Never Have I Ever: Indian- American Representation in Media

Last Monday, April 27, 2020, Mindy Kaling's latest show, 'Never Have I Ever', aired. The show is loosely based off Kaling's own life as a Tamil girl growing up in America, and so, the plot revolves around Devi Vishwaukumar, a young Tamil girl growing up in Southern California who simultaneously struggles to deal with the death of her father and her desire for romance.

Initial Thoughts

Though the first episode was, for lack of a better word, cringy, I found myself hooked and binge-watched the entire season in one day. I don’t have many South Indian friends, but the one South Indian friend I do have did the same and we shared our thoughts on the show. I really enjoyed the show- I found it to be so different and I related to it more than I expected I would. However, my friend had a different opinion. She believed the show to be extremely inaccurate and not worthy of being praised as representation of South Indians in America. I chalked this up to a difference in opinion, as I suppose our lifestyles are quite different.

Backlash and My Final Thoughts

After watching the show, I logged onto my social media, such as TikTok and Instagram, excited to see the praise the show would get. However, I found the opposite. An immense amount of Tamil people seemed to have the same opinion as my friend. They believed that Devi, the main character, was essentially “a white girl in Indian clothing” (an actual quote from a user on TikTok). They railed against Devi’s whitewashed and selfish persona, stereotypical personality traits, and preoccupation with seeking out romance with Paxton, Devi’s first love interest. Another aspect of the show that viewers took issue with was Devi’s obvious hatred of her culture. Many people declared that Mindy Kaling, in creating the show, was only trying to cater to her Caucasian audience, and the show could therefore not be labeled as proper representation. I find this to be extremely untrue, and argued in favor of the show. I will concur, Devi’s personality isn’t especially appealing/likable. On the surface, she’s loud, pushy, and has a tendency to act selfishly and become self-centered. Many people that I’ve seen or talked to claim that this hurts the image of South Indian- American people, as the show is meant to act as representation and fails to accurately do so. I believe the opposite to be true. Yes, Devi may have some unappealing personality traits; this only aids our image. American media rarely represents Indian people, and when they do, they have the Indian character act as what feels like an extension of India. Indian characters in American media rarely have personalities outside of being Indian (Ex. Ravi from the Disney show Jessie and Baljeet from Phineas and Ferb. Both characters are stereotypical Indian boys with thick accents and both are labeled as ‘nerds’). It’s true, Devi doesn’t fully encapsulate what most might see as a true Indian personality, but isn’t that a good thing? Devi’s personality breaks stereotypes and [I believe] makes great strides towards better representation of Indians in American media.

As for her being extremely whitewashed and resentful of her culture, this was the most realistic part about being a first generation Indian girl growing up in America. While I was growing up, I was the same. Media rarely featured people like me (Apart from Baljeet and Ravi), and I quickly became uncomfortable with my culture. I made every attempt to distance myself from it through absence of religion, spoken language, etc. I was extremely ashamed of my culture and Indian identity, and I wished nothing more than to assimilate to the American culture. My sister admitted the same feelings to me upon watching the show. We are whitewashed as well. Many first-generation Indian- American kids are. It was really incredible to see someone in a show experiencing the same struggles with identity as I do, especially since most of my Indian friends seem more in touch with the culture than me. Not to mention, characters of color cannot possibly represent everyone. Devi’s experiences are based on Mindy Kaling’s experiences, and Devi is an extension of her. The character isn’t meant for everyone to relate to; she was meant for a certain group of people to be able to relate to. I was expecting the issue with her identity as an Indian-American female to be resolved at the end of season 1, but I expect the writers and producers wanted to resolve Devi’s grief at losing her dad first, and then focus on identity in the second season.

Overall, I thought Kaling did extremely well with representation in this show. I felt so seen while I was watching and I was so touched by the fact that I could relate so heavily to the main character. The diversity in this show was also incredibly. There was a mix of people of different races and sexualities without it seeming as though these characters were put in as token people of color or members of the LGBT+ community.