While watching "Master of None," a Netflix series created by Indian-American comedian Aziz Ansari (very funny -- I highly recommend), I was intrigued by Ansari's social commentary on the way minorities, specifically Indians, are portrayed in television. In a straightforwardly titled episode, "Indians on TV," Ansari navigates the difficulties of being an Indian actor. When Ansari's character, Dev, doesn't get the role he wants because he refuses to fake an Indian accent (in place of his very American, New York accent), he is shocked at the stereotypical roles Indians play in television. Whenever his agent finds him a role, he is denied the part because he refuses to perform as a stereotype, for roles such as an Indian cab driver. At one point in the episode, Dev and his friend, who is also Indian, both try out for a television show about three best friends. To Dev's dismay, they are not both casted because the producers said there can't be two Indian guys, because then the show would seem like a show about Indian friends. This specific part is a great example of symbolic annihilation. As Dev soon realizes, Indians are not commonly portrayed in media, but when they are, they are trivialized and stereotyped.
Throughout the episode, Ansari describes what we discussed in class as Cultivation Theory. In "Growing Up With Television," the authors described cultivation as "the independent contribution television viewing makes to audience members' conceptions of social reality"(35). From this article and the cultivation analysis by Susannah R. Stern, it is clear that from a young age, people are influenced by what they see on television. And, not only are minorities not usually portrayed in television, but when they are, they are stereotyped. When Dev and his friend are told they cannot be in the television show about the three best friends, it is because they are both Indian. On the contrary, two caucasian men would never be told they couldn't be on the same show because they are both white.
In this clip, Dev is talking to a friend about the lack of Indian representation in the movie industry.
I think that Master of None is a great example of a current show that has sought to break some of the racial social norms in the television industry. Ansari's blunt wit seeks to capture the difficulty of being an American Indian both in the film industry and in his everyday life. Another scene I think sheds light on Indians being trivialized and stereotyped in a typical social setting is in the season finale, where Dev brings his girlfriend, Rachel, who is white, to a wedding and introduces her to the father of the bride, Mr. Ryan. Immediately after introducing herself, Mr. Ryan says, “Oh that’s nice. I love seeing ethnically mixed couples. You too are beautiful together. Had you ever dated an ethnic before this, Rachel?” In this instance, Ansari is exhibiting his comedic social commentary to display this idea that this is what a stereotypical older, white male would be thinking when meeting a mixed race couple- a social norm that has seen true in Ansari's personal life far too many times.
I think that Master of None is a great example of a current show that has sought to break some of the racial social norms in the television industry. Ansari's blunt wit seeks to capture the difficulty of being an American Indian both in the film industry and in his everyday life. Another scene I think sheds light on Indians being trivialized and stereotyped in a typical social setting is in the season finale, where Dev brings his girlfriend, Rachel, who is white, to a wedding and introduces her to the father of the bride, Mr. Ryan. Immediately after introducing herself, Mr. Ryan says, “Oh that’s nice. I love seeing ethnically mixed couples. You too are beautiful together. Had you ever dated an ethnic before this, Rachel?” In this instance, Ansari is exhibiting his comedic social commentary to display this idea that this is what a stereotypical older, white male would be thinking when meeting a mixed race couple- a social norm that has seen true in Ansari's personal life far too many times.
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