Since the The Nerds of Color is not the only awesome thing on the internet, we spent the weekend scouring the web for some of the most NOC-relevant links around. Here are five stories that have gotten the most buzz around the N.O.C. office.
Over at the Huffington Post, arts and entertainment reporter Mallika Rao asks “Is it Time to Retire Apu?” for their first installment in a series on Indian Americans and the entertainment industry. In an interview with Hank Azaria, the Caucasian actor who has voiced Apu on The Simpsons for over two decades, the actor credits a viral video featuring comedian Hari Kondabolu for making him reevaluate his take on the character.
Kondabolu says he… didn’t appreciate how many people would respond to his bit. Perhaps he underestimated the sanctity of The Simpsons in the comedy world (he’s a fan himself, but, as he points out, “you can be critical of the thing and still love the thing”). The Apu problem is a well-worn topic in his inner circle — in his mind, he was courting the danger of being “hacky” by rehashing it.
But the rant went viral, eventually making its way to Azaria. The actor credits the monologue with stirring his first misgivings. “If the only representation of Jews in our culture was Robin Williams’ impression of a Yiddish guy [from “The Birdcage,” starring both Williams and Azaria], I guess I might be upset with that too,” Azaria says. He cites one line of Kondabolu’s that stuck with him: Apu’s accent sounds like “a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father.”
One reason you might want to be in the know come season five? It looks like LeVar Burton — the iconic Reading Rainbow host and Star Trek: The Next Generation alum — is returning to the halls of Greendale Community College. The actor posted several pictures from the Community set on his twitter feed and confirmed his appearance on the fifth season of the popular (to nerds, anyway) NBC sitcom. And from the photo, it’s pretty clear that Burton’s guest spot will air during one of the few episodes to feature Troy next season since Glover is leaving the show to focus on being Childish Gambino.
Speaking of nerd-friendly hip-hop, Mega Ran debuted a new song called “One Bad Day,” based on the seminal Alan Moore-penned graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke. It’s a pretty timely song since Killing Joke has been on the minds of fanboys everywhere. Back in August, Grant Morrison blew the internet’s collective mind when he told Kevin Smith that Batman kills the Joker at the end of the book. Whether or not this interpretation is the case is still up for debate. Besides, there are plenty of other ways to interpret the last panels between Batman and Joker. Anyway, this is all a tangent because Mega Ran’s song actually has nothing to do with the end of the book, and everything to do with the beginning.
And yes, you recognize the beat because it’s a sample of the theme from the old Batman game for the NES.
Over at The Daily Beast, Manar Ammar profiles Qahera, a new webcomic created by Deena Mohamed, a 19-year-old Egyptian student and illustrator who wanted to draw a strong female character.
Qahera is not your typical superhero. For starters, she is a veiled Muslim woman who helps other women in distress, most importantly, in situations involving sexual violence. She carries a sword and has amazing fighting abilities. She is also fed up with misogyny, sexual harassment and “white savior” ideologies.
Qahera is Arabic for Cairo. It also means “conqueror” or “vanquisher.”
Finally, StreetStar, the international urban dance competition, held its annual showcase in Sweden earlier this year. Videos from the competition were posted to YouTube in August, but one video in particular made the rounds last week. Why?
Sailor Moon vs. Wonder Woman in a vogue battle.
That’s why.
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- Meanwhile, on the Internet… (thenerdsofcolor.org)