As Questions Arise About What To Do With “Apu”, “Central Park’s” Loren Bouchard Shows Courage Against Extreme PC Culture

 

 

 

Comedian Hari Kondabolu is in the news again following reports that Hank Azaria has retired as the voice of “Apu” on The Simpsons. The producer of The Problem with Apu documentary that started this whole bit in the first place thinks that the “Apu” character should live and that Hank would step aside for a South Asian actor. And while nobody agrees with him, that hasn’t stopped click-bait starved press from trying to convince Loren Bouchard to make sure everything is 100% politically correct in his upcoming new series Central Park.

The upcoming series sees Stanley Tucci and Daveed Diggs voice women characters while Kristen Bell voices a mixed-race character. While Loren did an admirable job in standing his ground and letting everybody know that this is the way the show is going to be, take it or leave it, his explanation really should be the mantra that everybody in the animation industry really should adhere to.

“Here I am, yet again, taking away two roles for women, and it’s something that I have on my mind all the time to try and keep balancing things,” he said, acknowledging Bell voicing a mixed-race character. “Kristen needed to voice Molly — we couldn’t not make her Molly, and then we couldn’t make Molly white and couldn’t make Kristen mixed-race. Then you arrive there and keep doing it as best you can to turn around and give someone an opportunity who wasn’t getting it. A commitment to diversity isn’t some odd job, it’s a commitment to making it better.”

Our Take

The definition of animation is animating frames or inanimate objects so that they move which lends itself to limitless possibilities. In the realm of animated comedy, the goal is to make people laugh with no regards for safety and instead just get the best voices and producers for the job regardless of ethnicity, creed, race, etc. “Apu” is not a racist character, he’s a lovable, warm, goofy character portrayed by a brilliant voice actor who has no racist intent. Loren isn’t trying to take jobs away from people, he’s trying for the funniest animated series that will get people to subscribe to Apple+. It’s really just that simple.

[h/t: THR]