A Reaction To The Backlash Against Mindy Kaling

September 20th, 2012 by Guest Contributor

But I haven’t seen one critic yet say “I can see myself in Mindy’s character,” the way many described the appeal of Dunham’s Girls. Kaling works extremely hard to make her character appealing to the broadest audience possible, and she seems to do this in part by stripping the show and the character of any racial characteristics at all, save for one brief “racist” joke.

One of the subtle, but important things about Kaling’s writing is that her characters are simply people, who happen to be Indian American – never the token ethnic character; never a larger-than-life cartoon stereotype whose racial identity serves as fodder for cheap jokes. While there is more diversity on TV today than in the past, the Asian and Indian- Americans you see on TV are still often cast as distinctly “foreign,” and have thick accents and portray tired racial stereotypes that emphasize their other-ness, in stark contrast to the other white, all-American characters they’re cast alongside.

Her writing quietly makes a statement about race without needing to explicitly on screen. One of the most striking anecdotes in the New York profile details a moment in production when Kaling sees a computer screen on set at her fictional OB/GYN office, filled with photos of white babies, and says to the crew: “Weren’t we going to have some babies of color? We’re going to have all white babies?”

By creating characters that are just people first, whose race is not used as a punchline or central to their character’s storyline, Kaling gives voice and representation on TV to a whole generation of Americans who very rarely see anyone like themselves on screen. In an interview with HitFix’s Alan Sepinwall, she said she hopes we get to a place where her race, and the race of her characters, isn’t the first thing people think of. “I don’t really think of myself so much as in terms of being Indian,” she said.

In its own way, Kaling’s work blazes an important trail for Asian-American women in television. Asian women on television and film are typically exoticized, portrayed as either submissive, model minority or “tiger mom” types. Roles for Asian women on television are few and far between – but Kaling, by starting out as a writer and now as a showrunner, has played a big part in shaping more realistic portrayals of Asian American women on television by creating her own roles. I can’t think of another scripted television show – certainly no comedy – that has had an Asian-American female lead. Kaling deserves to be lauded for breaking down that barrier, for improving the way Asian women are portrayed on television – and she has certainly earned the right to be proud of such trailblazing success.

Kaling is victim to the double standard that most successful women face: people lament that women aren’t confident enough, but when they see a truly self-confident woman they tear her down for being “smug.” For what? For being comfortable, even proud, of herself, despite being different? For making her way to the top of an industry where there aren’t many people like her?

For women and people of color, the only way to make it in an industry where you’re a minority is to have an extremely healthy sense of self-confidence and to persevere despite all the undue scrutiny that you’ll face. Kaling has worked for and earned her success and is rightfully proud, yet has to deal with a level of criticism rarely experienced by men which focuses almost entirely on her “smugness” and very little on the actual quality of her work. Until we get to Kaling’s ideal place, where race and gender of TV characters doesn’t matter, the backlash she’s touched off only shows why it is so important to have more more voices like hers on television.

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Posted in celebrities, media, south asian, stereotypes, storytelling, tv, women of color | 53 comments

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  • http://alagarconniere.wordpress.com/ julia

    wonderful insightful article.

  • frizzgirl

    I adore Kaling, and I agree entirely that the backlash is unfair, but it’s not true that current Indian actors on television are generally portrayed with thick accents and an air of otherness. Although there are horrible exceptions like Outsourced (which was cancelled), there are a bunch of great current Indian actors on television, including actor/creators like Aziz Ansari and Danny Pudi, and Indian characters on shows including The Good Wife, Whitney, The New Girl, 30 Rock, and Royal Pains, none of whose Indian identity is the central subject. (I’d include Smash, but the Bollywood number was so ridiculous I just can’t.) The bigger deal here to me with Mindy’s show is that she’s the creator and the character is based on her. I’m really excited about what she’s accomplished—and hope the show stays as good as the pilot.

  • Anon
  • Da

    I can’t think of another scripted television show – certainly no comedy – that has had an Asian-American female lead.

    Um, really? Is the name “Margaret Cho” wholly unfamiliar to you?

  • Zasa

    Really appreciate this point for pointing out how women who are confident or successful are treated, especially minority women. If you act stupider than the “master” or at least diffident you are a “good” token example otherwise you are difficult. I still don’t comprehend why the only woman of color in the Spice Girls was named “Scary Spice” by the British press. Strong colored women are stereotyped or called “Scary.”

  • Tinkerballa

    I read Mindy Kaling’s book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m really looking forward to this TV series as well. I find it surprising that people find her hard to relate to. I read Tiny Fey’s Bossypants as well, and although I think Tina Fey has a better grasp on comedy, I definitely felt like I could relate to Mindy more. I’m sure that has something to do with the age. I think Tina’s great sense of humour comes from experience, and it’s something that Mindy will only improve in. Tina was the mom I wish I had, and Mindy is the woman I want to become.

  • RLB

    @eb23ea123e68bb0713041bc50a5b647d:disqus @64128fc279e9d51a08c011fed3c1b74e:disqus and All-American Girl was such a roaring success, too! One season 18 years ago, and panned by the Asian-American community!

  • Anonymous

    I still thought Outsourced got a bigger bad rap than it deserved. The first few episodes were terrible, but it eventually found a decent tone and became a watchable and average (not great) single-cam comedy. It was killed more by NBC’s move to 10:30 following the initial bad buzz. And to Outsourced’s credit, despite the white fish-out-of-water lead character, it’s one of the few shows ever on network primetime where most of the cast was asian or desi, and they proved to be funny.

  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t looking for the Kaling backlash, but I’m certainly not surprised that it exists. I hope her show takes off and becomes a hit. I’m tired of seeing the media’s image of the idealized funny woman be dominated by those who look like Tina Fey or Lena Dunham.

  • April Yee

    Thank you for writing this! While The Mindy Project may not be the best comedy on television, Kaling deserves props for all of the flack she puts up with on a daily basis, and for the class with which she deals with it.

  • Anonymous

    I really like Margaret Cho, she has opened alot of doors. Her show, All American Girl, was almost 2 decades ago! That’s a pretty pathetic average; every 20 years we get to see an Asian woman lead a show.

    BTW
    According to Mrs, Cho she did not have much control over the show.

  • Anonymous

    I got to see a sneak peek of her new show and it was great! I remember first seeing her hilarious bit on the 40 Year-Old Virgin, she was only on the screen for a few minutes! More power to you Mindy! I’m looking forward to watching as the season progresses and any to viewing her future endeavors.

  • Anonymous

    I got to see a sneak peek of her new show and it was great! I remember first seeing her hilarious bit on the 40 Year-Old Virgin, she was only on the screen for a few minutes! More power to you Mindy! I’m looking forward to watching as the season progresses and any to viewing her future endeavors.

  • Lee

    The Gawker article, though discussing her personally, also had quite a bit of praise for her work. the Awl article was self-consciously concerned about exactly what you are discussing, but ended up on “Anyway, Mindy Kaling? It doesn’t matter! Good for her.”

  • Lee

    The Gawker article, though discussing her personally, also had quite a bit of praise for her work. the Awl article was self-consciously concerned about exactly what you are discussing, but ended up on “Anyway, Mindy Kaling? It doesn’t matter! Good for her.”

  • Kristin

    There was plenty of backlash against Lena Dunham too, mainly for the lack of diversity that Girls portrayed, and for the fact that nearly all of the starring roles were filled by the children of famous people.

    I’m really looking forward to Mindy’s show. I loved her on the office and loved her book. I really hope her series does well!

  • Kristin

    There was plenty of backlash against Lena Dunham too, mainly for the lack of diversity that Girls portrayed, and for the fact that nearly all of the starring roles were filled by the children of famous people.

    I’m really looking forward to Mindy’s show. I loved her on the office and loved her book. I really hope her series does well!

  • refresh_daemon

    There’s also Samurai Girl with Jamie Chung a few years back, but… that show had lots of racial problems of its own. I’m also looking forward to Mindy’s show, and not just ’cause I went to school with her, but I like her comedy. And I wish her great success and hopes she puts together a fixture in American television comedy.

  • Zahra

    I believe there two others premiering on US television this season–Lucy Lui on Elementary and the remake of the old 80s Beauty and the Beast with Kristin Kreuk (which has definitely made her character Asian)–but in both cases the Asian-American/Canadian woman is part of a lead duo with a white man, and only Kreuk has top billing.

    Together with Meagan Good’s Infamous and Kerry Washington’s Scandal, these shows mean we’re starting out with an unusually large array of shows anchored on women of color, but it remains to be seen how many of them will find a viewership and escape cancellation.

    But even in this context–pretty paltry compared to the number of shows focused on white men–what Kaling is doing is distinctive, because it is comedy, because she has creative control, and because she’s a solo star.

  • syl

    I think its great that Lucy Lui is on elementary, a cool twist on a typically white, male, character. However, I think Lucy Lui is great example of the lack asians in entertainment. It seems only a few “approved asians” are allowed, and even then, most of them are considered c list.

  • jvansteppes

    Everything I’ve read about Mindy Kaling’s show indicates that it’s great, or at the very worst, had a shaky pilot that still showed a lot of promise. There’s no question that having her own show is a long time coming. It’s baffling to me that people would call her smug. She’s been gracious in every interview I’ve ever seen, more so than any other Office cast member. In a way she’s the anti-Lena Dunham. Kaling established her reputation working for years on a show in which she lampooned racism in a way that mocked racists themselves, as opposed to tweeting callous hijab jokes and writing articles mocking the way Japanese people speak English.

    The recent litany of rightful criticisms re: Lena Dunham’s racefail, Ryan Murphy’s all around problematic Glee, and Aaron Sorkin’s smug attitude and lady issues has me hoping that the tide is turning and people are finally calling white showrunners on their shit. Then again, SNL seems to by and large get a pass on their lack of diversity and the shitty writing churned out by the smug yet talentless Seth Myers and his team.

  • Anonymous

    I was too young to remember much of the show at the time, but the impression I got was that it was panned by Asians because it was compared to their (impossible) standards of what an ideal Asian American series should be, rather than accepting that it’s just one show where the characters happen to be asian.

  • http://twitter.com/eshowoman Friday Foster-ABWW

    The last and only situation comedy to star an Asian American was Margaret Cho’s All American Girl. She describes in her stand up how the show almost killed her. I hope Kaling has better luck.

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  • http://twitter.com/LEEandLOW Lee & Low Books

    Thanks for this. I have always been a big Mindy Kaling fan, and while I don’t expect everyone to identify with her characters or comedy style, some of the backlash against her has been really baffling to me. I mean, she may not be your favorite comedian, but is she honestly “smug” enough to actually OFFEND you? What does that even mean? Reading some of the comments at the end of the Awl article for me really drove home that this is, at its core, a gender issue (with some race thrown in), since the conversation essentially dissolves into the question of whether Mindy Kaling is pretty or talented enough to warrant her level of confidence (ex: “There are worse things than having a somewhat inflated idea of one’s attractiveness” or “Maybe she’s pudgy and non-white, but I think she’s objectively very, very pretty.”). She is a pretty successful lady, so what is so offensive about her level of confidence? I’m glad she’s confident, and can’t wait to watch her show.

    Hannah E.

  • Anonymous

    “Have you ever heard anyone call Chuck Lorre too smug? I didn’t think so.
    No white male comedy writer is ever derided for being ‘too smug,’ and
    most haven’t achieved half of what Kaling already has.”: I don’t think the problem is that arrogant white guys are never *called* arrogant white guys. I think they are. The issue is that smugness, arrogance, narcissism, self-absorption, etc., are not considered negative personality traits in men. They fit into the “male artist ego” myth (“Sometimes you just have to accept the narcissism that comes along with the genius”). It also fits in with our stereotypes of male power (“You can’t be concerned with unimportant personality flaws like self-absorption when you’re trying to do great things for the world”), and also with the tendency for male characters to be complex and multi-faceted, and female characters to be flat, stereotyped, and peripheral (when they exist at all). Audiences are *constantly* asked to sympathize with male characters and real men who are, frankly, total jackasses. It’s why I can’t watch bro shows like _Archer_ on FX (which my boyfriend loves – no idea) – you’re constantly being asked to care about the misadventures of some total immature, ignorant, emotionally stunted, self-absorbed jackass. For all I care, these characters could walk off a cliff. I don’t find such male characters appealing, but much of America still does (e.g., _Two and a Half Men_, _How I Met Your Mother_, etc.)

  • JennPozner

    Very useful, nuanced piece. Agree with everything above except I’d not lump in criticism of Whitney Cummings or Chelsea Handler in the same category, because their comedic instincts are often based on racist or sexist pandering, so criticism is deserved — whereas Kaling is an excellent writer and a quirky actress whose work doesn’t merit the criticism she is getting for simply being female and “other.” (Only other thing: Kaling may be the first South Asian woman lead on a sitcom, I can’t think of another, but she isn’t the first Asian American woman overall. Margaret Cho broke that barrier with “All American Girl,” the sitcom for which she was the lead, and was forced by the network to lose weight to play a role based on herself — but it was several decades ago and, sadly, not repeated since.)

  • http://www.facebook.com/afinemess Lauren Rife

    Thank you for writing this article. I couldn’t believe the things I was seeing being written about Mindy on the internet. The equivilent of a retweeted compliment? REALLY? I am a fan of hers because she is my idol. She’s accomplished so much at such a young age and it just blows my mind. A writer on The Office at the age of 24? How about the fact that she wrote and starred in her own off-broadway show at the age of 22? She is amazing and anyone who says differently is completely ignorant. She has worked incredibly hard to get to where she is today. But because she’s a woman she gets all this hate. Ugh, I hate this world we live in sometimes.

  • http://www.facebook.com/afinemess Lauren Rife

    Thank you for writing this article. I couldn’t believe the things I was seeing being written about Mindy on the internet. The equivilent of a retweeted compliment? REALLY? I am a fan of hers because she is my idol. She’s accomplished so much at such a young age and it just blows my mind. A writer on The Office at the age of 24? How about the fact that she wrote and starred in her own off-broadway show at the age of 22? She is amazing and anyone who says differently is completely ignorant. She has worked incredibly hard to get to where she is today. But because she’s a woman she gets all this hate. Ugh, I hate this world we live in sometimes.

  • Anonymous

    Interesting analysis re: Mindy Kaling. Mainstream media and the public has always been known to be fickle, first by putting stars up on a pedestal and then, the moment they slip, tearing them down and I find the backlash against Kaling to be no exception. I do see how the backlash against her may be based on sexism, racism, sizeism, etc. It seems like some of the folks tearing her down are baffled that someone like her could have made it this far in Hollywood, and the moment she starts to reveal a bit of confidence, they want to put that against her. I’ve even read in some places that comparisons are being made between Kaling and Zooey Deschaniel and that, between these two, Deschaniel supposedly has the upper edge. Maybe if her show becomes a real hit, there’ll be fewer critical reviews about her. With that said, I hope she stays away from those “Precious” type jokes, because even if she didn’t mean, she came out sounding racist in that instance, and I also hope she doesn’t make her show completely colorblind.

  • Anonymous

    Interesting analysis re: Mindy Kaling. Mainstream media and the public has always been known to be fickle, first by putting stars up on a pedestal and then, the moment they slip, tearing them down and I find the backlash against Kaling to be no exception. I do see how the backlash against her may be based on sexism, racism, sizeism, etc. It seems like some of the folks tearing her down are baffled that someone like her could have made it this far in Hollywood, and the moment she starts to reveal a bit of confidence, they want to put that against her. I’ve even read in some places that comparisons are being made between Kaling and Zooey Deschaniel and that, between these two, Deschaniel supposedly has the upper edge. Maybe if her show becomes a real hit, there’ll be fewer critical reviews about her. With that said, I hope she stays away from those “Precious” type jokes, because even if she didn’t mean, she came out sounding racist in that instance, and I also hope she doesn’t make her show completely colorblind.

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  • K*

    Actually, there was PLENTY of criticism directed at her.

  • K*

    Actually, there was PLENTY of criticism directed at her.

  • Sweetvegan

    First, thank you for this article! Yes, for some reason, people – both men and women – constantly feel the need to put successful women in their place, and that need is exaggerated when that woman is of color. Mindy Kaling is fantastically talented, and I plan to watch her show!

    Second: “I can’t think of another scripted television show – certainly no comedy – that has had an Asian-American female lead.” How about All-American Girl, starring Margaret Cho in the 1990s?

  • Juliana

    not from mainstream media the way that Mindy’s critiques have been.

  • Mickey

    I heard that she was nicknamed “Scary Spice” because of her wild hairstyle and “in your face” type of attitude. I even remember comedian/actor Sinbad make mention of it when he was interviewing someone talking about them and even he did not like that moniker.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mackenzie.gregg1 Mackenzie Gregg

    Kaling’s show is comparable, sure. It makes sense to wonder why people like it less.

    Girls’ appeal is in its honesty and willingness to deal with icky stuff, emotional and physical. While the Mindy Project tries for the same appeal, it overshoots itself with neuroses and incompetencies on her part that are just not realistic or attractive in a character who is supposed to be a medical professional. That is, Dunham’s character is a kid just out of college, and her screw-ups are understandable. Dunham’s drug addled journey in the pilot episode ends in her asking her parents for money and collapsing on the floor. Kaling’s alcohol-biking incident, also in the pilot, ends in her getting arrested and missing a birth. Much more responsibility, much higher consequence.

    It bugs me for the same reason that Veep bugs me: a show featuring a successful woman in a male-dominated field, in which the character’s serious screwups, conniving and narcissistic behavior lead me to wonder how she could possibly have made it this far. How are women supposed to relate to these characters? Do they represent some kind of developing archetype of the zany and shrill woman struggling for dominance in the office?

    Maybe this incompetence-humor comes from Kaling’s time at The Office.

    Also, let’s not forget that the show begins and ends with her sighing over romantic comedies and dreaming about true love. Almost every single motivating force in the show has to do with finding a man, getting laid, getting revenge on the guy that dumped her, etc. This all, of course, gets in the way of her career. So we haven’t moved past that charming little trope either.

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  • Dissapointed

    “Kaling’s work blazes an important trail for Asian-American women
    in television. Asian women on television and film are typically exoticized, portrayed as either submissive,
    model minority or “tiger mom” types.”

    .

    I just watched the pilot show and was very disappointed. I really don’t
    care whether she is smug or not but I am more concerned with the actual content
    of the show. For a show which is helping people move away from stereotypical
    views of Asian- American women, it actually reinforces stereotypes of other
    groups.

    There was a
    stereotypical character of a women with a head covering (which was refered to as a burka).I think it’s
    great that Mindy is attempting to break stereotypes that exist about Indian
    Americans but how effective is it if other groups are being misrepresented. By
    re-enforcing this characterization of the Muslim women what does the show hope
    to achieve? Is Mindy making herself seem more relatable to the majority white audience who may hold
    similar stereotypes?The other stereotype was a women from Serbia who was referred
    to as being illegal and was depicted as having incredibly bad teeth. Why was it necessary to have this type of
    characterization of this women? Does Mindy need to prove that couldn’t possibly be like these immigrant
    women covering their heads, having bad teeth and not knowing how to speak
    English! I had high expectations for this show but its
    just like any other white sitcom but with one South Asian character in it.

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  • http://twitter.com/Ellington3 Rhonda Yearwood

    I like Mindy Kaling, I loved her work on the Office, I loved her as Kelly on that show, her book was a fun read. As for her new show, it has potential but one thing that did bother me a tad was that she was the only person of colour on the show, other than the Muslim couple ( and really was that young boy supposed to be the husband/partner of the pregnant woman? he was so young and it creeped me out a tad.). All her friends and co workers are white, all of her romantic interests real and dreamed of, jilted by or longed for are white. I was a tad sad that Mindy choose to reflect that on her show.
    I do wish her the best of luck with her show and I do think that she is wonderfully talented and funny!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=48804036 Freddie DeBoer

    The point is not her confidence. The point is that gender essentialism and straight up sexism are played as sexy and “no nonsense” in the pilot.

  • http://twitter.com/blkMYmorris Michelle Morris

    The kid with thte Muslim lady was her translator. It’s pretty common for American-raised children of immigrants to be the interpreter for family members who don’t speak English well or at all. I was bothered at how all the other recurring characters were white except for one of the receptionists/secretaries.

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  • Anonymous

    You went to school with her? Wow, that’s cool! (Was she cool?)

  • Orville Lloyd Douglas

    I think Mindy Kaling’s success is very important because it will open doors for other Asian American women in Hollywood. Kaling deserves a lot of credit for working hard and fighting hard for her success.
    However, I think it is strange that Mindy Kaling says “I don’t really think of myself so much as in terms of being Indian,” she said. So what does Kaling see herself as then? I understand that on television some people of colour think we can move beyond race and pretend it does not matter. However, to ignore the reality that race affects the lives of Kaling an Indian American woman seems bizarre to me.

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  • Anonymous

    I have rarely seen such a level vitriol and hate launched at any actress. Comments online range from calling her names because she is not
    attractive enough for the commenter, calling her fat, lambasting her
    talent or simply racist comments because of her skin color and South
    roots I definitely feel that if she were a man (particularity a white
    man) then she would not be having this problem. Even for the Internet it seems excessive.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000709864513 Michelle Kirkwood

    Hmmm—-about Asian-American actresses leading shows, how about Tia Carrere in the late ’90′s action series TOMB RAIDER (a good couple of years before Angelina Jolie played the character in the movies). Funny how that one never gets mentioned, even though it did seem to be a pretty good show, and Carrere always got to fight and kick some ass, as well as look good half the time. Also, NIKITA,starring Maggie Q,who also fights and kicks ass, which just began its second season—I’m geeked about that!

    So far, I’ve watched THE MINDY PROJECT twice, and the 2nd episode I saw was a little bit funnier, but yeah, her show already been criticized for her not having an Indian-American leading man in the show (which would be cool and refreshing as heck to see) and just shown kicking it with white guys. The basic attitude on IMDB is that she shouldn’t even have a show simply because she’s not blonde,thin and white, her weight is constantly criticized. But yeah, she DOES need a little more diversity on the show—why has everyone around her got to be white,anyway? Seems to me sometimes like she thinks her show would be more popular if she did all those silly,privileged insults that these white hipsters do—-like the crack the white girl made about only taking white people with insurance—I hope she can write and showhorn in some other folks of color one day like that!