Hank Azaria apologizes for being the voice of Daddy on The Simpsons as a white man. He says his role contributed to structural racism in America.
Based on the Guardian, Mandiner writes that actor Hank Azaria, who voiced the white Indian-origin store owner Apu in the animated series The Simpsons, which has been running for more than three decades, said in a podcast that although the series was made with good intentions, it had already he sees it as contributing to structural racism in America.
They added: the creators of the series were also criticized because, according to some, Apu's character was "stereotypical" and because his voice was not that of a white man. The latter criticism was formulated despite the fact that every actor in the series lends his voice to a character of the most diverse skin color, so for example Azaria was simultaneously Apu, Moe Szyslak, the innkeeper of unclear origin, the white Comic Book Guy and police chief Wiggum, and the black Carl Carlson.
The series has been criticized despite the fact that, among other things, it focuses on stereotypes: the series treats the white proles who make up the title character's family the most cruelly and laughs at everyone equally.
In the podcast, the actor talked about how for a long time he did not understand that he could speak to people of Indian descent by impersonating Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
“I sincerely apologize. This is important. I apologize for being a part of its creation. A part of me feels that I should go to every citizen of Indian origin in the country to personally apologize. Sometimes I do.”
Many feel that the actor's apology is important, but overdue. Regarding the case, the author of Screenrant notes that the series is not only popular in the United States, so the actor could not only have offended Asian-Americans with his portrayal.
Source: Mandiner , hu.ign.com
