Master of None premiered on November 6 and has received outstanding reviews. We are no stranger to Aziz Ansari’s comedy — his role in Parks and Recreation and his standup specials have left us all with a love and respect for his honest humor. We also saw more examples of his charm with his book, Modern Romance. Finally, we get more of Ansari’s creativity on-screen in 10 excellent episodes. There are so many reasons to love this show.
For one, there are so many issues with portrayal of minorities in media. While it’s awesome that many writers, producers and celebrities are making an effort to comment on many of these issues and make a slight change in casting to reflect their desire to change the norm, shows like Master of None attempt to make a bigger and better difference by casting a variety of cast members that so many producers often act like they are unable to do. Like Ansari said in the Reddit AMA, “Yeah, I think that’s why the show’s diversity doesn’t feel phony. Alan and I do hang out and we have a diverse crew of people, it’s not like someone going ‘Hmmmm… these people need a ‘black friend’ and shoving someone in there’.”
In the ‘”Indian Actors” episode, Ansari’s character, Dev, refuses to do an Indian accent during an audition for an acting role. Ansari had decided not to do an Indian accent in his comedy work already, but he touched on the topic more in the show. In the Reddit Ask Me Anything, Ansari said he doesn’t know when the moment was that he decided not to do it, but “it feels like doing it so white people can laugh at it is what bums me out.”
When one of Dev’s friends was shocked that white actors had worn brownface makeup to portray Indian characters, he concernedly asks, “Is Mindy Kaling real?” Ansari said in the Reddit AMA that “it was so awesome when Mindy randomly texted me ‘hahahahhaahaha I am real’.”
Courtesy: Netflix
Master of None’s primary goal is not to be a coming-of-age or millennial story. It’s not all about finding love, and it’s not strictly or even mainly a comedy; it’s a very wholesome, all-inclusive depiction of a person’s genuine thoughts about life. It touches on current issues in culture and media while actually doing something about those issues. It addresses these topics without staying too long, yet hovering over them just long enough to provide the audience with some interest. The show doesn’t stick to these serious topics alone, but weaves all aspects of a curious outlook on life together. Ansari’s character Dev and his friend, Arnold, dedicate a few good minutes of the sixth episode to analyzing Lose It by Eminem. “I was thinking about this — you know in that 8 Mile song, Eminem raps, ‘There is no movie, there is no Mekhi Phifer’? But is a movie. And Mekhi Phifer’s there. He’s there.”
Courtesy: Netflix
“From the beginning, we wanted it to feel less like most of the single camera comedies that are out there and more like a loose, personal, realistic comedy from the ’70s,” Executive Producer Alan Yang said.
Given Ansari’s personality in and surrounding all his other work, it isn’t surprising that his character in Master of None was so genuine and realistic. However, all of the other characters were too. Dev’s girlfriend was just as real as he was, and we watched the two of them question whether being together was really what either of them thought was best. Dev’s friends provide counter-arguments rather than serving simply as secondary characters. Dev’s parents tell of their experiences as immigrants in a matter-of-fact yet believable fashion — and it probably helps that Ansari’s real-life parents play his parents on the show.
Courtesy: Netflix
Ansari’s father has clearly stolen the show, too. Judging by an appearance on Stephen Colbert and an insistence that he wants to start acting in commercials, Aziz Ansari says jokingly in his appearance on The Tonight Show ] that perhaps he has created a monster by casting his father. “I wanted those characters to feel real, because sometimes when you see immigrant parents on TV and film they’re very broad and they’re vehicles for these tacky ethnic jokes. And then I asked my parents to do it, and my dad and mom agreed, and they were fantastic!”
Courtesy: Netflix
Will there be a second season? Ansari says they’re already working on writing a second season, but do not know if Netflix would be interested. “We haven’t heard officially from Netflix. But Alan and I, like true Asians, have started an insane chain of ideas already. The show came out less than a week ago. We really have been inspired by the massive reaction to the show.”