Blowing the dust off my Tumblr just to post this; wingedmonkey posts a kickass halloween mix every year and this year I decided imitation was the sincerest form of flattery, or something.
Kids these days like werewolves, right?
Tracks and link are under the cut:
Like most other dark skinned PoC, I was excited to see that a show featuring a brown woman, particularly a brown South Asian woman, would be premiering on Fox. I mean, we NEVER see dark skinned women like that holding their own on a show! I thought it would be a great step forward in American television and getting some Brown women out there representing.
Until I actually watched the first episode.
While I can only hope it gets better, I know from experience that first impressions often stick with a show (ie, how Legend of Korra got more and more disappointing with each episode). And the amount of problematic bullshit on this show seems to be proof that the only way for brown people to get greenlighted on TV is if they’re enforcing our culture’s racist, sexist, and etc problematic behavior.
While I love that the show portrays a Brown woman in ways that white women in a similar show would be portrayed (ie, just doing normal shit and going through normal everyday issues), it’s obvious this show tries to appeal to that white experience a bit TOO much. An example is how Mindy obsesses over white men. Her ex, whose wedding she went to at the start of the show, was white. She jokes that Tom Hanks (I think it was him; some white dude) was her “first boyfriend” as a teenager. All of her male coworkers (two of whom are potential lovers/romantic interests) are white. Before going on a date, with a white man, she prays that her date has a lot of features from numerous white celebrities.
It’s almost as if to make up for the fact that she’s brown, everyone else has to be as white as possible. Including her interests, her friends, her assistants, etc.
She also shows a bit of racism and Islamphobia herself when a Hijabi woman, who doesn’t speak English and has to translate through her son, seeks her out to deliver her baby. Mindy denies the woman at first on the grounds that she doesn’t have insurance, and after agreeing, grudging, to deliver the baby, she yells at her assistants for sending her non-insurance having immigrant patients. To which one of them notes, “Okay, more white people.” And Mindy practically cosigns on it!
Also, not amused by her assistant stating that Mindy wasn’t raised in the US when she actually WAS raised in the US.
And then the sexism, which considering how the show is, I shouldn’t be surprised. When Mindy seeks advice on an outfit for her date, a coworker, who seems to enjoy being a dick to her, tells her that she would “look better if [she] lost 15 pounds.” I mean, really? Really? This same asshole, after Mindy opens up about her frustration for ruining her date, asks if the man was a “real man.” And then proceeds to ask if the man can do all those stereotypical “man” stuff that only “real men” can do. All while pumping himself up as a “real man” because this asshole who tells thin, 31 year old women to lose 15 pounds is such a REAL MAN that ANY girl should want to be with (even though not cuz he’s divorced. Oops. What was that about a real man?).
And then there was the mentioning of Gabby Sidibe. When Mindy is trying to boost her confidence, she states how she’s not skinny (when she really is thin, or at least “average,” so she’s not someone who would face weight discrimination or anything), she goes, “It’s not like I’m Precious big.” As if our society doesn’t shit on Gabby enough, completely ignoring her incredible acting skills because she’s big. Even more disappointing is how she didn’t even use Gabby’s real name, instead referring to her by the character that made her known. If you’re going to spend the entire show talking about CELEBRITIES who you love and adore, at least use the actual name of the CELEBRITY who you’re shitting on. I’m sure if you were mocking Beyonce, you wouldn’t call her “Denna Jones” or “Foxxy Cleopatra.” Hell, not even by her other alias, Sasha Fierce! Way to just completely dehumanize a fellow dark skinned actress who has enough hate out there just for giggles.
It’s really disappointing considering how excited I was for this show. I wanted to love it, to tune in every Tuesday night and laugh as this brown girl dominated. That’s all I wanted. Instead, I got racist bullshit after racist bullshit, fatphobic (and even triggering) content, sexist jerks who you can tell will be Mindy’s main love interests, and more bullshit.
Yeah, that’s another show I’m just going to have to pass on.
I watched the first episode and I feel this review (not that the reviewer’s feelings aren’t valid, I’m just comparing to my own experience watching) lacks in its criticism some important context that the episode provided. Pilots are always rough since they’re only occasionally reshot from the version that sold the network on it; I’m going to watch for a few more episodes to see how some things play out. I know from watching The Office for several years that Mindy Kaling’s a solid writer and has some subtlety to her approach, so personally I’m looking to see where the show’s going with character development before I pass any judgment on it.
What context?
As a consumer, all I am given is this first episode. This is the first impression. What needs to draw me in. Every single complaint was fucking valid and reasonable. There is no “understand context” in regards to the whitewashing, Islamphobia, or sexism in the show. If there WAS supposed to be some sort of context, it should have at least been hinted to. And it wasn’t.
If you don’t like it then you should continue not to watch it! That’s up to you. Everyone (dis)likes different things for different reasons. My impression of the context that I’m talking about is that none of the characters who got more than one line of dialogue so far seem to be very good people and from my perspective, the show wasn’t trying to present any of them as such or excuse their behavior, except maybe Mindy (I don’t like the Mindy character much but I don’t have to love a protagonist to watch a show). I only reblogged your post because a friend of mine had reblogged it and put it on my dash, I promise I didn’t go hunting for Mindy Project reviews to pick apart.
Anyway, if the show doesn’t either introduce more likeable characters or fix the personalities of the ones they’ve got, I’m going to quit watching, too. But most of the things that seemed objectionable to me in the pilot, I felt I could wave off as kowtowing to the network enough to get the show picked up. Mindy Kaling got her own show but I bet she didn’t get free reign to do whatever she wanted with it immediately: she’s not a middle-aged white man, after all. I’m waiting to see what happens in subsequent episodes. That’s my last two cents on it, since I basically just repeated my first post.
Is this the part where I have to put in a stupid snotty gif to undermine any coherent and intelligent argument I may have just made? I always forget the rules of Tumblr.
Like most other dark skinned PoC, I was excited to see that a show featuring a brown woman, particularly a brown South Asian woman, would be premiering on Fox. I mean, we NEVER see dark skinned women like that holding their own on a show! I thought it would be a great step forward in American television and getting some Brown women out there representing.
Until I actually watched the first episode.
While I can only hope it gets better, I know from experience that first impressions often stick with a show (ie, how Legend of Korra got more and more disappointing with each episode). And the amount of problematic bullshit on this show seems to be proof that the only way for brown people to get greenlighted on TV is if they’re enforcing our culture’s racist, sexist, and etc problematic behavior.
While I love that the show portrays a Brown woman in ways that white women in a similar show would be portrayed (ie, just doing normal shit and going through normal everyday issues), it’s obvious this show tries to appeal to that white experience a bit TOO much. An example is how Mindy obsesses over white men. Her ex, whose wedding she went to at the start of the show, was white. She jokes that Tom Hanks (I think it was him; some white dude) was her “first boyfriend” as a teenager. All of her male coworkers (two of whom are potential lovers/romantic interests) are white. Before going on a date, with a white man, she prays that her date has a lot of features from numerous white celebrities.
It’s almost as if to make up for the fact that she’s brown, everyone else has to be as white as possible. Including her interests, her friends, her assistants, etc.
She also shows a bit of racism and Islamphobia herself when a Hijabi woman, who doesn’t speak English and has to translate through her son, seeks her out to deliver her baby. Mindy denies the woman at first on the grounds that she doesn’t have insurance, and after agreeing, grudging, to deliver the baby, she yells at her assistants for sending her non-insurance having immigrant patients. To which one of them notes, “Okay, more white people.” And Mindy practically cosigns on it!
Also, not amused by her assistant stating that Mindy wasn’t raised in the US when she actually WAS raised in the US.
And then the sexism, which considering how the show is, I shouldn’t be surprised. When Mindy seeks advice on an outfit for her date, a coworker, who seems to enjoy being a dick to her, tells her that she would “look better if [she] lost 15 pounds.” I mean, really? Really? This same asshole, after Mindy opens up about her frustration for ruining her date, asks if the man was a “real man.” And then proceeds to ask if the man can do all those stereotypical “man” stuff that only “real men” can do. All while pumping himself up as a “real man” because this asshole who tells thin, 31 year old women to lose 15 pounds is such a REAL MAN that ANY girl should want to be with (even though not cuz he’s divorced. Oops. What was that about a real man?).
And then there was the mentioning of Gabby Sidibe. When Mindy is trying to boost her confidence, she states how she’s not skinny (when she really is thin, or at least “average,” so she’s not someone who would face weight discrimination or anything), she goes, “It’s not like I’m Precious big.” As if our society doesn’t shit on Gabby enough, completely ignoring her incredible acting skills because she’s big. Even more disappointing is how she didn’t even use Gabby’s real name, instead referring to her by the character that made her known. If you’re going to spend the entire show talking about CELEBRITIES who you love and adore, at least use the actual name of the CELEBRITY who you’re shitting on. I’m sure if you were mocking Beyonce, you wouldn’t call her “Denna Jones” or “Foxxy Cleopatra.” Hell, not even by her other alias, Sasha Fierce! Way to just completely dehumanize a fellow dark skinned actress who has enough hate out there just for giggles.
It’s really disappointing considering how excited I was for this show. I wanted to love it, to tune in every Tuesday night and laugh as this brown girl dominated. That’s all I wanted. Instead, I got racist bullshit after racist bullshit, fatphobic (and even triggering) content, sexist jerks who you can tell will be Mindy’s main love interests, and more bullshit.
Yeah, that’s another show I’m just going to have to pass on.
I watched the first episode and I feel this review (not that the reviewer’s feelings aren’t valid, I’m just comparing to my own experience watching) lacks in its criticism some important context that the episode provided. Pilots are always rough since they’re only occasionally reshot from the version that sold the network on it; I’m going to watch for a few more episodes to see how some things play out. I know from watching The Office for several years that Mindy Kaling’s a solid writer and has some subtlety to her approach, so personally I’m looking to see where the show’s going with character development before I pass any judgment on it.
(via rob-anybody)
moment of silence .
OH MY GOD?
I FEEL LIKE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO SHIP THEM
ETHAN AND AIDEN CEST
What do you mean are going?
My money’s on people ALREADY shipping them.
dear lord above thank you Jeff Davis for giving us this opportunity for this lovely incest
I don’t even know what they look like but I already ship them, come on.
I know what they look like. They’re cis dudes and they’re white.
#look it’s not like i don’t love a good incest ship with the rest of you degenerates #but like. we have a LOT OF WHITE DUDES on teen wolf. a LOT. #i am not sure how many more in a single fandom i can drum up interest for #without passing out from sheer boredom #so here is what i am prepared to have happen next season: #there will be some new ladies but they’ll be in the alpha pack so they’ll be evil #probably the ladies will be white #if they are not white their chances of dying by the end of the season are greater by about a zillion percent #there will be sexy twins and they will be white#probably ms. morrell will die because there is nobody easier to kill than a black woman #i will keep watching because i really fucking love the show and i have problems letting go of things #… yeah. #and of course hey if i’m wrong about any of these things it will be such a lovely surprise #and i will have NO PROBLEM celebrating my own wrongitude #once more i appear to have lost control of my tags#ah well
I co-sign. I love the show and its characters, but all its characters of color are token or magical, and I have no faith that the twins will be something new and different. They’ll be white dudes that fandom will fawn over and write endless fic for, and I’m going to lose interest and move onto another show that doesn’t treat people of color like background or magic.
I’m hoping to be proven wrong (and if I’m wrong, you can totally post eye-rolling gifs and tag me in them), but I somehow doubt I will be. This show is a gift for everyone except people who look like me.
On top of all those wonderful points made (also how many identical twin acting duos are there? Are these characters going to end up being played by the Ashmores? Because those dudes are starting to look solidly thirtyish, just saying), the description for these characters reads like fanfic OCs and I will never stop laughing.
Source: brienodylan
roseandthebeast replied to your post: Robanybody posted poutine foodporn and now I want good poutine but I don’t know where to find any
I hate moving away from home and not being able to find poutine. it’s pretty much a great tragedy.
I heard there’s a decent place for it in the town I live adjacent to, but I haven’t investigated it yet.
rob-anybody replied to your post: Robanybody posted poutine foodporn and now I want good poutine but I don’t know where to find any
I wish you were close by so we could drive into Quebec and raid them for poutine. :(
Montreal so ruined me for poutine, man.
Joan Jett by Bob Gruen, 1976.
The amazing thing is that Joan Jett in 2012 looks pretty much the same. Pretty sure she made a deal with a demon to look young and rock hard forever.
(via rob-anybody)
Source: superseventies
..yeah I never *ever* understood why I was supposed to sympathize with Danny and Steve here. I mean, yes, PLinkoff made a purposefully dumb-sounding superhero so he could be like HAHA LOOK A NERD LET’S LAUGH AT THE NERDY NERD WITH HIS NERDERY but seriously, if I’m enthusiastic about something and my friends/colleagues are looking at me like Steve and Danny are looking at Max right here? I punch them in the nads. Because that’s fucking asshole behavior.
IDK, that’s almost every conversation I have with 80% of my friends/colleagues. Most of them are pretty mainstream, so when, for example, I go see The Avengers 3 times in 24 hours or geek out about NOVA episodes, or about using flashlights in space, or about the Solar System (GUYS SO COOL), or talk about having Star Trek marathons, I get those looks exactly.
I used to apologize, or laugh and say that I knew I was geeky and be really self-effacing about it, but for the last few years I’ve been having Max’s reaction. When confronted with the blank looks, I meet them with incredulity and mild disappointment, because being a geek/nerd/fan isn’t something to apologize for, and we’re going to get those looks, so I’d rather respond with the “I refuse to see that there’s anything wrong with me, but seriously, the fuck is up with you not knowing this shit?” reaction. Because seriously. How can they not know this shit but expect me to have watched The Notebook?
And the nice thing is, having that reaction seems to wear people down. The other day I was talking about that NOVA episode where they were explaining magnetorheological fluid and how they’re working on incorporating it into buildings and bridges and one of my coworkers said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it’s awesome that it makes you that happy.” Hardly anyone batted an eyelash when I took the days around The Hobbit off (because The Avengers is one thing, but this is Peter Jackson).
But yeah, if they continued to be assholes, I’m all for nad-punching.
Totally agreed, this is my life too. If I start talking about Star Wars and I get the down-the-nose look from people who are proud to have never seen fucking Star Wars, I just stare at them sadly and ask them how they go through life without experiencing awesome and pivotal AND REALLY KIND OF OLD things like Star Wars and yet make noises of outrage at me because I have no opinion on whatever the current season is of America’s Got Talent.
I can’t nad-punch these people for missing out on pivotal classic entertainment, I have to work with them. But you do wear them down eventually. Eventually they have something knowledgeable to say about one of my Star Wars t-shirts and then we bro-hug and go skip through daisies and discuss our love of Han Solo and/or Captain America’s amazing butt.
Source: officerkalakaua
Submitted by http://lennonmccartneyharket.tumblr.com/
The number one reason I never finish goddamn anything.
Source: fyeahaspiringauthorbat![leupagus:
thinkbyfeeling:
leupagus:
thinkbyfeeling:
leupagus:
theatlantic:
What Does the Beer You Drink Say About Your Politics?
[Image: National Journal]
…but I thought Sam Adams was always a good decision?
The dot representing every Molson product (I can name about six, three of which have their own dot on this chart already as they’re made by the Coors label) would indicate that Canadians, whose favourite national beer is probably Molson Canadian, are high-turnout democrats.
We’ve got a majority right-wing government right now and our voter turnout’s been under 60% for the last 5+ elections.
Um, honey, they’re talking about America, here.
If their findings have any scientific merit then why should they turn out any different in Canada? We have 90% of these beers and 100% of your culture and media. LEAVE ME TO MY HOLE-POKING, WOMAN.
Because they are DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, you snowflake. There’s actually quite a lot of difference, believe it or not.
Oh my god we are now having an internet argument about an idiotic chart from The Atlantic, of all things. I’m going to go watch more Parks and Rec!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb2d84uQ7r1qcokc4o1_500.png)
What Does the Beer You Drink Say About Your Politics?
[Image: National Journal]
…but I thought Sam Adams was always a good decision?
The dot representing every Molson product (I can name about six, three of which have their own dot on this chart already as they’re made by the Coors label) would indicate that Canadians, whose favourite national beer is probably Molson Canadian, are high-turnout democrats.
We’ve got a majority right-wing government right now and our voter turnout’s been under 60% for the last 5+ elections.
Um, honey, they’re talking about America, here.
If their findings have any scientific merit then why should they turn out any different in Canada? We have 90% of these beers and 100% of your culture and media. LEAVE ME TO MY HOLE-POKING, WOMAN.
Because they are DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, you snowflake. There’s actually quite a lot of difference, believe it or not.
Oh my god we are now having an internet argument about an idiotic chart from The Atlantic, of all things. I’m going to go watch more Parks and Rec!
Source: The Atlantic
