A controversy for some, Kaling relishes it.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Mindy Kaling is back in the news, although this time it’s for all the wrong reasons – the talented comedienne and star of “The Mindy Project” is the subject of a controversy regarding her recent photo shoot for Elle Magazine, which put her on the cover of its February issue.
The cover features Kaling in black-and-white, a stark contrast from the normally colorful covers Elle puts out. It also cuts Kaling off at the midsection, rather than showing her full body, which is what the magazine usually does for the women that grace its cover.
When the cover was released earlier this week, as it hit magazine stands across the nation, many took to Twitter and Facebook to express their outrage over the perceived aesthetic slight against Kaling. Many have said that Elle did her cover in black-and-white because doing it in color would have been less kind for Kaling’s dark complexion, and that the photo doesn’t show Kaling’s full body because Elle publishers think she’s overweight.
A dark-skinned, over-weight, non-Caucasian actress would certainly go against the norm for the magazine, which generally features the latest young, petite, white Hollywood starlet on its covers. Recent celebrities who have graced the cover of the magazine include Taylor Swift, Miranda Kerr, and Miley Cyrus. That’s not to imply that only white women are featured – Kerry Washington and Nicki Minaj have also been featured over the past year – but they’re exceptions rather than the rule.
Was the magazine racist? Did it choose to feature Kaling in a black-and-white photo to make her skin look better, so that she wouldn’t look so out of place when compared to the other models and actresses Elle has showcased over the decades? Did it purposefully only feature Kaling’s face prominently because it was embarrassed about having a slightly plus-sized woman on its cover instead of another size-zero woman?
Magazines using digital tools to brush up the subjects of its photo shoots is nothing new. Photoshop is an industry standard at this point, and it’s a given that anyone who is photographed by a magazine or newspaper is going to be airbrushed a bit and have their imperfections taken care of on a computer. What’s troubling people is the example such trends set. Elle is a popular magazine – it began in France in 1945, and came to the US in 1985 – and impressionable young women look to magazines like Elle and Cosmopolitan, see the women who are on those covers, and do everything they can to look just like them.
That’s where people on social media have taken issue with Elle, with most saying that the magazine sets a poor example for girls and young women across the nation, especially ones from India, south Asia, and the Middle East.
Surprisingly, however, Kaling has come to Elle’s defense, refuting claims of racism and standing by the photo that the magazine chose to run on its cover.
Taking to Twitter yesterday to discuss the topic, Kaling said “I love my @ELLEmagazine cover. It made me feel glamorous & cool. And if anyone wants to see more of my body, go on thirteen dates with me.”
Finding more humor in the situation, she also said “Wishing for more skin on my @ELLEmagazine cover? Chris Messina & I are naked on a brand new #themindyproject tonight, ya pervs! 930/830 FOX,” not missing the chance to plug her Fox TV sitcom, the first American show ever to be headlined by an Indian American actor.
Elle Magazine has not yet commented on the controversy, but given that Kaling has come to their defense, they might not even have to.
Kaling’s “The Mindy Project” airs Tuesday nights at 8 PM on Fox. Here’s a clip from the current season: