Kaling is definitely not ‘invisible’ in the US.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Indian American actor Mindy Kaling headlined a wonderfully comedic advertisement during Super Bowl XLIX depicting her as a woman who believes she has become — quite literally — invisible.
The advertisement begins with the comedian being ignored while attempting to hail a taxi, after which the narrator announces that Mindy Kaling “might actually be invisible.”
Kaling can then be seen engaging in a variety of hilarious activities, such as eating ice cream right out of the carton at the supermarket, doing naked stretching exercise in the park, walking straight through a carwash, and even attempting to sneakily kiss Matt Damon.
So far, responses to the advertisement have been mixed. While many have praised it for its progressive casting and whimsical tone, others feel it brings to light an unfortunate truth about the sociological place of Indian women in Western society.
Rhitu Chatterjee, an NPR blogger, writes that she has experienced her fair share of invisibility in the U.S., and that many of her friends have as well. On her blog, she recounts the time some colleagues were putting together a project highlighting the accomplishments of their group. Despite belonging to the very same work group, Chatterjee was not included in the presentation.
That is, she wasn’t included in the presentation until someone higher up “decided the project needed to show diversity in the workplace,” after which she was eventually asked to participate.
Wersha Bharadwa, a journalist who has written for publications including the Guardian, Cosmopolitan, and the Observer, believes “Mindy Kaling’s invisible woman is sadly close to the truth.” In an editorial piece for the Guardian, Bharadwa pointedly recalls arriving at Cosmo in 2004 and learning that no other British Indian woman had been a staff journalist for the publication before.
A 2013 study conducted by the United Kingdom’s National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) indicates that not much has changed since then, with 94 percent of journalists in the U.K. having a Caucasian ethnic background.
Conversely, Ruchika Tulshyan, a Forbes writer who has also contributed to CNN, Bloomberg, and Time, takes a decidedly different stance on Nationwide’s advertisement. In a posting on Forbes she implores her readers to ignore Mindy Kaling’s race and gender instead of honing in on it. Tulshyan, herself a South Asian American, argues that Kaling was cast “because she holds her own,” with the implications of neither her race nor gender entering the equation.
Kaling has herself stated that she doesn’t want to be perceived as the best “Indian American female comedian,” and told NPR in an interview that she refuses to be seen as an outsider, even if she may “look like one to a lot of people.”
1 Comment
Only few commercials were worth watching. This commercial was not one of them. I failed to see any humor in the commercial. The Ad, is as dumb as her walking thru a car wash. She is a clear embarrassment to Indian community. The community is proud only when a person makes it in Hollywood by his or her talent and not a poster child for equal opportunity employment. This woman has limited talent and it shows. The only one laughing is Matt Damon…all the way to the bank !