Mindy Kaling writes perfectly imperfect shows for teenagers. If you don’t know her, Mindy Kaling is the co-creator and writer of the Netflix show Never Have I Ever and the new HBOMax show The Sex Lives of College Girls.
In this article, I talk about the new series and the female characters, so if you haven’t watched the show yet, I highly suggest you do. But do not worry, because this piece doesn’t contain any spoilers.
The Sex Lives of College Girls follows the lives of four 18-year-old freshmen roommates that meet for the first time at Essex College in Vermont: Kimberly (played by Pauline Chalamet) is a sheltered scholarship student; Leighton (played by Reneé Rapp) is a preppy legacy; Whitney (played by Alyah Chanelle Scott) is a senator’s star-athlete daughter; and Bela (played by Amrit Kaur) is an Indian-American comedy nerd. Each comes in with her hopes about who she might become in college. But throughout the season, each finds herself pushed into different directions.
The show never tries to sell the audience perfect female characters. You see all of them go through the struggles and successes up until the very last minute of each episode. They are all weird, spontaneous, creative, impulsive, and relatable female characters. In my opinion, Mindy Kaling’s other show Never Have I Ever that focuses on young high schoolers, gives a more noticeable center to the male characters. The story and plots are pretty much about the guys, and I think all the characters are exaggerated in a humorous and non-relatable way. Instead, The Sex Lives of College Girls is a drama combined with a lot of comedy, making a “dramedy.” So I think Kaling did a better job in this one.
To give a quick sneak peek, in episode one, Leighton and Bela have an argument that’s interrupted by Kimberly. “Bela traded sex for an opportunity,” said Leighton, to which Bela replied, “Just like men have been doing for centuries, I flipped the script.” That specific dialogue represents the whole dynamic of the group in the series.
Mindy Kaling’s new show stops oversexualized ladies in college and gives these ladies the confidence to make their own decisions despite what a man might think. For example, we all remember The House Bunny, starring Anna Farris and Emma Stone. That is pretty much based on the premise that the smartest sorority on campus can pull in a decent pledge class only if they learn to attract men first. The Sex Lives of College Girls does feature a naked party, a few one-night stands, and a few thirsty boys flashing their abs, but at its core, the series is about young women and women only.
Mindy, Pauline, Reneé, Alyah, Amrit, and the whole cast and crew of The Sex Lives of College Girls, are able to change the story of “the college experience” as told by Hollywood and bring it closer to becoming something we can recognize by breaking stereotypes and creating messy characters. It has taken a long damn time, but now, in the year 2021, you can finally stream something that maybe looks like your own college days. So make sure to check out the show!