Share. Apu and Lisa both deserve better. Apu and Lisa both deserve better.

At nearly 30 years old, The Simpsons has been a pop culture institution for longer than many people reading this have probably been alive. And it goes without saying that the series has courted its fair share of controversy in that time. However, thanks to the most recent episode, "No Good Read Goes Unpunished," the series has managed to take an already delicate situation and make it even worse. And it's all thanks to everybody's favorite Kwik-E Mart owner, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

Exit Theatre Mode

The problem arose as the series finally acknowledged the 2017 TruTV documentary The Problem With Apu. That film traces the pop culture impact of the character, noting that while Apu shattered critical barriers when it comes to representing characters of South Asian descent on TV, it arguably did more harm than good. Apu is a character who reinforces negative stereotypes about Indian Americans. The film features interviews with celebrities like Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn and Maulik Pancholy, all of whom relate stories about being bullied and teased by people for whom Apu was their only point of reference for how South Asian people speak and behave.

The Problem With Apu offers plenty of food for thought. It forces even long-time Simpsons fans to reevaluate a fan-favorite character and whether the series can and should be doing better. At the time, voice actor Hank Azaria and others involved with the show seemed receptive to the criticisms raised by the documentary. But the meta moment in last night's episode suggests otherwise. Lisa directly addressed her audience and said, "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” As she spoke, the frame shifted to a photo of Apu with the familiar catchphrase, "Don't have a cow."

Frankly, the show would have been better off not acknowledging the controversy at all rather than delivering such a glib response. Lisa's dialogue and the Apu photo both create the impression that the show's writers aren't terribly concerned with the Apu controversy. If anything, they seem to be dismissing the furore with the excuse that no one had a problem with Apu until recently. Which clearly isn't the case. The Problem With Apu makes it plain that many people have been dealing with the fallout of Apu for decades. It's only through a combination of social media and TV audiences taking a more clinical eye towards the shows they watch that these Apu-related concerns are finally being heard.

Worse than the mean-spirited joke itself is that Lisa of all characters was the one chosen to deliver it. From the start, Lisa has very much been the conscience of the Simpson clan. She's always been the one most concerned by the various evils of the world, whereas her father is one of the most hilariously solipsistic characters on TV. In fact, it was Apu himself that formed a strong bond with Lisa in the classic 1995 episode "Lisa the Vegetarian," as he helped Lisa embrace a new meat-free and guilt-free existence. That was one of the first times where the series treated Apu as a three-dimensional, fully realized character and not just a caricature. So for Lisa to be the one to throw Apu under the bus now seems like an especially cruel twist of fate.

To be fair to Matt Groening and the Simpsons crew, there aren't any easy to solutions to the Apu situation short of just removing the character from the spotlight entirely. As critic Justin Charity pointed out last year, The Problem With Apu is heavy on criticism but light on suggestions for how to actually improve Apu as a character. And it's not as though Apu is the only Simpsons character who trades in negative cultural stereotypes. Some might argue he's no worse than characters like Luigi Risotto, Fat Tony, Bumblebee Man or Cletus Spuckler.

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But for The Simpsons to simply abdicate itself of any responsibility for Apu's cultural impact and dismiss the concerns raised in The Problem With Apu is unacceptable. The show has enough problems as it is remaining fresh and relevant after 29 seasons on the air. If the show can't continue at least trying to evolve and become a better version of itself, maybe the time has finally come to call it quits.

The Problem With Apu is currently available to view on demand or streaming via truTV.com and the truTV app.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.