Buzzfeed’s Roundtable Discussion on “The Mindy Project” and My Thoughts about 90s TV
This is an interesting discussion on the representation(s) (or lack thereof) on “The Mindy Project.” I think Mindy Kaling as a writer, showrunner, and producer is a really interesting topic. I think she’s smart and talented and incredibly hard-working. I also think there’s a strange disconnect, lack of solidarity, or maybe even rejection of status as a woman of color/person of color (WOC/POC).
The Buzzfeed roundtable transcribed in this article makes some really salient points. For one, the conversation around racial diversity (or again, lack thereof) in the media in general and on television in particular acts like the 90s never happened. I grew up in the age of Nickelodeon’s “All That,” which, as this article from The Atlantic reminded me recently, consisted of an incredibly diverse cast not just in terms of race but also in body type, and featured more women than men. It’s unmatched by anything I’ve seen today.
Growing up, my family watched a number of black shows such as “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Family Matters,” “Living Single,” and of course “The Cosby Show” reruns, and it’s spin-off, “A Different World.” Now, “The Cosby Show” is The Cosby Show, and “Family Matters” was featured as part of the TGIF primetime lineup. Still I don’t know how wide an audience some of those other shows had. But I saw Margaret Cho’s “All-American Girl” before I learned that faces like hers were rarely seen on television. 1/3 of “Saved by the Bell”‘s 6-person cast were POCs. And “ER,” featuring Eric LaSalle, Ming Na, Goran Višnjić, Parminder Nagra, Gloria Reuben, and Michael Michele among others, (albeit, not all at the same time) was a Thursday-night favorite.
Yes, I’m probably waxing nostalgic about my childhood and thinking everything about the 90s was awesome (because much of it was). And yes, my all-time favorite show is The West Wing. And yes, I would say the WB’s whitewashed worlds of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”*, “Dawson’s Creek,” and “Gilmore Girls” were all more prominent during my formative years, as well as countless other shows that regurgitated negative stereotypes of POCs, if they depicted them at all. But I do think there were more diverse representations growing up.**
But back to race and back to now. Today, we’ve got Shonda Rhimes, whose shows feature more diverse casts with better written POC characters than any other show on television. I think part of Mindy Kaling’s problem is that Shonda does this so well. People (read: minorities) see one WOC breaking barriers and want all WOC in similar positions to break barriers. I like “The Mindy Project,” I really do. I think she’s really funny, the pop culture references tickle me, and I too want Danny Castellano to be my boyfriend. I’m so happy that her hard work has been rewarded with her own show because many people in the industry never reap the benefits of their efforts. And as Kaling herself will tell you (and has told you many times), she’s a WOC showrunner and that’s not easy feat. But there’s something about the way she bristles when she’s asked about the overall lack of diversity on her show. And it’s become more than blatantly obvious that her WOC Mindy Lahiri only dates white guys. As this article articulates, Kaling acts as if it’s as a burden that expectations are placed on her just because of her skin color. But that’s the burden presented to a female executive when it comes to her hiring practices; it’s what underrepresented persons faces in their well-to-do liberal arts classroom.*** And when she says her friends need to do a better job depicting women and POC on their tv shows, she’s right. EVERYONE DOES. But I wonder how often she tells them that.
Other good discussions revolve around the notion of “whiteness” especially when it comes to who can claim NPR, organic produce, and brunch. They also address the notion of beauty with regards to otherness. The article is on the long-ish side (by MTV short attention-span standards, not by The Economist standards), but it’s definitely worth the read.
*Maybe shows that feature monsters shouldn’t be included in general arguments about race and representation as it can be argued that they depict “otherness” in other ways.
**I will say that, overall programming for kids and young adults tends to do a better job of representing persons from diverse backgrounds, not just revolving around race. I’m thinking specifically of ABC Family’s The Fosters, and Switched at Birth right now, but I’m sure there are others and themes regarding sexuality, class, ability, and other intersectionality race can play on these is a whole other topic. And one that I cannot do justice at this time.
***I mention this as a WOC who by and large shied away from discussions about race and while attending Smith College. But I was lucky enough to be in an environment where other people were willing to make the appropriate argument on any given day.
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