Stereotypes In Aziz Ansari's 'Dev'
combats the dominant narrative and stereotype Hollywood uses against south Asian men where they typically appear desexualized and weak. Anush at a glance is simply obsessed with working out, but really challenges stereotypes and underrepresented groups of Indians. The discourses in dominance provide insight to a culture that is inclined to carry out its classifications of the social, political and cultural world. As Dev and the executive discuss their dilemma about the undeclared rule that there cannot be more than one Indian on the show, in fear that it will considered as an ‘Indian show’ and won’t be branded for the mainstream, implying that it might not be for white people. This scene introduces how societal discourses are ordered by dominant
…show more content…
It is not likely for a white male showrunner to gain an interest or care about issued showcased on “Indians on TV”. Members of minorities are more inclined to be finely attuned to their own media representation than those who are outside of those minorities would not care for or notice. The issue of tokenism is also brought to light, but Master of None recognizes that by throwing in one Indian character in the show does not constitute as diversity. The issue with tokenism is that stereotypical roles of that one minority character can tie into larger political policies and structures, heavily relying on a sense of otherness. From racism and representation through stereotypes can lead to extreme offensive assumptions, taking muslims as an example, and their politics, religion and traditions in relation to the United States. The “Other” represent stereotypical groups, and can classify any other group as either desirable or dangerous because it’s exotic. Oftentimes there exists a long history of representing others in problematic ways. Race plays a significant role in the show but only because it has affected Dev’s life. He was asked to do an Indian accent, but mainly because of the absence of representation, and in his refusal to do so is supporting the fact that the accent is providing a present of distorted representation which ultimately denies people and groups a part of the dominant culture and their
It is not likely for a white male showrunner to gain an interest or care about issued showcased on “Indians on TV”. Members of minorities are more inclined to be finely attuned to their own media representation than those who are outside of those minorities would not care for or notice. The issue of tokenism is also brought to light, but Master of None recognizes that by throwing in one Indian character in the show does not constitute as diversity. The issue with tokenism is that stereotypical roles of that one minority character can tie into larger political policies and structures, heavily relying on a sense of otherness. From racism and representation through stereotypes can lead to extreme offensive assumptions, taking muslims as an example, and their politics, religion and traditions in relation to the United States. The “Other” represent stereotypical groups, and can classify any other group as either desirable or dangerous because it’s exotic. Oftentimes there exists a long history of representing others in problematic ways. Race plays a significant role in the show but only because it has affected Dev’s life. He was asked to do an Indian accent, but mainly because of the absence of representation, and in his refusal to do so is supporting the fact that the accent is providing a present of distorted representation which ultimately denies people and groups a part of the dominant culture and their