S1E3 Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever: Representation Reprucussions

In what ways does representation matter in media and how does it fail us?

Aims at being “normal” yet pays special attention to race (Ganesh puja, gods, parents, arranged marriage)
- Stereotypes (the accents, arranged marriage, Hinduism)
- Self-hatred
- Anti-Muslim rhetoric (Modi, the lady from Ganesh Puja)
- Devi is a regular girl; not very realistic
- Seems like Kaling’s ode to upper caste Hindus
- Misses the nuance of culture/ double consciousness
- White washed
  - South Asia is large and vast→ can’t just be boiled down to this show as the end all be all representation but it’s sad bc that’s exactly what is happening
- Because of shows like this, people have essentialized views of both India and Indian Americans but we don’t exist in a vacuum
  - Why should we package a nonwhite narrative for the white mainstream? Is this to prove that we’re worthy of a white audience? Is selling out the only way these narratives can be produced? If so, again: fuck the system, utopian engineer this whole culture