thoughts on never have i ever!
Apr. 30th, 2020 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leeseokminso when i was writing thing the rich text editor was working so i couldn't really cut... anyway i wanted to save never have i ever until i finished school but i couldn't resist and accidentally ended up bingewatching... i'm also planning to rewatch with my mom! this is the warning for spoilers after this?
i won't lie, i think my initial response towards the first few episodes was disappointment. devi is an extremely annoying, self-centered character, even if the motivation behind her behavior is understandable. and then my mom watched one episode with me and she laughed so much, she was like this was you when you were 15, which made me realize she's right? devi acts the way she does because she's coping with an immense loss at 15 and i doubt i would've acted so differently. i think there are also aspects of it i recognize in myself; praying for me is a lot like conversation, dropping the gods a check in on my life, and it was hilarious to see that on screen. the ganesha chathurthi episode, besides the last 3 episodes, was probably my favourite episode.
devi's shame at being too indian-not indian enough is something i'm intimately familiar with as a second culture kid. i'm painfully indian by malaysian standards, but not indian enough by indian standards and you add rampant racism against the malaysian indian community, you have a potent cocktail that will lead you down a path of hating your culture. there were many other things in that episode that stood out as well, especially in nalini's arc. it's hard being an indian mother: daughters are very much considered the reflection of a mother's upbringing even in 2020 and having an unruly daughter is essentially a death sentence. women in the indian community are often the biggest enemies of other indian women and the careful, exhausting act nalini engages in was so reminiscent of my mother that i almost cried.
which leads me to the last three episodes. i know the main takeaway of this show is meant to be the portrayal of grief but i was more touched by the relationship between devi and nalini. i joke about how eldest/only daughters of indian families are the bravest soldiers and in a way, this show was somewhat a manifestation of that turning point where you realize that. the last two episodes represented the moment i realized my mother was my only ally in this world, even if she has her own faults and for that, i really, really loved the show.
never have i ever's best moments are in the interaction of nalini, kamala and devi, three indian women at very different stages in life working through their problems. it's not fair to put the onus on mindy kaling for absolute representation of indian characters in media, especially on the scale of a Netflix original, but the series is definitely worth pushing through.
i won't lie, i think my initial response towards the first few episodes was disappointment. devi is an extremely annoying, self-centered character, even if the motivation behind her behavior is understandable. and then my mom watched one episode with me and she laughed so much, she was like this was you when you were 15, which made me realize she's right? devi acts the way she does because she's coping with an immense loss at 15 and i doubt i would've acted so differently. i think there are also aspects of it i recognize in myself; praying for me is a lot like conversation, dropping the gods a check in on my life, and it was hilarious to see that on screen. the ganesha chathurthi episode, besides the last 3 episodes, was probably my favourite episode.
devi's shame at being too indian-not indian enough is something i'm intimately familiar with as a second culture kid. i'm painfully indian by malaysian standards, but not indian enough by indian standards and you add rampant racism against the malaysian indian community, you have a potent cocktail that will lead you down a path of hating your culture. there were many other things in that episode that stood out as well, especially in nalini's arc. it's hard being an indian mother: daughters are very much considered the reflection of a mother's upbringing even in 2020 and having an unruly daughter is essentially a death sentence. women in the indian community are often the biggest enemies of other indian women and the careful, exhausting act nalini engages in was so reminiscent of my mother that i almost cried.
which leads me to the last three episodes. i know the main takeaway of this show is meant to be the portrayal of grief but i was more touched by the relationship between devi and nalini. i joke about how eldest/only daughters of indian families are the bravest soldiers and in a way, this show was somewhat a manifestation of that turning point where you realize that. the last two episodes represented the moment i realized my mother was my only ally in this world, even if she has her own faults and for that, i really, really loved the show.
never have i ever's best moments are in the interaction of nalini, kamala and devi, three indian women at very different stages in life working through their problems. it's not fair to put the onus on mindy kaling for absolute representation of indian characters in media, especially on the scale of a Netflix original, but the series is definitely worth pushing through.
