Mindy Kaling. Whether you know for her role on “The Office” as Kelly Kapoor or as Dr. Mindy Lahiri on her own show “The Mindy Project,” she continues to be one of Hollywood’s best entertainers today, and if you haven’t read both of her books yet, you’re seriously missing out. I started binge-watching “The Mindy Project” a couple of days ago (I’m already on season 4, by the way), and I’m already in love with Dr. Lahiri’s outgoing, down-to-earth personality. I aspire to become her in 10 years: a strong, independent doctor with an insane work ethic and a longing for a stable romantic relationship after establishing a career.
We can’t forget, however, that Dr. Lahiri is Kaling’s brainchild -- and it shows. Kaling leaves a piece of her heart with Dr. Lahiri, one of the head honchos at Shulman & Associates.
Dr. Lahiri has Kaling’s blunt honesty. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind, no matter how bitter the truth is. Like Kaling, Dr. Lahiri is comfortable in her own skin. She is ready to embarrass herself in front of everybody in order to rescue her friends from trouble. Kaling often talks about her weight, and she embraces it, both on and off screen. She isn’t afraid to convey her undying love for food. That is because of her confidence. She is so comfortable with herself that she is able to make fun of herself on screen.
Kaling has also passed down her persistence. As a woman of Indian descent, Kaling has often struggled with both racist and sexist backlash in Hollywood, but through her perseverance, she has been able to distinguish herself as one of the most successful women in entertainment today. She even has her own show. Lahiri has faced her share of discrimination in the workplace, as well. Since she shares her own medical practice with two other white men, Lahiri and her ideas are often ignored and overlooked. Yet, when her co-owners deliberately shut her out, Lahiri doesn’t just hang up her white coat and saunter out. Instead of asking herself “Why me?” when things turn sour, Lahiri asks herself “Why not me?” and solves her problems with effort and hard work. She eventually saves the practice from almost going out of business and is even recognized for her work by her partners, defying expectations and proving the world wrong.
Now, I’ll admit that Mindy’s show has some diversity issues. Yes, 80% of the characters on “The Mindy Project” are white. Yes, Mindy’s character mainly dates white guys. Nevertheless, Kaling and her character on “The Mindy Project” have opened doors for South Asians in Hollywood and beyond.
Hollywood has constantly treated South Asians as extraneous outsiders and sidekicks. The “tech support” nerd. The jolly cab driver. The 7/11 convenient store owner. Thanks to bad writing and underrepresentation, Hollywood’s recognition of South Asians -- or of any minority, for that matter -- has only consisted of racially offensive stock characters.
Kaling, however, diverges from the mold Hollywood has created for her with “The Mindy Project.” Mindy Lahiri is a smart, Ivy League-educated, Indian-American OB-GYN. She is quirky, frenzied, and even borderline neurotic. Her parents share a strong, beautiful relationship years after their arranged marriage. Her younger brother, a valedictorian at Stanford University, pursues his aspirations of becoming a rapper. She is engaged to her Italian-American colleague and even has a baby out of wedlock.
“The Mindy Project” is just the beginning. Kaling -- along with Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn, Freida Pinto, and Parminder Nagra -- has challenged Hollywood’s perceptions of the South Asian minority. This is why shows like “The Mindy Project,” “Master of None,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Jane the Virgin,” and “Empire” are so important. They continue to debunk the prejudiced perceptions that minorities can be cast aside and forgotten. We’ve come a long way since Apu from “The Simpsons” -- let’s keep moving forward.
