The Simpsons has faced its fair share of controversies over the past three decades. There's been everything from feuding with First Lady Barbara Bush to insulting Rio de Janeiro to the time Bart made robocalls promoting how super-awesome Scientology is. The most recent big issue the iconic series has been forced to contend with involves Kwik-E-Mart proprietor and smashed-hat confessor Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

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The problematic nature of Apu was brought to the fore thanks to comedian Hari Kondabolu, first with a segment on Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell, and later in his documentary The Problem With Apu. As the doc points out, Apu is basically an example of modern-day minstrelsy. Even worse, for a good portion of the time the series has been on the air, Apu has been the sole example of a South Asian character on American TV -- if you don't count airings of that movie where Fisher Stevens wore brownface and palled around with WALL-E's dad.

In the time since the documentary came out, there have been calls to retire the character, as well as passionate arguments for keeping him. This has included The Simpsons breaking the fourth wall to address the controversy. Unfortunately, the show's response was as helpful as a disgruntled preteen's half-hearted shrug. Commenting on an offensive book from Marge's childhood, Lisa says: "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?" Then they look directly into the camera as it pulls out to reveal a photo of Apu which Lisa suddenly has in her room (presumably the work of an offscreen wizard).

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Yeah, a lot of viewers weren't thrilled. It didn't help that Matt Groening responded to the thoughtful documentary which used Apu to tackle the larger issue of representation and stereotypes in the media by chalking the criticism up to a "culture where people love to pretend they're offended." Former Simpsons head writer Mike Reiss called it "a nasty little documentary."