this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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If you're going to write a character that portrays a real human ethnicity or culture, why wouldn't you hire an actor from said ethnicity? It's not like they picked one so small it would be too difficult.
That'd be like writing a show that has women in it and then only hiring men to play them.
In this case it wasn't an alien culture, it was native Americans.
...a trope-filled caricature was the only representation Indian-Americans had for years and years.
Oh look! This old racist chestnut. "The real racists are the ones calling out racism."
Are you seriously equating a sketch comedy troupe with hiring new actors and actresses? Not only is that a bad faith argument that misses the point entirely, it's not even a good attempt.
Apu was one of my favorite characters, and next to the rest of Springfield I wouldn't say he was portrayed as any kind of bad guy. But I think it's entirely fair to find fault with him and the stereotypes used.
The "This is why we can't have nice things" guys are the ones who use this type of character to mock people of Indian descent. Having heard about their experiences, I would say that the bare minimum that should be done is involve someone from the community you're portraying, when creating a character who stands out as someone of that community.