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I Liked Apu But Not Raj
My opinion on Indian characters on screen
When my parents moved from India to New York City, there weren’t a lot of Indians in the United States. Even in a cosmopolitan place like New York, discrimination and prejudice existed.
I remember it was hard to make friends. Part of the problem was my parents. They were super protective of me and did not understand American culture. So I found myself embarrassed in front of my friends because of things they did, particularly my father.
Then there was the pressure I felt to overachieve academically, something common to many immigrant cultures. Friends of mine with Chinese, Nigerian, or Japanese parents experienced similar things.
Of course, there were few people of Asian descent featured in popular media. The portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s was not particularly complementary and the only other Asian character I remember from childhood was the cartoon detective, Charlie Chan.
As far as Indian characters — I don’t remember any.
So when The Simpsons had an Indian character, I was pleased.
I’ve had friends comment that Apu was a stereotype, but the thing about The Simpsons — it is FULL of stereotypes. There is Homer Simpson, for example who exhibits many of the…
