The funny thing about all of this is that he's no more a stereotype than Ned Flanders, Bumble Bee Man, Cletus, Willie, Fat Tony, and probably a dozen or so other regular and one off characters.

Frankly Apu is probably one of the more fleshed out supporting characters and is typically portrayed in a fairly positive light (more so than a lot of the other regulars). He's a family man who works hard and is not portrayed as being any dumber than any of the others.

Anyhow: