#prashant

Des was perfect for Devi, he was nice, repeating, challenged her academically and put her in her place about her views about their culture. I like to think he was the reason Devi started appreciating and accepting her culture more and while I love Devi’s character development from hating her culture to accepting it and appreciating it, I would’ve loved to see more of brown culture explored. I really wanted to see a brown couple go through Navratri, playing Garba, Diwali, Holi, and all the other festivals together. Also no white man understands how fun and exciting it feels when you’re celebrating these like someone from the same culture. I know a lot of brown girls say brown men are red flags and while that may be true and it’s a whole different conversation as why they might be like that, not every brown guy is like a red flag. The way they grew up and who they were raised by plays a huge role on who they are, everyone is different and I really wish brown guys were portrayed in a better light because this is also a stereotype although maybe not as bad as the whole “all brown guys are creeps and pervs,”

There’s also almost no representation of brown couple in media, there’s like one I can think of and that’s Asha and Ravi from Netflix’s Wedding Season.

Thanks for sending this!

7. What’s your most unpopular opinion?

Answered here! Basically that Paxton vitriol is rooted in racism. I’ll reiterate, Paxton is a mixed whitepassing Japanese boy which means he’s not white and can/is be subject to racism. He benefits from a certain degree of privilege because he’s whitepassing but that still does not make him white: “whitepassing” ≠ “white”. We saw him speak Japanese, his non whitepassing father and grampax, presentation on his family being held in  internment camps for being Japanese-American and Paxton says he’s half Japanese. So he’s. not. white.

8. What’s your favorite thing about this show?

That if focuses on a Tamil Indian family and being Tamil is not an afterthought, like in The Mindy Project. It’s imbued in the show – from the iconic Nirmala Pati to Tamil being spoken (the pronunciation is often Americanised though like how Devi says “Pati”) to bringing food gifts to your Tamil relatives lol. Can’t stress enough that Tamil representation is woefully inadequate in Hollywood and other Indian actors, like Dev Patel, take roles Tamil actors’ roles. So it’s great that we get NHIE, a show that’s unapologetically Tamil. I love getting Indian rep but most of it is North Indian and I don’t relate to any of it.

I’ll never stop gushing about having a show with a family like mine on Netflix being popular and getting the attention it deserves.

9. What’s your least favorite thing about the show?

Characters being sacrificed to advance the plot:

a) Aneesa

I felt that she was there only to create friction. She didn’t seem to exist outside of Devi? Yeah, Devi’s the protagonist so most characters will interact with her and be seen through her eyes but they still exist independently. For example, we see El’s relationship with Devi and also her aspirations, mini-arcs etc that don’t hinge on Devi. Whereas with Aneesa, we see her in relation to Devi’s jealousy of being the new Indian kid & B*n’s crush (+ blocker to B*nvi) and rumour with Devi's redemption arc.

b) Paxton

I’ve talked about him being OOC here and here. Like him coming up with “crazy Devi” when he, of all people, knows how calling someone names about their sanity affects them. But I get it, he’s hurt and lashes out but my biggest gripe is that he never apologises. Yeah he didn’t foresee how it’d snowball and affect Devi but he he came up with the nickname. He did feel visibly guilty and took no pleasure in it. So I’m hoping he apologises in S3 - Paxton haters don’t interact. 

c) Kamala and Prashant – see here.