We NEED to talk about Indians from the 2000s...

as we grow more and more accustomed to seeing Indian faces faces like mine faces like yours represented in the TV shows and movies that we watch I think it's important to look back and reflect on how far we've come before we had the nymphomaniac the YouTuber the kid with snake the high strung comedian Spider-Man muscle Daddy and this fing guy we had churro Gupta my my my how times have [Music] changed have they no Pender it's me again look a serer man might discourage you from joining the deadly MC business what with your concave chest and your paper tal two arms but you're an eagle and God damn it an eagle got a sore you're my con Cruz and you're my Christen dun hi my name is SC means spicy and I'm Indian and I can prove it too watch all right that's enough today I felt like taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting all the Indian characters that I grew up with so basically any Indian person that's ever been on TV or in a movie prior to 2010 the founding fathers of Indian representation if you will so I want to start off with the character that inspired me to make this video in the first place which is chro Gupta from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies that's okay I'm J and I'm single wow my name is we know exactly who you are Holly Hills of 432 North chog is one of Greg hefley's friends he's weird he's nerdy he's an outcast he gets picked on he's just like Greg except he's Indian and he's got the ACT accent to prove it in all of the Wimpy Kid books which I've read all of them nowhere did it say that chura Gupta has an Indian accent which means when they were making the movies they made a conscious decision to have the actor put on a fake Indian accent why what was the point of that did they do they want to make him seem nerdier did they want to make him seem even more like weirder and more of an outcast did they just want to embarrass our entire race apparently he even had an accent coach to make him sound more Indian what and to be clear I don't have a problem with Gan BR the actor that plays chag Gupta I want to be clear I'm not trying to make fun of him in this situation because Keen viewers will notice that he was a literal child in the movies and I'm not about making fun of children what I am angry with are the adults that let this happen you know his parents G BR parents Pres presumably two Indian people watched their son put on this Bizarre song and dance for the camera and were just like yep I'm greenlighting this this is going to make our people look so great I'm not kidding when I say that I have thought about Chira gupa at least once a day for several years and it's because Diary of a Wimpy Kid in my opinion is like one of the funniest franchises out there the first three movies at least with the original cast it's one of those movies where if you rewatch it you will find something new to laugh at each time you rewatch the movie that's how good it is and it's really difficult to make movies like that much less movies for children like do you know how hard it is to make non-explicit humor these days and they did it and these movies are so close to being perfect if it weren't for that freaking little Indian kid the actor gumra also plays revi Ross in the Disney Channel TV series Jesse where he's essentially playing the exact same character as well weird little Indian kid with an accent only this time he's wearing a in case it's not obvious enough that he's Indian oh my what your wear in it is my chani only worn on very special occasions since my tutor says I'm now ready to start school with Emma and Luke what better day to Ed it I once again want to stress that my beef is not with Gan I literally do not know him we are strangers to each other and I don't want to make it seem like I'm insulting him recently he wrote an article for the Teen Vogue and I read it and he discusses in depth his difficulty with depression substance abuse coming out challenges with his parents and you know it's a very heartfelt article and I feel for him I really do and I can't imagine the stress it must have put on him or the mental impact it must have had on him to portray this this bizarre character for his entire childhood in front of a camera but you know he's an adult now and and I honestly hope I can see him in much better roles as an adult I'm rooting for you my man we can't talk about Disney Channel Indians without discussing balet from Phineas and Ferb now I've only seen a few episodes of Phineas and Ferb from what I can gather baljet is a dorky nerdy Indian guy who cares only about getting good grades he's an outcast and he gets mercilessly bullied pizzium infinionite that science price is as good as mine so why am I here here again because as a person of superior intellect I require an angry wall of meat to protect my science project are you cringing yet speaking of Disney channel does anyone remember that episode of The Sweet Life of Zack and Cody where some Indian Prince was visiting the Tipton and he wanted to see Boston but as a normal person so he switches places with Cody and Cody wears a veil and pretends to be Indian for a day does anyone remember that I'm Zach and he's Cody so you two are being beans in a pod I mean being being identical this is called a hot dog in this country you eat dogs it must have been a fever dream come to think of it I would say something about Raj from The Big Bang Theory but I'm afraid I'm going to start sounding like a broken record because he too is a dorky nerdy Indian guy with a goofy accent groundbreaking oh Raj look at you I know I'm resplendant like the Noonday Sun am I not you know I've been brainstorming on how to make a video like this and how to go about talking about this stuff and I've been struggling to come up with things to say because they're all the same every Indian character from TV prior to 2010 is the exact same character the actor who plays Raj k n in interviews seems like a pretty chill guy he seems really cool and funny and dare I say charismatic which makes me all the more sadder because I think about how talented and amazing these actors are and then they just end up getting [ __ ] gigs like this thank you for listening you're a doll uh-oh don't your pelvis you know like they're capable of so much more I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Big Bang Theory is huge in India huge huge if there are Indians out there that actually like this show perhaps they even relate to a portion of Raj's character perhaps I'm missing something you know maybe I'm in the wrong here no I'm not in the wrong are you kidding me it is worth mentioning that pretty much all of the characters that I can think of that I saw growing up on TV are all men so I can't imagine what it was like to be a young Indian boy and watching all this stuff growing up on TV like I'm pretty sure it was hard not to internalize some of it you know on that topic I found this article online it's an opinion piece titled I hate Indian Disney characters by someone named arsh goyal and he writes when I was young characters like this affected how I saw myself and how I thought others perceived me doesn't that just break your heart Jesus I remember being insecure about my appearance personality and friendships well into my teens because of my warped self-image there was always a quiet voice in the back of my head warning me to flout the way I hate being perceived arguably listening to that voice turned me into the Bight prick I am today honestly same and now for the granddaddy of all stereotypes appu from The Simpsons I feel as though this horse has already been beaten to death several times so much so that appu has been completely removed from The Simpsons but that's not going to stop me from running my Yap several years ago um the problem with APU documentary came out and I watched it it's a documentary by the indian-american comedian Hari kondalu and he for the documentary invited several Indian actors and Indian comedians uh into the documentary to just give their perspective on this and how seeing appu and the media affected them and their careers he was making a lot of really great really valid points and he had me in his Corner up until he did a little interview with whoopy Goldberg where they were discussing her giant collection of racist memorabilia I wish I was joking in this conversation huie made the comparison of Apu to minstral se essentially huie is suggesting that Apu is blackface for Indians because it's an Indian character being voiced by a white actor now this is where he lost me because I don't know if I agree with that comparison I mean I don't know if I would consider one silly little cartoon character to centuries of racist ridicule of a completely different race like that's just me I feel like he was kind of overstepping the line by saying that I mean yes it's racist for a white actor to fake an Indian accent and voice an Indian character on TV but is it that level of racist to call it minstral SE like I don't know like that's that's just me that's my two cents like that's I wouldn't go that far in the same problem with APU documentary huie also talks to the actor Cal pen whom you may know from the haral and Kumar movies Cal mentions a story in the documentary where an Indian guy comes up to him and says hey man because of you everyone calls me Kumar now and Cal's response is isn't that better than being called aoo really you really think Kumar is better representation for [Laughter] Indians in a sense I kind of understand what Cal pen was trying to say Kumar isn't some racial stereotype he's not putting on a fake accent he's not a nerd he's not you know a social outcast he's just some guy you can put Indian people in TV shows and movies without smacking them upside the head with stereotypes you know and just let them exist let them be God the bar is so low moving right along to 2003 MTV releases a cartoon called Clone High Clone High is a TV show about a high school filled with clones of historical figures such as AB Lincoln Joan of Arc JFK Cleopatra and you guessed it mandes K Gandhi rhythm is everywhere darn it gandi I've had it with your constant fidgeting Joan I haven't gotten a single high five since I've been in here could you give me a few under the table everyone else is getting them now I've seen the first season of the show and my opinion is it's hilarious it's very well written it is so funny and so edgy and so ahead of its time like I really did enjoy the show but I will not consider Gandhi as good Indian representation in this TV show for two reasons one the voice actor playing Gandhi is not Indian and two the show was cancelled because of Gandhi according to this article that I found several Indian politicians including Gandhi's grandson were deeply offended by the portrayal of Gandhi and Clone High I was kind of surprised to learn this because it's what is Clone High it's just some random show off of MTV like it's it's so small why is India getting offended by something so small I mean ahu did not get the Simpsons cancelled yet Gandhi got Clone High cancelled I found it difficult to wrap my head around it but the more I thought about it the more I kind of understand now Gandhi is somewhat of a sacred figure to Indian people right he is the face of Independence he's on all of the currency and his birthday is celebrated as a national holiday in India so in some sense of the word he's a God so how do you depict someone's God as a hyperactive party animal or as a prison inmate or as a dancer wearing a gold leotard and shaking his booty it's a very American mentality to think that you can make fun of anyone and anything and face no repercussions I mean that's what freedom of speech is all about and I think freedom of speech is one of the greatest things about America but I think more people need to realize that that freedom of speech does not extend internationally me personally I honestly did not think this show was that bad I honestly don't think Gandhi is all that offensive I mean in comparison to all the other characters that I've discussed today I don't think Gandhi is that racist or offensive but then again I'm not Gandhi's grandson I'm going to end this video with a potentially controversial statement I think it's okay to be racist that's it that's the end of my sentence now I think it's okay to make racist jokes about Indian people so long as it's funny take Russell Peters for instance he's a Canadian standup comedian of Indian descent and half his standup set is just making fun of Indian people he does the accent he does the little head Bobble he does the clueless Indian guy stick the whole nine yards he does all of it and it's still so funny and you might say well no that's because Russell Peters is is in on the joke he's not punching down on Indian people he's punching up oh he's he's definitely punching down on Indian people who are you kidding he is remorselessly repeatedly punching down on Indian people look at all these Indian faces Jesus Christ look at you brown bastards God damn and we [ __ ] love it Indian people everywhere eat it up and it is so funny that's why my dad thought punani was a tropical fruit my dad went to the Jamaican store hey lady where's your punani my son is at home sick he need punani right now give me two is it right let me squeeze it here's the way I see it if you have a joke and you try to make it racist but it's just sticking to stereotypes it ends up not being all that funny however if you dial up the racism so much to the point where it's just plain ridiculous it goes back to being funny and finally last but not least my absolute favorite racist Indian representation about 1 million years ago there was a cartoon on Cartoon Network called Courage the Cowardly Dog it was about a dog named courage who lived with two elderly people named Eustace and Muriel and when whenever they had medical problems they would go to their local practitioner who was a doctor named Dr vindaloo let me have a look at her see if there's anything that I can do anything at all you are right she is out of it nothing I can do nothing at all I'll see you in Fairyland I think Dr vindu's accent is the most atrocious thing I've ever heard having an Indian doctor named Dr vindaloo is like having a Mexican doctor named Dr enchilada it is so ridiculous it is so racist it is so funny now I want you to open your mouth and say [Music] ah that is the worst case of Chicken Box I have ever seen I don't know maybe I'm just looking at this through the lens of nostalgia maybe if courage of the Cowardly Dog came out today I would also be making posts online with the hashtag cancel Dr vindaloo but that's not the case this show came out in 2002 and it's one of my favorite shows ever so there you have it a comprehensive list of all the Indian people that I grew up watching on TV the Mount Rushmore of racism against Indians if you will am I missing any one did I leave out your favorite Indian character or your most hated Indian character let me know in the comments below perhaps I shall make a part two because I had a lot of fun filming this all right unless I can think of more egregious representation of Indians in media that's it for me now I'm done rambling ciao

Channel: Karra Means Spicy

Views: 133,755

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Id: KuwoUrfcjM4

Length: 18min 17sec (1097 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 28 2024