Opinion: Harsh stereotypes are nothing new for South Asians, however none are as brutal because the Indian accent

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Who involves thoughts once you consider somebody with an “Indian accent?” Is it a telemarketer? Maybe it’s a taxi or Uber driver. How a few fuel station clerk or perhaps a snake charmer? Too far?

Well, the fact is that these are simply a number of the many stereotypes positioned on South Asian communities.

White tradition has ignored the truth that South Asians belong to a geography filled with various historic, social, spiritual and cultural practices for too lengthy. This is one more instance of the shortage of cultural consciousness within the U.S., significantly amongst white populations.

But out of all of the stereotypical examples, the primary individual that involves thoughts when considering of an “Indian accent” is Apu from the Simpsons.

Apu (whose full identify is Apu Nahasapeemapetilon) is the beloved Kwik-E-Mart clerk on the Simpsons. He performs a well mannered and naive Indian immigrant recognized for telling clients as they go away his retailer, “Thank you, come again!”

Those phrases hang-out me to at the present time. I respect Apu, however I do know that the majority followers don’t respect him the identical method.

They love him, however not out of respect –– out of comedic ridicule. This is the case with most South Asian character fandoms in Hollywood.

Don’t get me improper, I like Apu and the Simpsons. I’m a first-generation Pakistani American, and rising up, I used to be a fan of the present, significantly as a result of Apu was one of many solely representations of me on TV.

But Apu additionally represents the mannequin minority tropes that each one Asian Americans must cope with. This contains being hard-working, submissive to cultural expectations and possessing some inherent spirituality and knowledge.

Beyond this, South Asians are subjected to a stereotype distinctive to all others.That is the notorious “Indian accent” or the politically right “brown voice.”

You additionally could also be questioning what “South Asia” is and why I preserve mentioning it.

Well, that’s additionally my level. Chances are, in the event you’re American, you’re in all probability unaware of the historical past behind the Indian subcontinent. Allow me to elucidate.

The India we see on a map in the present day has solely been round since 1947. The Indian subcontinent, nevertheless, has been round for six,000 years. Today, the Indian subcontinent refers back to the southern area of Asia — therefore South Asia — which incorporates the person nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

South Asia is residence to 2 billion individuals. This inhabitants is stuffed with totally different cultures, religions, languages and identities.

Despite this, the “Indian accent” serves because the main trait for characters in Hollywood from the area. Historically, white actors have predominantly carried out brown voices, oftentimes alongside brown faces.

Apu could also be brown on the present, however his voice most positively will not be.

Hank Azaria — the white voice actor who voices lots of the characters on The Simpsons — is behind Apu’s voice. In an interview with the New York Times, Azaria claims Apu’s character relies on his real-life interactions with Pakistani and Indian money clerks in New York.

But Azaria has additionally gone on document claiming he drew inspiration for Apu’s voice from Peter Sellers and his portrayal of Hrundi V. Bakshi within the 1968 comedy “The Party.”

“The Party” options the primary brown-face and brown-voice racial performances in Hollywood. Seller’s character is blatantly problematic, as his otherness is exaggerated by means of actions similar to repeatedly falling out and in of a pool or driving a child elephant.

I might be remiss if I didn’t point out that Sellers’ character additionally had a pet monkey within the movie. His identify is Apu.

Brown voice leaves the viewers with the notion that how one speaks is simply as important as what’s being stated. The exaggerations of accents in Hollywood function examples of varied types of racial hierarchies in mass media.

Today, the brown voice strips the privileges of American identification from South Asian Americans, simply because the American accent awards them to everybody else.

It is essential for tales to precisely signify each South Asian for the sake of illustration and cultural correctness. American audiences want to grasp that 2 billion individuals don’t belong to the identical nation. Many cultures are shared, however these nuances are blurred by the shortage of present illustration.

Amid the homicide of George Floyd in 2020 and the general escalation of racial tensions, Apu’s voice was finally retired from The Simpsons. He is now a background character on the present and doesn’t converse.

There remains to be a lot work to do. Representations of South Asians within the media have triggered extreme systemic annihilation. Cultures of South Asia are so incorrectly interpreted in mass media that they find yourself being boxed into singular stereotypical caricatures — similar to Apu.