Simpsons Hit & Run Shows Problem with Apu

It’s one of the most requested remasters today – and yet The Simpson’s Hit & Run remains mysteriously absent from the modern gaming scene. Playing it for the first time in almost 15 years reveals why. It must be, at least partly, because of Apu.

Yes, PS2 achievements are here, and The Simpsons Hit & Run was one of the first games I booted up to revisit. In many ways it stands up. Hit & Run was the children’s alternative to the totally visceral Vice City. It does its job well.

But race into the second half of the game and you will take control of Apu, everybody’s favourite Kwik-E-Mart employee. Apu is a now controversial figure in Simpsons history. Not because of The Problem With Apu, a documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu, but because of the producers’ decision to cut him from the show entirely. Or at least that’s the rumour. Whether true or not, his appearances have undoubtedly diminished and Hank Azaria, his voice actor, now refuses to return to the character.

The reason I frame it this way is because usually the controversy seems to come from people annoyed with this situation, more than from the documentary itself.  I’ve not seen the documentary and I haven’t watched many recent episodes, so I hold my judgement.

But I also like the character. And I’ll keep liking the character. Alas, until he is boiled down to soundbites.

Simpsons Hit & Run – Nasty Nostalgia

Apu is a strange character to have as playable in Simpson’s Hit & Run. And yet there he is.

In level five, you take control of the Kwik-E-Mart employee, who up to this point has mostly been a foil for Slack-Jawed Yokel Cletus’s mission to sell roadkill to Krusty Burger.

You instantly hear Indian-themed music when you jump in a car. Stereotypical, but not unexpected.

Here’s the thing. When people ‘defend’ Apu, they do so through the lens of his deeper Simpson’s episodes. I don’t disagree with this at all. It’s hard to call a character a stereotype when he is one of the most consistently deep, moral and intelligent people on a TV show. Nobody is lining up to talk about the good character of Willy or our old pal Cletus.

You can discuss all day about the fact that he is a stereotype but, in a show full of stereotypes, he is well-represented. And Simpsons creator Matt Groening said he’ll bring back the character in an ambitious way.

But when you boil down the old character to soundbites to play while driving around Springfield, the problem becomes apparent. Keep in mind, this game came out in 2003. It is not some dusty ancient Jim Crow “we didn’t know any better” film.

Quotes

Apu’s quotes include ” I am a lean, mean, vindaloo machine”. When you try to get a car to pick you up, you’re met with “If you give me a ride, I will pay you a millon dollars in the next life, I promise”. Other examples include “Of course! It’ll be good for my karma” and “I hope you don’t mind, my car smells like chutney”.

The list is seemingly endless.

“Go do the Hindu that I do”. “Oh, do not fear, you will be reincarnated”. “This new Squishee Vindaloo will bring out an Indian in anyone”.

And that’s without getting into the quotes that just represent him as the terrible ever-working husband and father. The man who puts his convenience store above all else.

The Problem With Apu – Conclusion

This isn’t an attack on the character or on the writers behind him. It’s certainly not an attack on Hank Azaria. Apu’s history is complicated, and not always in a good-natured way. For every episode where Apu is a role model, there is a quote in a video game that boils him down to a cheap joke about his ethnicity or religion.

“I hope you don’t mind, my car smells like chutney”.

There’s something weird happening with Simpsons games. It feels like if it was possible, there would be way more of them. Instead, there hasn’t been one on console since The Simpsons game in 2007. For context, there have been 15 seasons of the show since the last console game was released.

But even if Hit & Run was to miraculously get signed off for an official remaster, Apu would hold things up. He would have to be rewritten and revoiced in his entirety. And it’s hard to argue that. Fans deserve better. Apu deserves better.