The Mindy Project

[Ginger]

I just saw this week's episode...I'm getting a little overwhelmed with all the douchebaggy guys. Thankfully, Mindy's dj-fiancé is gone, but the new doctor is just like him, only worse. I hope to God they don't bring back Mindy's brother, it will be a triumvirate of obnoxiousness. And then there's Morgan, whom I like, but I'm thinking Mindy Kaling only knows how to write a certain type of guy. I don't often see guys like that still behaving that way into their 30s and holding down professional jobs like OB/GYN.

And now it looks like Mindy is going to be more of the straightwoman amidst all the wacky characters. I liked her more last season. And I'd also like the show to stop being overhauled week after week.

[mementomori]

I still like the show but it seems so diminished this season. I find the black nurse offensive & it seems she was thrown in as maybe a network note to Mindy that everyone but her is white on the show. The douchey guy pile-up seems to be because Mindy seems exclusively attracted to douchebags. Whereas, her character last season was an entertaining asshole the shitty guys fit less with her straight woman antics this season. I still watch but it's mostly for Morgan & Messina's Danny who gets funnier, sweeter, & more interesting by the episode.

[Ginger]

The portrayal of women on this show is becoming really problematic to me too. OB/GYN is a profession dominated by women, as is midwifery. This show has/had so far 5 white male OB/GYN's and 2 white male midwives with Mindy being the ONLY female among them.

The women on the show are now all underlings, and stereotypical ones at that - sassy black nurse, crazy old receptionist, loser spinster receptionist, and formerly, sexy Italian receptionist. Mindy's female friends seem to be gone now.

I know Mindy Kaling has said she doesn't think her show should be a tool to advance the plight of women or minorities, but I can't ignore blatant sexism and racism.

[mementomori]

Oct 5, 2013 13:40:05 GMT -4 Ginger said:

The portrayal of women on this show is becoming really problematic to me too. OB/GYN is a profession dominated by women, as is midwifery. This show has/had so far 5 white male OB/GYN's and 2 white male midwives with Mindy being the ONLY female among them.

The women on the show are now all underlings, and stereotypical ones at that - sassy black nurse, crazy old receptionist, loser spinster receptionist, and formerly, sexy Italian receptionist. Mindy's female friends seem to be gone now.

I know Mindy Kaling has said she doesn't think her show should be a tool to advance the plight of women or minorities, but I can't ignore blatant sexism and racism.

And let the church say Amen! Why would a WOC go out of her way to make the whitest, male-dominated show she could make? It isn't making the show more successful, the ratings aren't great. I've suspected for quite some time that Kaling isn't remotely comfortable out of the comfort zone of the demographics found in the writer's room of The Office. Mindy Kaling is extremely funny and quite talented but the show in its current incarnation is doing her no favors!

[Deleted]

I agree with both of your points, Ginger and mementomori, but at the same time I'm still enjoying the show immensely, so... don't know what that says about me.

[stina]

Oct 5, 2013 14:07:46 GMT -4 @madefortv said:

I agree with both of your points, Ginger and mementomori, but at the same time I'm still enjoying the show immensely, so... don't know what that says about me.

Me too. I am really loving the show this season. Probably my favorite sitcom right now.

[Ginger]

I still love the show. It's one of the few shows I never miss, and even the subpar episodes normally have a ton of great stuff in them.

But I am worried about the direction it is headed. The show has never been consistent, and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to follow the schizophrenic, work-in-progress nature of it.

Last season, I had faith that the weekly overhauls would improve it, but now it looks like network intervention is putting a damper on what I really liked (Mindy) while Mindy Kaling's bad instincts (her love of douchey, dude-bro white guys) are taking over.

[Deleted]

I guess I haven't really seen anyone other than Franco's character and the new doctor as "dude-bros" or douches in the traditional sense, though. Pastor Casey was kind of goofy and surprising in a lot of ways and seemed like a nice guy who really cared about Mindy. Danny obviously isn't a douche and I guess Jeremy kinda is, but he has his redeeming qualities and he's more of a Hugh Grant than an Ashton Kutcher. Morgan doesn't strike me as a "bro" either, he's often shown as being caring, sensitive, and a good friend to everyone. Mindy's ex Josh could have been a totally stereotypical character too, especially since he was a sports lawyer, but I didn't see him that way and actually kinda liked his character despite the whole cheating thing. And the midwives were all spiritual/new age or whatever, so they were different. And the other characters that Mindy has dated (Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Seth Rogan) have not seemed stereotypical to me... I guess what they all have in common is that they are white and funny, which I don't think necessarily translates to "douche." It's pretty clear that Mindy has a type, and it would be fun to see her step out of the box a bit (and maybe she will in the future), but I think the stereotypical black nurse and the downplaying/dumbing down of the female characters in general is a much bigger problem than Mindy liking white guys.

[Ginger]

I think what's bugging me is the way a lot of the characters talk and their mannerisms - all the inappropriate slang, like they are 20 years old and they are hanging out in da club. At first, the anomaly of professional people talking that way was funny. But between Pastor Casey's ridiculous sermon and everything that came out of the new doctor's mouth this episode, I think it's gone way over the top.

[Ginger]

Oct 5, 2013 13:49:11 GMT -4 mementomori said:

I've suspected for quite some time that Kaling isn't remotely comfortable out of the comfort zone of the demographics found in the writer's room of The Office.

I was thinking about this during tonight's episode. I felt like I was watching a half hour of whiteboy sitcom writers roughhousing and goofing off in the writer's room.