The Mindy Project: Mindy Lahiri

The Mindy Project follows around a young woman name Mindy Lahiri who is an obstetrician/gynecologist doctor. It is the first American sitcom starring and created by an Indian American. Throughout the sitcom, Mindy juggles between her relationship life and occupation as a doctor. Despite Mindy's natural talent as a doctor, she is very fixated on how to impress men. In the following scene, her colleague, Dr. Danny Castellano who can be an irritating platonic friend, offends Mindy by critiquing on her first-date outfit.  When Mindy decides to change to a simpler wardrobe, Danny tells her that she looks better. Ultimately, Mindy quickly tells Danny to go to hell. Perhaps, this scene can be considered as her intention to please men due to her appearance. However, The Mindy Project is also one of the very few shows that suggest the conventional images of Asian American women.

                       

The show does end up playing some stereotypes pertaining to Indians in America, such as the fact that she is a doctor. There is a scene when is she drunkenly riding a bike, then a car nearly runs her over, and she screams "Racist!” but other than that, there is no mention of race. Although this show is cancelled after season one, I think it is important to note the importance of this sitcom. Therefore, this is the first television to showcase a female lead of Asian American descent in a non-stereotypical way.