South Asian.
The selection to get rid of Azaria from voicing Apu was mutual, the actor mentioned, in accordance to /Movie. “We all agreed on it,” he explained. “We all sense like it truly is the suitable point and excellent about it.”
“My documentary ‘The Problem with Apu’ was not made to get rid of a dated cartoon character, but to examine race, representation & my neighborhood (which I really like extremely a great deal),” Kondabolu wrote. “It was also about how you can adore one thing (like the Simpsons) & nonetheless be important about facets of it (Apu).”
In his doc, Kondabolu interviewed famous people of South Asian descent, which includes Aziz Ansari and Kal Penn, to examine how characterizations like Apu can be considered as racism.
In the episode, the young Lisa Simpson said, “Something that commenced decades in the past and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Lisa then glanced at a framed photograph of Apu inscribed with the information, “Will not have a cow.”
“The notion that any person — younger or outdated, past or current — was bullied or teased based mostly on the character of Apu, it just really would make me unhappy,” explained Azaria, who voices other figures on the demonstrate.
“It was absolutely not my intention,” he stated. “I wanted to spread laughter and joy with this character, and the notion that it truly is brought discomfort and suffering in any way, that it was utilised to marginalize men and women, it can be upsetting.”
CNN’s Frank Pallotta, Brian Lowry and Leah Asmelash, contributed to this post.
Coffee enthusiast. Travel scholar. Infuriatingly humble zombie fanatic. Thinker. Professional twitter evangelist.
