You might have noticed that Indians are massively underrepresented in American television.

What you might not know, however, is how this lack of representation has caused some problems for the multitude of Indians living in the country.

For a long time The Simpsons’ Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an animated character riddled with problematic stereotypes, was the only high-profile Indian character on television, reports NY Times.

Now he’s is the subject of a new documentary, called The Problem with Apu:

“I hate Apu. And because of that, I dislike The Simpsons.”

So says actor Kal Penn – and he isn’t the only one:

The feelings of South Asian Americans toward the character and the show he inhabits are the focus of “The Problem with Apu,” a documentary debuting Nov. 19 on truTV.

The brainchild of the actor and standup comic Hari Kondabolu, a lifelong lover of “The Simpsons,” the film wrestles with how a show praised for its incisive humor [sic] — over the years, it has explored issues like homophobia and political corruption — could resort to such a charged stereotype.

Making matters worse is the fact that the Indian character is voiced by a non-Indian (albeit an Emmy-winning) actor, Hank Azaria.

“Everything with Apu is like this running joke,” Mr. Kondabolu, 35, said in a phone interview. “And the running joke is that he’s Indian.”

Check the trailer:

As Hollywood undergoes a massive transformation period, from sexual assault to fair representation in film, these conversations are prone to attract the spotlight and rightly so.

Let’s give people the representation they deserve, huh?

[source:nytimes]