Long Islanders share what Apu's makeover on 'The Simpsons' means for South Asian representation on TV

After eight years of silence, the controversial character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon returned to "The Simpsons" on Sunday with a shout.

“I am Apu,” he yelled after uncovering his face from behind a helmet, to which Marge Simpson replied, “Apu?”

“That’s right. You thought you could just get rid of me,” said Apu, now voiced by Indian American actor Sunil Malhotra.

The former owner of the Kwik-E-Mart last spoke on the show in October 2017 when he was voiced by Hank Azaria. Azaria stepped down from the role following the release of comedian Hari Kondabolu’s documentary “The Problem With Apu,” which explored the stereotypes perpetuated by the character and its impact on the South Asian community.

While Aashish Kumar, a professor of radio, television and film at Hofstra University, welcomed the return of Apu with a new voice actor, he said that meaningful change starts in the writers' room.

“Apu, for many, was a delight to find a South Asian character in an otherwise kind of blank bandwidth. But then to look into that character and say, ‘Well, where am I in this story?’ [He] just fell short,” Kumar said.

As diversity behind the scenes within television grows, Kumar has developed a course focusing on the increased diversity of TV's writing and production teams. In the streaming era, he said Gen Z has been turning to older shows and finding that they often speak to a different America.

For 14-year-old Angel Shah, of Hicksville, who grew up watching "The Simpsons" with her dad and often sees clips of Apu on her TikTok, the character does not resonate with her idea of who Indians are.

“I liked his character but he doesn’t really portray what Indian culture is. … I haven’t really seen any Indian characters come to life through American television,” said Angel, pointing to Apu's stereotypical role as a convenience store owner and his mocking accent.

Angel believes Malhotra could spearhead a big shift in Apu’s character, as she’s beginning to see more well-rounded Indian characters and families in American television, like the Vishwakumars in Mindy Kaling's show "Never Have I Ever." She hopes to see him bring small, everyday details that reflect the diversity of her community.

Peter Gong, owner of Phoenix Comics & Collectibles in Hicksville, said he hasn’t seen a new Simpsons comic book printed in years. On Wednesday, he pulled a 1993 Simpsons comic from a shelf in the back of his store. Apu was pictured within it twice.

"The Simpsons" is a stand-alone show with characters that rarely evolve, said Gong, 59, of Seaford. This, along with the fact that many, including himself, haven’t stretched beyond old episodes and comics, makes Apu’s rebrand challenging.

Curt Gray, 66, of East Meadow, who was shopping for comics at Phoenix, shared similar concerns: “They've already set a precedent of who he is. Just because they're not showing what he was, we all have our past to deal with.”

Both expressed surprise at Apu’s return, pointing to the lampooning nature of "The Simpsons." Gong feels that racial stereotypes are woven into the fabric of American animated comedies.

“They always do the racial jokes. It's such an easy go-to, and it's lazy, in my opinion,” Gong said, questioning whether Apu’s character will continue feeding into stereotypes or if he’ll be updated to reflect “modern sensibilities.”

Kumar sees Apu’s character as one of many fights to be fought by such a long-running show. The community's vulnerability in the media space made this character particularly pressing compared to some others.

“The satirization, the tokenization of that identity, it hits little differently than if you are offending a broad cross section of the population,” Kumar said.