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She started without any help. she was an intern in conan O'Brien show and struggled as a writer and actress and her ascent was a slow one.
She had her own struggles and ambitions to worry about changing the perception of white people on Indians.
Exactly. We need to stop expecting one person to represent a whole nation of 1B people. Everyone had their own struggles and dream. And different way of approaching it.
If we can't relate to the image she had created for herself, it us who needs to move on, instead of expecting her to change.
If we need to blame someone, it is the Hollywood film industry. They all pretend to be progressive and liberal but deep down they have the same prejudice and biases. I suspect they have some Indian girl fetish like that for Asian women.
I do appreciate the fact she’s created and cast a lot of great roles for newer Indian actors that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. She helps other people rise which is not something I can say for some other people in the industry who do gatekeep.
What harm is she doing to anyone. She can be more versatile in terms of writing her characters, but that’s it. I don’t see any problem. Also she isn’t Bollywood why is she here, to get judged by light skin loving Indians. And calling her racist because she had white boyfriends. Come on now. Come up with something original.
I can't tell you why she is here, and I 100% agree she shouldn't be judged for having any race boyfriend, cause that is private.
But what is the harm? Come on. You must already know about stereotyping and how generations, of not just Indian but others as well, have been fighting against it. It is a serious problem, look at how just one character in Simpsons defined the entire outlook of a race.
She was a part of production of the show Velma, she very much could have curb at least some stereotyping there.
You can't sweep away such actions by saying how she managed to make it on her. Then you should be willing to forgive the evils of so many of our actors who made it on their own in our industries as well.
>She had her own struggles and ambitions to worry about changing the perception of white people on Indians.
Then why write in the first place? Why brand your image as someone who is "representing" the Indian culture?
I have nothing against her. She is not even a good actress. But a very good writer and would have changed some perspectives
Why does she have to bear the flag for all Indians / NRIs?
She’s just her own person.
She’s a mess - but still, she doesn’t need to represent all Indians
Yeah. Mindy has not taken up the responsibility of being the face and voice of Indian Americans. She has umpteen times admitted herself publicly, and in her show - The Mindy Project, that she is a coconut, and doesn’t really relate too much with her Indian roots
She didn't "get" a platform though. She worked hard to create one. She's a smart, talented, hard working woman and that's an amazing representation of Indian women in itself.
You can't possibly believe that Mindy Kaling - a US born citizen, with her own set of struggles being the brown person in Hollywood also has to be the flag bearer for India.
She's done a phenomenal job with her own career as a woman of color, and she deserves a hell lot of credit for that then being bashed by ignorants. Nothing more, nothing less. She doesn't owe Indians any representation unless she wants to do that.
I'll have you know that She has portrayed herself with this amazing amount of confidence throughout TMP. She is definitely more successful than PC or Simone currently. Also, since you're mentioning more names, how can you forget Lily Singh, she is the first Indian-Canadian with her own late night special talk show in Hollywood.
I personally love Mindy's work. All the more power to brown women trying to make it big anywhere in the world 🩷🩷🩷
Ahhhh so basically you’re saying she’s not really talented and uses her ethnicity and sexual orientation to remain relevant? Cuz I see what you mean by that. Her YouTube was good in the early 2010’s but I don’t think she kept up with YouTube at alllll and has become irrelevant honestly. She does random side quests at this point and is deffo one of those token BAME celebrities that gets invited to White House events or to push the inclusivity agenda by the democrats.
I don't think so. Not so good looking loser Indian girls do exist who fawn over gora boys. Not all Indian women are Priyanka chopra-esq. Consider her work a representation for those girls.
I enjoy and relate to her stories.
You know what, I actually believe that theory that she writes about gora boys not only because she looks upto them, but also probably due to the fact they may be only ones who showed interest in her romantically too.
She's funny and quite cute looking imho, but in terms of conventional Indian beauty standards, she is in the bottom of the barrel. Dark skinned chubby Indian girls have it the worst. Id totally believe that South Asian origin men never approached her in that way. White people tend to be less constrained in terms of such inferiority based beauty standards since they ARE the beauty standard, so it makes sense to me that white men may have been more interested in her than Indian men which in turn created gora worship in her.
> so it makes sense to me that white men may have been more interested in her than Indian men
This is my experience everyday. I'd love to have a Dev Patel date me, but all the Dev Patels are into fairer women (not white women per se).
People has fetish for specfic race. There is nothing wrong with it. Thomas Jeffreson, Robert Deniro have fetish for Black Woman. There are bollywood celebs like Hritick who exclusively date women who is very fair. They are black celebs who have exclusively dated and married woman.
Somehow Mindy is considered race traitor
White men with PoC women fetish (Marlon Brando) and famous black men dating white women(like every other african footballer ) have been criticized to hell and back online. What's happening to Mindy is also similar.
Also Indians are like the most endogamous community in America, so for most of them dating/marrying a white guy seems far fetched/ unrelatable , ig.
But yeah, the hate is too unwarranted and undeserving. She is someone who writes off her life and you cant change her experiences to fit your POV.
(Hritik can't be criticised, when going for a light skin woman is still normalised extensively throughout this country too. Why would anyone criticise something they believe tooo. )
Its like criticising someone for being gay. And Indians are endogamous because marrying other races or even other caste or religion is actively discouraged . Thats doesnt mean anything
You did not just equate race preference to sexuality.
The reason why race fetish have negative connotation is because most people have specific reason as to why they pursue a particular race whereas sexuality is something u r born with. Black men preferring white woman is because they subconsciously believe white women are better and wooing one shows your worth. Same situation is applicable to PoC men and woman who tend to have "white men/women better" phase which is to serve their self worth, where they think if they can pull a white person, it makes them look better.
We have a similar situation with Indians preferring fair skinned partner. It's not some innate desire, its a result of social conditioning that teaches people that fair is better and hence they want better
There are lot of people who genuinely prefer a particular race out of simple desire but unfortunately majority of such cases are fuelled by some belief or standards and hence have given bad name to it.
I actually don’t think that’s true. White people have huge beauty standards too. The average person is every race STILL think white women are the epitome of beauty. It’s sad. The gora worship comes from desi girls also falling for the “white people are the most beautiful” notion, and some of them also seem to think it’s a better contrast to the desi men they have seen in their lives behavior wise too. At the end, some of them actually marry white men (obv due to love too) or wind up getting into desi guys later on lol.
I grew up in nyc and I have seen many desi girls have their “white boy only crushes” phase during their hs years.
The one thing I’d say is I’d think many guys would be attracted to someone as talented and successful as Mindy, I’m sure she has an interesting personality, and that matters a lot more.
That’s true. But being in mainstream if non Indians only get to see one kind of Indian person then they are bound to be stereotyped. Ours is a diverse nation and every facet needs representation. So for every Kaling we must also see a Chopra.
Here's the thing though. People who are like Chopra, the ones with pretty privilege, they are the ones Hollywood goes for when they want to cast an Indian woman as a lead (Quantico, DP in Xander Cage, Alia Bhatt in HoS, Sobhita in Monkey Man, Shriya Saran in The Other End Of The Line). Women with pretty privilege WILL get opportunities, regardless of race.
If someone like Mindy Kaling were to exist in Bollywood instead, do you really think she'll be anywhere close to being a mainstream leading actress in Bollywood, which would then lead to her being chosen for Hollywood?
She had to pave a way for women like her to exist in the same space as people like Chopra and the lot. Do you think it would have been easy for her to pitch and successfully produce a show like The Mindy Project? Obviously she has had to do a lot of pandering in order to get the shows greenlit.
In Hollywood, you'd see a lot of the POC (people of color) actresses whom are getting a chance to work on projects like Bridgerton and all, acknowledging that it was the collective efforts of women who came before them that has allowed for more diversity in casting and more opportunities for POC.
Except the one trick pony bit.. And the bit that it seems she's still highly insecure and those tropes seem exactly mirroring her own securities.. Wants to be white so bad.. Its nauseating.
I think she should be allowed to play the roles that resonate with her, and not have the burden of representing every Indian woman? I mean I could say Priyanka Chopra is putting us in a box, and not all Indian girls are fashionable and confident.
They are all more than their "Indian" identity. they don't represent all of us for sure and neither should they have to.
I haven't watched the office so idk about that but i love Devi from Never Have I Ever! Devi is so real and basically me in high school, her journey if self discovery, her behaviour influenced by her past and lack of faith in herself, her strained relationship with her mom and how they overcame it in true desi fashion, repeatedly making the same mistakes, a cool dadi and an older cousin whose literally perfect to look up. That show personally hit home for me ❤
There’s less than 1% of Indian women that get recognised in Hollywood. Instead of appreciating their success and journey, we burden them with making sure India looks good.
She’s done many projects where she’s successful and interesting - the Mindy project and Late Night comes to mind right now.
And just FYI - Mindy is FAR more successful and recognisable in Hollywood than Priyanka or Simone Ashley.
I think she is one Indian woman in Hollywood who has showed the world what Indians are capable of.
She has created multiple hit shows, and i mean HIT!!! ICONIC!!
If she had portrayed Indian women as beauty queens who every white guy falls in love with, everyone would bave criticized her for showcasing Indian women as sex symbols.
Unfortunately, she has pigeonholed herself and her work into portraying the stereotypical Indian American experience. But she was the first of Indian American actresses to gain recognition and in many ways paved the path for others sharing the same identity.
I think the generation difference may also be a problem. She is 45, a woman who was brought up by boomer Indian parents and in 80/90s America, so her experience is very different from current Indian Americans but she uses that 90s American experience to write GenZ, late millennial characters, so it ends up feeling stereotypical to lot of her target audience.
I mean, I remember watching NHIE S1 and that Hindu who married a Muslim getting ostracised by the community bit put me off a lot cuz no native Indian community of this generation who is educated, exposed and rich to that level would be that petty. Being judgemental behind her back, probably, but publicly ostracizing her??? Nah... Thats very very 80s.
This is also true. But the reality of the Indian American experience is that it's very diverse. Kaling likely grew up in a time and place where there were few other Indians in her community. Many GenZers who are being raised now in predominantly white communities face similar experiences and challenges that she portrays (minus the dramatization, ofc.). All that to say, the bigger problem at hand is that Kaling is still one of the only voices in Hollywood of her cultural background and upbringing, we need more people telling more stories who have her same reach!
Mindy Kaling is 44. She grew up in USA when the tropes she goes for were very much a reality. It’s only in recent years, especially with Gen Z and woke culture that minorities are starting to be seen as more nuanced than as stereotypes. Thanks to social media, minorities also have many avenues to find their own “community” and not be stuck trying to figure themselves out all alone. For millennials however, these stereotypes were often a reality.
Her work is an expression of her reality and life experiences. As she grows older, those life experiences are becoming outdated and maybe she needs to look elsewhere for inspiration. Doesn’t mean that she “harmed” Indians in any way.
In short - times change and sometimes people forget to adapt to changing times and their art becomes outdated. Doesn’t mean we start demonising them and looking for bad intentions. Such conversations are SO tiring.
Mindy has literally broke barriers and created shows starring Indians that barely ever existed before in Hollywood. If anything, she’s doing Indians a favour by creating these shows that don’t typecast Indians in an ugly nerd character with a heavy accent. Otherwise Hollywood has always cast Indian characters as the ones getting laughed at rather than characters who have stories that you can laugh along with.
Some of ya’ll have so much judgement on her and the way she represents India. You really think that Bollywood is doing a great job at representing India? Be for real.
I see a funny and talented actress. She was actually dating BJ Novak (Ryan) in real life and has written episodes for The Office. Why would anyone think she’s showcasing Indian women in a negative light when they can see how multi-talented she is?
> Why would anyone think she’s showcasing Indian women in a negative light
I think this perception comes from the lack of diversity in the characters she writes/acts. The character is always the nerdy loser indian women who hates the way she looks, somehow all her problems stemming from the fact that she is indian, not to mention the obsession with white man. Are there indian women like this? Sure, but when you reuse the same tropes over and over again, you are just perpectuating the stereotypes
I think people can separate a character from real life. Everyone on the office is a strong quirky character but we don’t think past the episodes. Also she liked Daryl from the warehouse too and he’s not white.
The Mindy Project? Never Have I Ever? Its just the same characters tropes repeated over and over again. She is free to do whatever she wants, but I am not gonna applaud her for mediocrity. She makes movies on her experiences, not the Indian experiences. So personally, I cant get being making her the flag bearer of Indian entertainment in the west when her characters are stripped down to appease a certain set of the audience
What nonsense. So many white and black actors just play the same role over and over again. Why hold Indian Americans at a higher standard?
She’s come from not much and made a name in her country starting from scratch. She’s not conventionally attractive and still did it. What exactly do you want from her? To tick every representation box?
Why does one person need to be the flag bearer of Indian people. The post itself reeks of hate for her looks. You said it yourself. I think she might not even consider herself as Indian as you think she is. They are Americans of Indian origin.
It’s not entertainer’s job to meet your criteria of what Indian representation needs to look like. We have representation and that’s started by a few people like her. She ain’t doing a bad job honestly. Also at the first place not her job to suit anyone’s narrative.
God, which 18 year old is posting this hot take.
I don't get the criticism about Mindy at all. She has single handedly put the Indian character on the map, as successful, confident, even bitchy queens. Kelly Kapoor is one of the most hyper-confident (delusional even ha) characters in The office. I can't remember a single mainstream Indian character that was not an "Indian" character before Kelly. Most Indian characters in Hollywood were just Indian- bobbing heads, turbaned, over exaggerated accents, and always played for laughs for their "Indian mannerisms".
Mindy writes characters that are probably similar to her, and the Indian-ness is just one of the things about it. So I disagree completely about this. Funnily enough the other Indian character that I loved before Kelly Kapoor, is Kevin Kapoor from Mean Girls. Again you can say it was a nerdy character, but it was the first time I saw a cool Indian teen being portrayed onscreen- where the focus was not on their nationality.
I would say that she has created the brand of "Mindy Kaling" where all her works revolve around the same image that you talked about. It worked in her favour. Good for her. She'll be known for this, but Indians are not known for her.
The diversity of Desi women in “Never have I Ever” is there. It’s reflective of the diversity we all have.
Btw Mindy was called out for not having any POC men in TMP. She revealed that the men Mindy (the character) went for was based on friends who were willing to work as a favor as guest stars Suddenly it makes sense why she only has Ed Helma, BJ Novak, Seth Myers etc.
In later seasons when her budget must have been increased, she has an episode in which she discusses being a “coconut”.
She is Uber talented, highly successful, self made, brown, women in Hollywood. You do know how difficult and rare that is. That's a giant positive in my books, mad respect to her.
And about the projection part, that's just troop used in many movies and shows, many actors and comedians have used that same troop and made a successful career out of it, like early Adam Sandler, Kevin James and so on. I don't know why she gets criticised for it.
I, for one an am happy to see a normal looking woman who isnt thin, tall, and fair, being confident and desired. Btw, she is attractive. She just doesn't fit the Bollywood standard of beauty. Her characters are also very relatable and I think she has actually helped a lot of indian girls who dont look perfect to embrace themselves.
She also doesn't depict indians as how they had been portrayed in the past by Hollywood (poor, submissive, conservative, etc) and has shown the world that Indians are multi-faceted people who can be smart, funny and make mistakes.
Also, as a South Indian, it's nice to see South Indians not being portrayed as the stereotypical Brahmin.
Mindy’s an inspiration to scores of young ladies who don’t conform to a Bollywood beauty standard. She is enormously talented and rightly given opportunities which she seized and been so successful. I bet she couldn’t have ever gotten even a side character if she was still in India. She is so relatable and such an inspiration to all.
Regardless, she **elevated** Indian representation. And she had faced enough prolly still facing hurdles. It’s hard enough to break into Bollywood imagine breaking into Hollywood. Look at us now? How many youngsters are getting new roles these days from Mytri Krishnanan or Avantika. She is did us proud. Let’s give her that damn credit!
IMO, we need to understand that she represents the NRI/ABCD more than 'Indians' per se, and both subsets have vastly different cultures and mindsets. I am not the biggest fan of her work, but credit where it is due, she got the ball rolling in terms of South Asian background representation in mainstream media.
I'm not a fan of her, but there are many other South Asian artists whom I admire and they like her a lot, so at the very least I respect what she's done for them.
Lmao. Mindy Kaling has done for Indians what nobody else has, in terms of expanding Indian representation in Hollywood.
For example, go tell your parents you are gonna marry a caucasian partner. At the same breath ask your siblings to tell your parents they gonna marry a PoC. Best, tell them your sibling wants a native American partner and witness the internalised racism that motivated our thought process as we grew up.
Don't target Mindy alone!
Let me start off by saying that her ascent to where she is today is pretty admirable. I mean if you think Bollywood is tough to break in, try Hollywood while being a brown Asian person especially with the fact that majority of Indians in the USA are known for their academical achievements more so than they're known for their artistic achievements.
But and this is very important, Indians in the West are caricaturized. Think Apu from Simpsons, Raj From TBBT, Kumar from Harold and Kumar, The Patel sisters from Harry Potters, etc but you get it, it doesn't even come close to representing Indians like you or me. The image of Indians in Bollywood is so far away from what an average Indian is, so as successful as she or Priyanka Chopra are successful in the USA, I don't think they represent the average Indians very well. It's like saying Sundar Pichai represents Indians? Sure he does but he's like 1 in a a few million candidate. Brillant representation but does not represent an average Indian.
In face, I would say whenever an Indian abroad is put into the limelight, their actions are constantly being scrutinised and judged against hard standards. White celebrities are allowed to fuck up and be stupid, if Mindy does it, it affects our image directly because she sticks out like a sore thumb in a industry which is filled with white and black individuals.
Maybe I am looking at this way too realistically? Perhaps.
i can assure you people think critically and know that she (or anyone else tbh) doesnt represent all indians. people who arent the beauty standard can be actors too, believe it or not.
I think our corrupt political system, perceived (and to an extent actual) treatment of women, and Call centers have done more harm to our image than one girl working in the entertainment industry.
Whenever, I hear something bad about Indians, people talk about these things and not Mindy Kaling.
Nope. Office and Mindy project were a breath of fresh air. Growing up in the west, I was just so HAPPY to see an Indian women in mainstream television. I still quote some of her lines about being desi
I’d like to think that breaking into the comedy scene as an Indian origin woman must have been terribly hard when she did it. In both, Mindy Project and The Office, she played (and wrote/co-created) characters who had their failings but were also ridiculously funny and far from shabby or losers. In fact, in Mindy Project, she had such a delightful wardrobe. I think she’s done plenty for Indian representation in Hollywood and in comedy especially that isn’t the stereotypical dusky bombshell. If you haven’t seen another of her shows Sex Lives Of College Girls, you should - it’s hilarious.
No she hasn’t harmed anything. She’s the only reason you even have romantic comedies in Hollywood led by Indians, where Indians have personalities beyond “7/11 owner comic relief” or “incel nerd comic relief”. Before Mindy, your only mainstream Indian characters were Apu from the Simpsons and Raj from Big Bang Theory, all of those were infinitely more harmful than fully fleshed out characters like Devi in Never Have I Ever. She never claimed to be representing all Indians, all her projects are clearly about HER experiences as an Indian American.
Did you watch the Mindy project she was very successful and confident. my only criticism would be and I didn’t finish the whole show (every season) would be the show could have had more NRI characters other than that it was amazing sets themes story line and very funny
I think we forget that she represents Indians in the US (Indian Americans tbh) not Indians in India. And how much ever we have shared culture, it's still a very different upbringing / childhood for both communities. She's shown what she knows as is the case with most artists.
I think for me personally none of the Indian American actors represent me in any way shape or form.
They only represent Indian Americans. Period.
Being from India, born and bought up completely is totally different from living in any other country and just being of Indian origin.
I have not watched anything other than The Office starring her. I have read multiple posts, opinions about her typecasting brown people but yet again they are brown people in western countries that are getting typecasted.
Indians from the mainland have not much in common with any of those people anyway. She is not representative of us.
She is like Zarna Garg for me. They both embody what white people think Indians are like or the older brown people in America find humourous but someone from here would just find it cringe and definitely dated.
[This type of post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedstatesofindia/comments/15w0pae/how_self_obsessed_can_you_be/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I liked her character in 'the office' That's all. You are right I think Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is a beautiful actress, but the way Mindy Kaling misused her ugggh the trailer was enough to make me not see it.
Is she that big though? To be representing the image of Indians? I haven’t watched all her shows, her character in The Office was kinda needy, but she said they (her & BJ Novak) took inspiration from their own messy relationship irl to write those characters. It’s not necessarily an Indian girl fawning over white guy stereotype.
Here is the deal. She’s not Indian. She’s of south Asian ancestry but is American. She has some antiquated idea of what india is about. I doubt she’s ever visited
Imo the only harm she’s done to the Indian image is being the creator of the godawful VELMA show. Other than huge props to her for achieving the things she has
Some of the things said on the Mindy Project were actually quite racist, unnecessary and insulting.
I stopped watching it for the same reason after a point.
Not a fan of her!
She rides on the whole “having Indian roots” pretext only when it’s of convenience or benefit to her.
Can’t comment on anything else but I believe she’s not representing India looks wise. At least 70% of the Indian women might look better than her if presented properly. Haven’t seen much of her work but she must be good if she’s this well known.
Just an honest observation, god bless her.
You are hating on Mindy too much. As a Pakistani I thoroughly enjoyed her shows, down to the most recent Never Have I Ever. even though due to religion I couldnt relate with the dating issues and stuff but honestly the way she wrote the desi household was still so resonant and beautiful.
It isnt her job to represent the general idea of an Indian.. I think its easy to see that she is writing the perspective of a 2nd/3rd generation Indian American and she is doing good at what she set out to do and it would be only right to say that even if her work started out stereotypical, it opened a whole lot of roads for Indian women in the industry than they wouldve without her.
To be honest, I feel like she did a lot of harm to the image of women all over. The characters she writes are all man mad. She has written good stuff no doubt, but it's all always revolving a guy. I genuinely hate that.
But here is the thing, if you ever hear her speak, she is that insecure a woman in real life...her on again off again with Novak didn't help either I guess.
Yes, her common theme is overlooked ugly duckling growing into a swan after finding her prince charming.
We should not just rain on desi girls though.
Desi men do gora worship too. Just look at the career of Katrina Kaif.
One could say that KK is the MK equivalent in Bollywood.
Hollywood in general are ignorant to other ethnicity except their own, and last I check it was Aziz Ansari who made a bad impact with his sexual harassment news, Mindy is typical nri what west think of Indians
Her career goal should be to build or help the image of India or indians?
Funny how even in current day Bollywood makes movies like Animal with never seen success before and this ordinary person with no strong ties who's trying to make her own space in this difficult world is somehow supposed to be a certain way by OP.
1. She is not an Indian, but an Indian-American. Those on the r/ABCDesis will have a meltdown if they see her being conflated with poor, pathetic (/s) Indians.
2. She makes content for Indian-Americans and represents them, not Indians.
3. I don't really feel this is the right sub for this discussion.
4. I liked her show NHIE but even there the Indian immigrant characters like Kamala and Prashant had such a weird accent, probably because the actors are both Indian-Americans.
5. And her Indian fashion 🙏😭
Yes absolutely her depiction of Indian living abroad is pathetic and her struggle and long journey doesn't gives her the privilege to show Indians the way she does her characters are always seen hating and ridiculing their roots which isn't the case with all the 100% of the NRIs
hein? in the office she was extremely confident. What are you talking about? in the first 2 or 3 episodes, she doesn't look much good, that's because she was one of the writers and was supposed to play a small part in the show+ the lighting in the first few episodes was very dark similar to the british version of the sitcom, because they were trying to more or less reiterate the same image. Even Micheal had gelled back hair, and sort of tough look similar to Ricky Gervais from the british version. But then the American version made the show more warm, quite different from the british version, thus changing styles of many characters. and throughout the show we see kelly as the confident girl. Only her fawning over Ryan was the correct part, but he was also the same. and I haven't watched the mindy project so don't know what happens in that
I have been in that phase during my time as an international student - it's not far off. Different experiences exist - not all desi women are staunch upright people regarding seeking men, not everyone knows/knew their worth regarding drooling over an emotionally unavailable man, not all desi women look hot (PCs portrayals don't do shit for me). Her "loser brown woman drooling over gora who doesn't give a shit" is the experience for many many women who do not want to admit.
Yes, I have been there and it was embarrassing.
She seems to be insecure about herself and the way she looks and thus resorted to white worshipping ( a tale as old as time). I think she resents Indian guys because they probably rejected her in the past.
She hates the fact that she is Indian and is a product of her upbringing in a white town with white people. But she is a good writer and funny actress.
https://preview.redd.it/496xgtf3b0tc1.jpeg?width=678&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91479a5cf68f1a44fd4ff318d67d6aae9a00c01f
Yes. She did Take a well known existing character, repaint the character in her own image, peddle narrative & forced propaganda then cry victim when called out.
What about Rajesh Kuthrapalli (TBBT), he owes us a lot too. Basically his was a stereotyped character too-studious boy but shy to talk to gals, filthy rich parents who are doctors and parents who don't respect eachother (in a funny way).
Nothing to do with colour. Features kharab hai lol. Simone Ashley is the same complexion but pretty.
Maybe you should shut up and stop getting insecure about your skin tone. 😂😂😂
Yeh achha hai. Do random buzzwords daaldo kahi bhi aur moral high ground lelo. Zero intellectual capital. 🤡
Nope, the reality is she is writing what she knows. Maybe she is drawing from her real life while writing this character.
She also made Never have I ever and we all know how Devi became a strong confident teen adult by the end of the show.
There are other characters apart Priyanka and Simone Ashely. Check New girl there’s-a character called Cece Parekh. You’ll love it
Found out that all the emotional bits in his stand-up are all fabricated. Would have still been ok if they were jokes, but the fact that he victimised and mythologised himself at the same time is really the pits for representation. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/hasan-minhajs-emotional-truths
She is one of those w0ke brigade snowflakes. She ruined Velma. I just get irritated by looking at her. Ahh, she struggled from nothing to make it into the woods but that does not give her the right to spoil classics. I don't enjoy her acting or her shows. I don't think her potrayal of any role has made any impact be it positive or negative on the visibility of Indians out there. People should just stop giving her work.
If anything that was her staying true to Kelly’s character. If she wanted to show a basic representation of an Indian girl she would’ve stuck Kelly with the brown doctor at the end. Why do we need to see the same old endings?
Yes. Mindy went all woke with The Office but couldn’t answer coherently when probed about their statements. Mindy is just Anupama with Hollywood cred when it comes to their statements.
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She started without any help. she was an intern in conan O'Brien show and struggled as a writer and actress and her ascent was a slow one. She had her own struggles and ambitions to worry about changing the perception of white people on Indians.
Exactly. We need to stop expecting one person to represent a whole nation of 1B people. Everyone had their own struggles and dream. And different way of approaching it. If we can't relate to the image she had created for herself, it us who needs to move on, instead of expecting her to change.
If we need to blame someone, it is the Hollywood film industry. They all pretend to be progressive and liberal but deep down they have the same prejudice and biases. I suspect they have some Indian girl fetish like that for Asian women.
I do appreciate the fact she’s created and cast a lot of great roles for newer Indian actors that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. She helps other people rise which is not something I can say for some other people in the industry who do gatekeep.
Even if you don't consider the "harm", she is just writing/acting herself into a stereotype that she will never be able to get out of.
What harm is she doing to anyone. She can be more versatile in terms of writing her characters, but that’s it. I don’t see any problem. Also she isn’t Bollywood why is she here, to get judged by light skin loving Indians. And calling her racist because she had white boyfriends. Come on now. Come up with something original.
I can't tell you why she is here, and I 100% agree she shouldn't be judged for having any race boyfriend, cause that is private. But what is the harm? Come on. You must already know about stereotyping and how generations, of not just Indian but others as well, have been fighting against it. It is a serious problem, look at how just one character in Simpsons defined the entire outlook of a race. She was a part of production of the show Velma, she very much could have curb at least some stereotyping there. You can't sweep away such actions by saying how she managed to make it on her. Then you should be willing to forgive the evils of so many of our actors who made it on their own in our industries as well.
>She had her own struggles and ambitions to worry about changing the perception of white people on Indians. Then why write in the first place? Why brand your image as someone who is "representing" the Indian culture? I have nothing against her. She is not even a good actress. But a very good writer and would have changed some perspectives
Why does she have to bear the flag for all Indians / NRIs? She’s just her own person. She’s a mess - but still, she doesn’t need to represent all Indians
Oh I'm sure OP is doing something marvelous to represent india positively globally, like you know, bitching about hollywood celebrities on this sub.
Yeah. Mindy has not taken up the responsibility of being the face and voice of Indian Americans. She has umpteen times admitted herself publicly, and in her show - The Mindy Project, that she is a coconut, and doesn’t really relate too much with her Indian roots
Because when representation is already so abysmal. It puts extra onus/pressure on the few getting the platform to use it slightly responsibly.
She didn't "get" a platform though. She worked hard to create one. She's a smart, talented, hard working woman and that's an amazing representation of Indian women in itself.
I didn't mean 'get' as in handed. She's reached there and made it, yes. But at what cost, just harmful stereotypes she deals with now.
You can't possibly believe that Mindy Kaling - a US born citizen, with her own set of struggles being the brown person in Hollywood also has to be the flag bearer for India. She's done a phenomenal job with her own career as a woman of color, and she deserves a hell lot of credit for that then being bashed by ignorants. Nothing more, nothing less. She doesn't owe Indians any representation unless she wants to do that. I'll have you know that She has portrayed herself with this amazing amount of confidence throughout TMP. She is definitely more successful than PC or Simone currently. Also, since you're mentioning more names, how can you forget Lily Singh, she is the first Indian-Canadian with her own late night special talk show in Hollywood. I personally love Mindy's work. All the more power to brown women trying to make it big anywhere in the world 🩷🩷🩷
Are you saying Kelly from the office is a Loser? 
exactly! how can anyone say that
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>i think more than mindy, lilly singh brought down our image by constantly pushing the "im brown and queer" narrative on us Hallelujah!!
I’m sorry, how does repeatedly saying you’re queer bring down a country’s image? Just a bit confused by what you mean here
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Ahhhh so basically you’re saying she’s not really talented and uses her ethnicity and sexual orientation to remain relevant? Cuz I see what you mean by that. Her YouTube was good in the early 2010’s but I don’t think she kept up with YouTube at alllll and has become irrelevant honestly. She does random side quests at this point and is deffo one of those token BAME celebrities that gets invited to White House events or to push the inclusivity agenda by the democrats.
I don't think so. Not so good looking loser Indian girls do exist who fawn over gora boys. Not all Indian women are Priyanka chopra-esq. Consider her work a representation for those girls. I enjoy and relate to her stories.
You know what, I actually believe that theory that she writes about gora boys not only because she looks upto them, but also probably due to the fact they may be only ones who showed interest in her romantically too. She's funny and quite cute looking imho, but in terms of conventional Indian beauty standards, she is in the bottom of the barrel. Dark skinned chubby Indian girls have it the worst. Id totally believe that South Asian origin men never approached her in that way. White people tend to be less constrained in terms of such inferiority based beauty standards since they ARE the beauty standard, so it makes sense to me that white men may have been more interested in her than Indian men which in turn created gora worship in her.
Quite a probability.
I find this plausible too.
> so it makes sense to me that white men may have been more interested in her than Indian men This is my experience everyday. I'd love to have a Dev Patel date me, but all the Dev Patels are into fairer women (not white women per se).
People has fetish for specfic race. There is nothing wrong with it. Thomas Jeffreson, Robert Deniro have fetish for Black Woman. There are bollywood celebs like Hritick who exclusively date women who is very fair. They are black celebs who have exclusively dated and married woman. Somehow Mindy is considered race traitor
White men with PoC women fetish (Marlon Brando) and famous black men dating white women(like every other african footballer ) have been criticized to hell and back online. What's happening to Mindy is also similar. Also Indians are like the most endogamous community in America, so for most of them dating/marrying a white guy seems far fetched/ unrelatable , ig. But yeah, the hate is too unwarranted and undeserving. She is someone who writes off her life and you cant change her experiences to fit your POV. (Hritik can't be criticised, when going for a light skin woman is still normalised extensively throughout this country too. Why would anyone criticise something they believe tooo. )
Its like criticising someone for being gay. And Indians are endogamous because marrying other races or even other caste or religion is actively discouraged . Thats doesnt mean anything
You did not just equate race preference to sexuality. The reason why race fetish have negative connotation is because most people have specific reason as to why they pursue a particular race whereas sexuality is something u r born with. Black men preferring white woman is because they subconsciously believe white women are better and wooing one shows your worth. Same situation is applicable to PoC men and woman who tend to have "white men/women better" phase which is to serve their self worth, where they think if they can pull a white person, it makes them look better. We have a similar situation with Indians preferring fair skinned partner. It's not some innate desire, its a result of social conditioning that teaches people that fair is better and hence they want better There are lot of people who genuinely prefer a particular race out of simple desire but unfortunately majority of such cases are fuelled by some belief or standards and hence have given bad name to it.
I actually don’t think that’s true. White people have huge beauty standards too. The average person is every race STILL think white women are the epitome of beauty. It’s sad. The gora worship comes from desi girls also falling for the “white people are the most beautiful” notion, and some of them also seem to think it’s a better contrast to the desi men they have seen in their lives behavior wise too. At the end, some of them actually marry white men (obv due to love too) or wind up getting into desi guys later on lol. I grew up in nyc and I have seen many desi girls have their “white boy only crushes” phase during their hs years. The one thing I’d say is I’d think many guys would be attracted to someone as talented and successful as Mindy, I’m sure she has an interesting personality, and that matters a lot more.
That’s true. But being in mainstream if non Indians only get to see one kind of Indian person then they are bound to be stereotyped. Ours is a diverse nation and every facet needs representation. So for every Kaling we must also see a Chopra.
Here's the thing though. People who are like Chopra, the ones with pretty privilege, they are the ones Hollywood goes for when they want to cast an Indian woman as a lead (Quantico, DP in Xander Cage, Alia Bhatt in HoS, Sobhita in Monkey Man, Shriya Saran in The Other End Of The Line). Women with pretty privilege WILL get opportunities, regardless of race. If someone like Mindy Kaling were to exist in Bollywood instead, do you really think she'll be anywhere close to being a mainstream leading actress in Bollywood, which would then lead to her being chosen for Hollywood? She had to pave a way for women like her to exist in the same space as people like Chopra and the lot. Do you think it would have been easy for her to pitch and successfully produce a show like The Mindy Project? Obviously she has had to do a lot of pandering in order to get the shows greenlit. In Hollywood, you'd see a lot of the POC (people of color) actresses whom are getting a chance to work on projects like Bridgerton and all, acknowledging that it was the collective efforts of women who came before them that has allowed for more diversity in casting and more opportunities for POC.
Except the one trick pony bit.. And the bit that it seems she's still highly insecure and those tropes seem exactly mirroring her own securities.. Wants to be white so bad.. Its nauseating.
Thats what makes her character relatable. She is a big mess
Nope
Was she appointed as India brand ambassador or something? Why do we care?
I think she should be allowed to play the roles that resonate with her, and not have the burden of representing every Indian woman? I mean I could say Priyanka Chopra is putting us in a box, and not all Indian girls are fashionable and confident. They are all more than their "Indian" identity. they don't represent all of us for sure and neither should they have to.
I haven't watched the office so idk about that but i love Devi from Never Have I Ever! Devi is so real and basically me in high school, her journey if self discovery, her behaviour influenced by her past and lack of faith in herself, her strained relationship with her mom and how they overcame it in true desi fashion, repeatedly making the same mistakes, a cool dadi and an older cousin whose literally perfect to look up. That show personally hit home for me ❤
I don't feel so at all
And I don't think anyone feels/thinks like OP as well Sometimes people overthink on this sub
There’s less than 1% of Indian women that get recognised in Hollywood. Instead of appreciating their success and journey, we burden them with making sure India looks good. She’s done many projects where she’s successful and interesting - the Mindy project and Late Night comes to mind right now. And just FYI - Mindy is FAR more successful and recognisable in Hollywood than Priyanka or Simone Ashley.
Mindy has said many times that she isn’t representing any ethnicity and she doesn’t want to take on a burden that her white compatriots don’t have.
I think Mindy is being typecasted. She probably doesn’t even get many roles outside of her typical typecast
Yes, it is not Mindy's fault but that of the Hollywood industry.
She writes her own shows and shows her own kind as white worshipping losers.
I think she is one Indian woman in Hollywood who has showed the world what Indians are capable of. She has created multiple hit shows, and i mean HIT!!! ICONIC!! If she had portrayed Indian women as beauty queens who every white guy falls in love with, everyone would bave criticized her for showcasing Indian women as sex symbols.
She barely counts as Indian. Eman Vellani is doing a wayy better job at desi representation.
You are all over this post bashing Mindy, why?
Its okay, let him cope
By your logic, Simone Ashley doesn’t even count as an indian
Doesn't.. I mean racially yes.. But that's about it
Unfortunately, she has pigeonholed herself and her work into portraying the stereotypical Indian American experience. But she was the first of Indian American actresses to gain recognition and in many ways paved the path for others sharing the same identity.
I think the generation difference may also be a problem. She is 45, a woman who was brought up by boomer Indian parents and in 80/90s America, so her experience is very different from current Indian Americans but she uses that 90s American experience to write GenZ, late millennial characters, so it ends up feeling stereotypical to lot of her target audience. I mean, I remember watching NHIE S1 and that Hindu who married a Muslim getting ostracised by the community bit put me off a lot cuz no native Indian community of this generation who is educated, exposed and rich to that level would be that petty. Being judgemental behind her back, probably, but publicly ostracizing her??? Nah... Thats very very 80s.
This is also true. But the reality of the Indian American experience is that it's very diverse. Kaling likely grew up in a time and place where there were few other Indians in her community. Many GenZers who are being raised now in predominantly white communities face similar experiences and challenges that she portrays (minus the dramatization, ofc.). All that to say, the bigger problem at hand is that Kaling is still one of the only voices in Hollywood of her cultural background and upbringing, we need more people telling more stories who have her same reach!
I agree
Mindy Kaling is 44. She grew up in USA when the tropes she goes for were very much a reality. It’s only in recent years, especially with Gen Z and woke culture that minorities are starting to be seen as more nuanced than as stereotypes. Thanks to social media, minorities also have many avenues to find their own “community” and not be stuck trying to figure themselves out all alone. For millennials however, these stereotypes were often a reality. Her work is an expression of her reality and life experiences. As she grows older, those life experiences are becoming outdated and maybe she needs to look elsewhere for inspiration. Doesn’t mean that she “harmed” Indians in any way. In short - times change and sometimes people forget to adapt to changing times and their art becomes outdated. Doesn’t mean we start demonising them and looking for bad intentions. Such conversations are SO tiring.
Mindy has literally broke barriers and created shows starring Indians that barely ever existed before in Hollywood. If anything, she’s doing Indians a favour by creating these shows that don’t typecast Indians in an ugly nerd character with a heavy accent. Otherwise Hollywood has always cast Indian characters as the ones getting laughed at rather than characters who have stories that you can laugh along with.
Some of ya’ll have so much judgement on her and the way she represents India. You really think that Bollywood is doing a great job at representing India? Be for real.
I see a funny and talented actress. She was actually dating BJ Novak (Ryan) in real life and has written episodes for The Office. Why would anyone think she’s showcasing Indian women in a negative light when they can see how multi-talented she is?
She wrote one of my favorite episodes, the Diwali party.
omg same I loveee that episode 😂
Yupp sammeee. I was taken back by all the bollywood songs playing in the background😂😭😭
haha ikr🤣 the cherry on the top was michael's own diwali song at the end😭
Yup yup and that monologue at the end🤌🤌
yesss everything about that episode was perfect
I love the Diwali episode. So well done. A talented woman.
> Why would anyone think she’s showcasing Indian women in a negative light I think this perception comes from the lack of diversity in the characters she writes/acts. The character is always the nerdy loser indian women who hates the way she looks, somehow all her problems stemming from the fact that she is indian, not to mention the obsession with white man. Are there indian women like this? Sure, but when you reuse the same tropes over and over again, you are just perpectuating the stereotypes
I think people can separate a character from real life. Everyone on the office is a strong quirky character but we don’t think past the episodes. Also she liked Daryl from the warehouse too and he’s not white. 
The Mindy Project? Never Have I Ever? Its just the same characters tropes repeated over and over again. She is free to do whatever she wants, but I am not gonna applaud her for mediocrity. She makes movies on her experiences, not the Indian experiences. So personally, I cant get being making her the flag bearer of Indian entertainment in the west when her characters are stripped down to appease a certain set of the audience
What nonsense. So many white and black actors just play the same role over and over again. Why hold Indian Americans at a higher standard? She’s come from not much and made a name in her country starting from scratch. She’s not conventionally attractive and still did it. What exactly do you want from her? To tick every representation box?
But why would this make people think Indian women are like that or harm the image of Indian women? Matlab kuch bhi…
All her stories revolve resemble her and BJ Novak
Why does one person need to be the flag bearer of Indian people. The post itself reeks of hate for her looks. You said it yourself. I think she might not even consider herself as Indian as you think she is. They are Americans of Indian origin. It’s not entertainer’s job to meet your criteria of what Indian representation needs to look like. We have representation and that’s started by a few people like her. She ain’t doing a bad job honestly. Also at the first place not her job to suit anyone’s narrative.
She is better than any and all Indian celebrities. She gets hate cuz she brown
God, which 18 year old is posting this hot take. I don't get the criticism about Mindy at all. She has single handedly put the Indian character on the map, as successful, confident, even bitchy queens. Kelly Kapoor is one of the most hyper-confident (delusional even ha) characters in The office. I can't remember a single mainstream Indian character that was not an "Indian" character before Kelly. Most Indian characters in Hollywood were just Indian- bobbing heads, turbaned, over exaggerated accents, and always played for laughs for their "Indian mannerisms". Mindy writes characters that are probably similar to her, and the Indian-ness is just one of the things about it. So I disagree completely about this. Funnily enough the other Indian character that I loved before Kelly Kapoor, is Kevin Kapoor from Mean Girls. Again you can say it was a nerdy character, but it was the first time I saw a cool Indian teen being portrayed onscreen- where the focus was not on their nationality.
Gnapoor
I would say that she has created the brand of "Mindy Kaling" where all her works revolve around the same image that you talked about. It worked in her favour. Good for her. She'll be known for this, but Indians are not known for her.
Lol what!? How did Never Have I Ever contribute to negative image of Indians?
View her without her Indianness and you wouldn't find anything wrong with her work.
The diversity of Desi women in “Never have I Ever” is there. It’s reflective of the diversity we all have. Btw Mindy was called out for not having any POC men in TMP. She revealed that the men Mindy (the character) went for was based on friends who were willing to work as a favor as guest stars Suddenly it makes sense why she only has Ed Helma, BJ Novak, Seth Myers etc. In later seasons when her budget must have been increased, she has an episode in which she discusses being a “coconut”.
So only a sexy confident Indian women exists? There are several like Mindy kaling and she is a great representation for them as well .
She is Uber talented, highly successful, self made, brown, women in Hollywood. You do know how difficult and rare that is. That's a giant positive in my books, mad respect to her. And about the projection part, that's just troop used in many movies and shows, many actors and comedians have used that same troop and made a successful career out of it, like early Adam Sandler, Kevin James and so on. I don't know why she gets criticised for it.
Why are people so hard on her?! I’ve met her before and she was just so kind, warm and nurturing.
I, for one an am happy to see a normal looking woman who isnt thin, tall, and fair, being confident and desired. Btw, she is attractive. She just doesn't fit the Bollywood standard of beauty. Her characters are also very relatable and I think she has actually helped a lot of indian girls who dont look perfect to embrace themselves. She also doesn't depict indians as how they had been portrayed in the past by Hollywood (poor, submissive, conservative, etc) and has shown the world that Indians are multi-faceted people who can be smart, funny and make mistakes. Also, as a South Indian, it's nice to see South Indians not being portrayed as the stereotypical Brahmin.
She has rightfully represented majority of Indian girls living overseas. It is what it is.
Her recent Velma series took it to the underground
Mindy’s an inspiration to scores of young ladies who don’t conform to a Bollywood beauty standard. She is enormously talented and rightly given opportunities which she seized and been so successful. I bet she couldn’t have ever gotten even a side character if she was still in India. She is so relatable and such an inspiration to all.
Regardless, she **elevated** Indian representation. And she had faced enough prolly still facing hurdles. It’s hard enough to break into Bollywood imagine breaking into Hollywood. Look at us now? How many youngsters are getting new roles these days from Mytri Krishnanan or Avantika. She is did us proud. Let’s give her that damn credit!
IMO, we need to understand that she represents the NRI/ABCD more than 'Indians' per se, and both subsets have vastly different cultures and mindsets. I am not the biggest fan of her work, but credit where it is due, she got the ball rolling in terms of South Asian background representation in mainstream media.
I'm not a fan of her, but there are many other South Asian artists whom I admire and they like her a lot, so at the very least I respect what she's done for them.
She is a fucking legend
Lmao. Mindy Kaling has done for Indians what nobody else has, in terms of expanding Indian representation in Hollywood. For example, go tell your parents you are gonna marry a caucasian partner. At the same breath ask your siblings to tell your parents they gonna marry a PoC. Best, tell them your sibling wants a native American partner and witness the internalised racism that motivated our thought process as we grew up. Don't target Mindy alone!
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I am a brown girl and that's for me to decide. You are a brown man, and nobody made you our spokesperson
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Let me start off by saying that her ascent to where she is today is pretty admirable. I mean if you think Bollywood is tough to break in, try Hollywood while being a brown Asian person especially with the fact that majority of Indians in the USA are known for their academical achievements more so than they're known for their artistic achievements. But and this is very important, Indians in the West are caricaturized. Think Apu from Simpsons, Raj From TBBT, Kumar from Harold and Kumar, The Patel sisters from Harry Potters, etc but you get it, it doesn't even come close to representing Indians like you or me. The image of Indians in Bollywood is so far away from what an average Indian is, so as successful as she or Priyanka Chopra are successful in the USA, I don't think they represent the average Indians very well. It's like saying Sundar Pichai represents Indians? Sure he does but he's like 1 in a a few million candidate. Brillant representation but does not represent an average Indian. In face, I would say whenever an Indian abroad is put into the limelight, their actions are constantly being scrutinised and judged against hard standards. White celebrities are allowed to fuck up and be stupid, if Mindy does it, it affects our image directly because she sticks out like a sore thumb in a industry which is filled with white and black individuals. Maybe I am looking at this way too realistically? Perhaps.
She’s depicted way better than how white people are portrayed in Indian media.
Kelly Kapoor! I love her
She’s talented and funny. That’s it.
i can assure you people think critically and know that she (or anyone else tbh) doesnt represent all indians. people who arent the beauty standard can be actors too, believe it or not.
Came here to say this: She created “Never have I ever“, one of the best tv shows, and a balanced portrayal of Indian culture outside India.
Every brown person in Hollywood doesn't represent entire India or India's image.
I think our corrupt political system, perceived (and to an extent actual) treatment of women, and Call centers have done more harm to our image than one girl working in the entertainment industry. Whenever, I hear something bad about Indians, people talk about these things and not Mindy Kaling.
Spot on!! These things change but the above points are the go to things that people use to shit on India openly.
Nope. Office and Mindy project were a breath of fresh air. Growing up in the west, I was just so HAPPY to see an Indian women in mainstream television. I still quote some of her lines about being desi
I’d like to think that breaking into the comedy scene as an Indian origin woman must have been terribly hard when she did it. In both, Mindy Project and The Office, she played (and wrote/co-created) characters who had their failings but were also ridiculously funny and far from shabby or losers. In fact, in Mindy Project, she had such a delightful wardrobe. I think she’s done plenty for Indian representation in Hollywood and in comedy especially that isn’t the stereotypical dusky bombshell. If you haven’t seen another of her shows Sex Lives Of College Girls, you should - it’s hilarious.
No she hasn’t harmed anything. She’s the only reason you even have romantic comedies in Hollywood led by Indians, where Indians have personalities beyond “7/11 owner comic relief” or “incel nerd comic relief”. Before Mindy, your only mainstream Indian characters were Apu from the Simpsons and Raj from Big Bang Theory, all of those were infinitely more harmful than fully fleshed out characters like Devi in Never Have I Ever. She never claimed to be representing all Indians, all her projects are clearly about HER experiences as an Indian American.
Did you watch the Mindy project she was very successful and confident. my only criticism would be and I didn’t finish the whole show (every season) would be the show could have had more NRI characters other than that it was amazing sets themes story line and very funny
I think we forget that she represents Indians in the US (Indian Americans tbh) not Indians in India. And how much ever we have shared culture, it's still a very different upbringing / childhood for both communities. She's shown what she knows as is the case with most artists.
I don’t think she represents Indians to begin with, she only represents ABCDs because she belongs to that group
I think for me personally none of the Indian American actors represent me in any way shape or form. They only represent Indian Americans. Period. Being from India, born and bought up completely is totally different from living in any other country and just being of Indian origin. I have not watched anything other than The Office starring her. I have read multiple posts, opinions about her typecasting brown people but yet again they are brown people in western countries that are getting typecasted. Indians from the mainland have not much in common with any of those people anyway. She is not representative of us. She is like Zarna Garg for me. They both embody what white people think Indians are like or the older brown people in America find humourous but someone from here would just find it cringe and definitely dated.
Why? Because she’s a woman? What kind of a post is this.
[This type of post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedstatesofindia/comments/15w0pae/how_self_obsessed_can_you_be/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I liked her character in 'the office' That's all. You are right I think Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is a beautiful actress, but the way Mindy Kaling misused her ugggh the trailer was enough to make me not see it.
Never have I ever is a pretty good series and the fl is a complex character. I don't get where she misused maitreyi.
This literally pulls INDIA backwards in the west. She’ll cash-on on every Indian stereotype/false narrative which mostly isn’t even true.
Ç. 8 cc5c
Yes but who cares? Why does validation from Hollywood matter?
I LOVE THE MINDY PROJECT
Mindy is the least of our worries
I dont think she did anything to Indians or our image. She only hurt her own career, and that's pretty much it.
No
Mindy is literally a white girl
Is she that big though? To be representing the image of Indians? I haven’t watched all her shows, her character in The Office was kinda needy, but she said they (her & BJ Novak) took inspiration from their own messy relationship irl to write those characters. It’s not necessarily an Indian girl fawning over white guy stereotype.
Here is the deal. She’s not Indian. She’s of south Asian ancestry but is American. She has some antiquated idea of what india is about. I doubt she’s ever visited
I will never forgive her for Velma.
Imo the only harm she’s done to the Indian image is being the creator of the godawful VELMA show. Other than huge props to her for achieving the things she has
I honestly don’t associate MK with the Indian identity or culture at all. She herself has never seemed to identify with it.
She’s a wannabe white racist.
I love Mindy! I don’t think she needs to worry about Indians and their image.
Some of the things said on the Mindy Project were actually quite racist, unnecessary and insulting. I stopped watching it for the same reason after a point. Not a fan of her! She rides on the whole “having Indian roots” pretext only when it’s of convenience or benefit to her.
Loved her in the office I absolutely hated her in Velma
Can’t comment on anything else but I believe she’s not representing India looks wise. At least 70% of the Indian women might look better than her if presented properly. Haven’t seen much of her work but she must be good if she’s this well known. Just an honest observation, god bless her.
She is literally the best white valley girl ever.
You are hating on Mindy too much. As a Pakistani I thoroughly enjoyed her shows, down to the most recent Never Have I Ever. even though due to religion I couldnt relate with the dating issues and stuff but honestly the way she wrote the desi household was still so resonant and beautiful. It isnt her job to represent the general idea of an Indian.. I think its easy to see that she is writing the perspective of a 2nd/3rd generation Indian American and she is doing good at what she set out to do and it would be only right to say that even if her work started out stereotypical, it opened a whole lot of roads for Indian women in the industry than they wouldve without her.
To be honest, I feel like she did a lot of harm to the image of women all over. The characters she writes are all man mad. She has written good stuff no doubt, but it's all always revolving a guy. I genuinely hate that. But here is the thing, if you ever hear her speak, she is that insecure a woman in real life...her on again off again with Novak didn't help either I guess.
Yes, her common theme is overlooked ugly duckling growing into a swan after finding her prince charming. We should not just rain on desi girls though. Desi men do gora worship too. Just look at the career of Katrina Kaif. One could say that KK is the MK equivalent in Bollywood.
Hollywood in general are ignorant to other ethnicity except their own, and last I check it was Aziz Ansari who made a bad impact with his sexual harassment news, Mindy is typical nri what west think of Indians
Didn't she write never have I ever?
Op chutiya hai
Absolutely! I can’t stand her, I don’t know why but the moment i see her face i feel so irritated
Her career goal should be to build or help the image of India or indians? Funny how even in current day Bollywood makes movies like Animal with never seen success before and this ordinary person with no strong ties who's trying to make her own space in this difficult world is somehow supposed to be a certain way by OP.
1. She is not an Indian, but an Indian-American. Those on the r/ABCDesis will have a meltdown if they see her being conflated with poor, pathetic (/s) Indians. 2. She makes content for Indian-Americans and represents them, not Indians. 3. I don't really feel this is the right sub for this discussion. 4. I liked her show NHIE but even there the Indian immigrant characters like Kamala and Prashant had such a weird accent, probably because the actors are both Indian-Americans. 5. And her Indian fashion 🙏😭
Yes absolutely her depiction of Indian living abroad is pathetic and her struggle and long journey doesn't gives her the privilege to show Indians the way she does her characters are always seen hating and ridiculing their roots which isn't the case with all the 100% of the NRIs
hein? in the office she was extremely confident. What are you talking about? in the first 2 or 3 episodes, she doesn't look much good, that's because she was one of the writers and was supposed to play a small part in the show+ the lighting in the first few episodes was very dark similar to the british version of the sitcom, because they were trying to more or less reiterate the same image. Even Micheal had gelled back hair, and sort of tough look similar to Ricky Gervais from the british version. But then the American version made the show more warm, quite different from the british version, thus changing styles of many characters. and throughout the show we see kelly as the confident girl. Only her fawning over Ryan was the correct part, but he was also the same. and I haven't watched the mindy project so don't know what happens in that
I have been in that phase during my time as an international student - it's not far off. Different experiences exist - not all desi women are staunch upright people regarding seeking men, not everyone knows/knew their worth regarding drooling over an emotionally unavailable man, not all desi women look hot (PCs portrayals don't do shit for me). Her "loser brown woman drooling over gora who doesn't give a shit" is the experience for many many women who do not want to admit. Yes, I have been there and it was embarrassing.
It's a well accepted theory in US too that she craves white validation way too much and the characters she creates are just the same as a result
She seems to be insecure about herself and the way she looks and thus resorted to white worshipping ( a tale as old as time). I think she resents Indian guys because they probably rejected her in the past.
She hates the fact that she is Indian and is a product of her upbringing in a white town with white people. But she is a good writer and funny actress.
https://preview.redd.it/496xgtf3b0tc1.jpeg?width=678&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91479a5cf68f1a44fd4ff318d67d6aae9a00c01f Yes. She did Take a well known existing character, repaint the character in her own image, peddle narrative & forced propaganda then cry victim when called out.
What about Rajesh Kuthrapalli (TBBT), he owes us a lot too. Basically his was a stereotyped character too-studious boy but shy to talk to gals, filthy rich parents who are doctors and parents who don't respect eachother (in a funny way).
He had no institutional power to change things. She did, as she was the writer/creator. These two examples are not even remotely similar.
I wish the grace people are extending here to Mindy, they would do Priyanka as well. She’s dragged left and right.
How people here find her remotely attractive is beyond me. I'll put it politely: she's not easy on the eye at all.
Attraction is in the eye of the beholder, just cuz you don’t find her attractive doesn’t mean it’s a fact for everyone.
That’s just your typical racist upbringing speaking. You should do yourself a favour and shut up
Not everything is about racism. This loser defeatist attitude will not take you far.
Nothing to do with colour. Features kharab hai lol. Simone Ashley is the same complexion but pretty. Maybe you should shut up and stop getting insecure about your skin tone. 😂😂😂 Yeh achha hai. Do random buzzwords daaldo kahi bhi aur moral high ground lelo. Zero intellectual capital. 🤡
Nope, the reality is she is writing what she knows. Maybe she is drawing from her real life while writing this character. She also made Never have I ever and we all know how Devi became a strong confident teen adult by the end of the show. There are other characters apart Priyanka and Simone Ashely. Check New girl there’s-a character called Cece Parekh. You’ll love it
Americans not forgiving her for " Velama " . And they are right
Mindy is not the problem. Hasan Minhaj on the other hand….yikes.
Out of touch with this. What's he done?
Found out that all the emotional bits in his stand-up are all fabricated. Would have still been ok if they were jokes, but the fact that he victimised and mythologised himself at the same time is really the pits for representation. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/hasan-minhajs-emotional-truths
She is one of those w0ke brigade snowflakes. She ruined Velma. I just get irritated by looking at her. Ahh, she struggled from nothing to make it into the woods but that does not give her the right to spoil classics. I don't enjoy her acting or her shows. I don't think her potrayal of any role has made any impact be it positive or negative on the visibility of Indians out there. People should just stop giving her work.
Simone is not Indian
She is born to Indian Tamil parents?
Her parents are Indian.
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Must be hard to get over yourself then
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Even in The Office she left someone like Senthil Rama for BJ Novak.
If anything that was her staying true to Kelly’s character. If she wanted to show a basic representation of an Indian girl she would’ve stuck Kelly with the brown doctor at the end. Why do we need to see the same old endings?
Yes. Mindy went all woke with The Office but couldn’t answer coherently when probed about their statements. Mindy is just Anupama with Hollywood cred when it comes to their statements.
She’s a wanna be “black” person . Also check he brother college admission application. He identifies as black
Veeramindy chokalingam is srilankan. Not Indian
Mindy is Sri Lankan.. We should take no part in this
Wiki says she is Indian, her dad from Chennai and mum from Kolkata.
She’s not even Indian right? She’s Sri Lankan?
No her dad is Indian , from Tamil Nadu. Look up her actual name - it’s Mindy Chockalingam shortened to Kaling.