0152 - Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

Apu is probably the most significant character that we had not gotten to yet. Well today is finally his day to shine!

I think the reason it has taken this long to get to him is that his role shifts drastically after the first season or two. We know Apu as a mainstay, taking a prominent role in the Simpson family's lives, but this is not how he began - at first he is merely the guy who works at the Kwik-E-Mart, and any relationship between our main characters and the guy who works at the convenience store might seem silly.

The show even acknowledges this early on. For example, in season 2's "Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment", Homer tells Marge he has only invited close friends to watch the big fight, only to undercut this a moment later with Apu's appearance.

It's easy to not think of this as a joke after 25+ years of Homer and Apu being close friends, but it is. It's unusual that the Simpson family make close friends with him, but it's really because he's such a likeable character.

An aspect of Apu that I find interesting is that he's one of the few characters to follow a linear continuity, perhaps to his detriment. He goes from swinging bachelor - perhaps Springfield's most dated male - to married, to a father of eight, changing his character completely. The show's perspective of this change is that it is in some way a prison sentence, that Apu's carefree life has been ruined, and it has been difficult for him to return from this. 

I'm not overly familiar with later seasons Apu but from what I see his family are presented as a shackle, or are ignored completely. This is perhaps an argument against the show acknowledging any sense of continuity at all.

I'm gonna take this point to say that I'm not gonna discuss the whole thing of him being voiced by Hank and the show wrestling with that. As just some white dude myself, there's nothing I could add to that discussion.

I don't know if I've discussed this before but when I was younger I liked to imagine the entirety of The Simpsons took place within one year, explaining how the characters never age. For instance, any Christmas episode would take place over the same Christmas, but all the stories would run in parallel, somehow. Apu ruins this stupid rationale by having children younger than Maggie that later seem to age older than her. As always, don't overthink it.

It took me until today to research where Apu's surname comes from. It's an anagram of Pahasanee Mapetilion, a schoolmate of writer Jeff Martin. Now you know!

This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.