To "Apu" Or Not To "Apu?"

"Walk like an Egyptian."  And talk like an Indian?  Or a Chinese, Arab or Zulu?  When does artistic license with foreign cultures add to the authenticity of a dramatic endeavor and when does it descend to the level of second rate mimicry?

A good friend, an Indian American, has shared with me a somewhat disconcerting personal experience. He and his family recently attended a school function where videos of students staging dramatized versions of stories from different parts of the world were shown to visiting parents. It just happened that the class in which my friend's young son belongs, had picked an Indian story set in India. Much to his surprise (and the embarrassment of the child), my friend discovered that some of the children in the Indian play affected a stereotypical Indian accent. Now, please understand that the characters in the play are NOT Indians speaking in English but rather the translation of a story which occurs in India in a time and place where the characters would in "reality" be conversing in their native tongue.

Last summer when The Simpsons, the movie was released, heated discussions erupted about the character Apu and the stereotype of Indian Americans that he personifies. There is no doubt that Apu's persona is highly exaggerated and his accent is over the top - very few Indians speak like that.  But everything about The Simpsons is exaggerated and over the top. The opinion of Apu among Indian Americans (and their British counterparts) was divided. Some felt that in an outrageous comedy where all the characters take a beating, Apu is no exception. Others felt that the depiction of all the cringe-worthy stereotypes of an ethnic minority group even for comic effect perpetuates the stereotype and mocks an entire community. 

Whatever one thinks of Apu, the case of The Simpsons is not identical to the one my friend experienced at his son's school. There is an important difference. Apu, an Indian immigrant, whose native language is not English, actually speaks English in the show. The characters in the school play are not supposed to be speaking English in the original setting - they do so only in translation. The accent, even an exceptionally exaggerated one, can be considered a "natural" part of the Apu character.  But that is not the case for the actors of the school play. Convincing accents by actors are often a very fine part of drama. But one needs to know where they are applicable.

Having grown up in India and learnt English there, I have an accent that is distinctive in America. But  my children sound "natural." (They have an accent when they visit India!)  In  movies about Indian (and British) Americans, it is common to find actors playing Indian born characters speak English with an accent and their kids sounding like locals.  But if you staged a dramatized version of an Indian epic in English and had the characters utter Apu like accent and inflection for the sake of authenticity, it would be ridiculous. To put it in perspective, imagine the Royal Shakespeare Company's actors laboring with heavy Scottish accents in Macbeth and speaking lilting Italian English in the Merchant of Venice.

So, why the confusion?  Why don't people get it? I blame Disney.

Comments

[Sujatha]

Other well-known stereotypical portrayals come to mind: the Indian scientist in 'Short Circuit' who is played by Fisher Stevens- in a strange mishmash of accents that incongruously come from different regions of India.
I will agree that Disneyfication has been the worst in perpetuating the ethnic stereotypes in their movies and even in their serials running non-stop on their channel- a recent rerun of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" has an execrably accented pseudo-Indian prince, played by a kid of Indian origin who probably speaks normal American-accented English in real life, but has been ask to produce an Apuesque accent for the role.
On a slight tangent, your post prompted these musings on F-n-S.