NPR

A New Documentary Calls Into Question The Simpson's 'Apu'

Comedian Hari Kondabolu's new documentary, The Problem with Apu, unearths an essential truth about Hollywood: "Success justifies everything." Even racism.

One of the most difficult tasks in Hollywood is to get someone who is successful to admit they are dead wrong.

That's a lesson comic Hari Kondabolu learned the hard way, while making his compelling, layered, highly entertaining documentary airing on truTV Sunday, The Problem with Apu.

On the surface, it's kind of a comedy primal scream: a passionate exploration of why the Indian character on The Simpsons, Kwik-E-Mart clerk Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, is racist.

Beneath that, a tension simmers, pulling viewers through the; Kondabolu wants to talk about Apu with the white man who has voiced the character for more than 20 years, actor Hank Azaria.

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