Desi Dose: Desis on TV! Little Mosque on the Prairie on FOX, Aziz Ansari in ‘The Office’ Spinoff
June 13th, 2008
Yes, Padma is in this edition of the Dose. Not that we ever should have
to justify putting up an image of her.
[Blogger: S.I.] Back with our own readable “mixture” to munch on between meals.
* The quirky and forward-thinking Canadian TV (CBC) show, “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” is being adapted (and potentially ruined) by FOX. Even if it doesn’t make it to air, this is progress. Unless it’s some kind of feeder for “24″ villains and post 9-11 rage. Ugh. Props to writer Zarqa Nawaz, as she has created a show unlike anything currently around, yet very familiar. The desi moment is that she’s of Pakistani origin, BTW.
And she answered some questions after the pilot aired. Watch the pilot (takes a long time to load). [Thanks Nirali Magazine]
* An Indian with the highest GPA in school history, graduating in just three years. And she ISN’T allowed to be valedictorian. I’d say “frickin’ Texas,” but because half of you likely are from Sugarland, I won’t. [Thanks Angry Asian Man]
* From former DM Gal, who is Punjabi but looks vaguely Assamese (or Latina or Japanese to some people, depending on the day), while on a plane:
“There’s an indo girl sitting next to me speaking in hindi about how she’s stuck next to a black guy and was looking for a white person but there were no more open seats. Bitch. She referred to me as ‘ek ladki’. I guess I’m ethnically nondescript. Hahaha.
And of course, it hasn’t occurred to her that I understand everything she’s saying :)”
Even if she hadn’t understood Hindi, we know this type of Indian well enough that we could have guessed. Upturned nose, the condescending glances, talking on the cell phone well after she’s been asked to turn it off. Dammit.
* More semi-famous Indians. From reader Sandeep: Reverse (or perverse) colonizing the colonizers, a royal screw you to the British for their meddling, and apparently it’s in movie form. You think we’re kidding? Go Karim!
* Hanuman, Mover of Mountains and Chairman of a Business School.
* In case you didn’t know, they’re making a spinoff of “The Office.” And it’s going to feature our “Human Giant” hero, Aziz Ansari. Funny desi men: you may have more women interested in you than ever before. Do something with it before the show gets canceled. Aziz is happy. And terse.
* Not quite TV celebrity, but an Indian named Balthazar Napoleon de Bourbon is actually in line to be the next King of France. Should the monarchy come back. And if a few people in front of him pass away.
* My conversation today with my boss’s business contact’s assistant, based in Texas (say her lines with a slight twang):
Me: “OK, so we have everything set up then. And could I get your email address to confirm everything?”
Her: “Sure, I’m Laura, and it’s just my first name @…”
Me: “Sounds great. I’ll send out all the info, and you can get my email address from there.”
Her: “Thank you. And what’s your name, by the way?”
Me (why did she have to ask): “It’s ‘Venkatesh’*.”
Her: “…………………OK!”
* not really my name, but same level of difficulty.
I have a feeling I over-ethnied it, just to be difficult. Why? I’m still not sure. Well, mission accomplished.
* Any reason to feature Padma Lakshmi, host of “Top Chef,” is a good reason. I have seen her in real life at a film festival, and I can tell you she was wearing very little makeup and still radiated beauty. She’s also really tall. [Thanks Angry Asian Man. We feel you on the Lakshmi love]
Tags: Ethnically Ambiguous, Film, Hindu / Hinduism, India, Muslim / Islam, Pakistan, September 11th, TV, UK
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June 16th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
84 rupees says Aziz rolls up on an episode as Mindy Kaling’s arranged boyfriend who gets reported to Homeland Security by Michael Scott, who out of contrition upon realizing his assumption was incorrect, takes Aziz on as an IT consultant. Or maybe they’ll make a show that’s a documentary about a bumbling terrorist cell and Aziz is the hapless leader. Oh damn, that might be good. Let’s get on that.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:13 am
How come asian men complain about being de-sexualized in the media and asian women complain about being sexualized?
June 17th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Haha. All of your ideas could come true. They’ll milk him for more than one episode.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:12 am
@Mithi:
Well, it’s because Asian men were made to look like nutless dickless villains by the media for years. In our current PC world, they are nutless dickless helpful sidekicks or IT guys. There was never a ‘normal’ representation of an Asian male, especially when it came to sex. He was always beaten to the woman by (or the woman would shun him for) the white man. Which simply isn’t how it goes all the time.
As for the girls, they were made to seem like submissive sex slaves who fulfill every white man’s wet dream. That’s why Asian women hate it. They are ALWAYS portrayed sexually or as bitches, with little in between. That still hasn’t changed much. Though I’m sure Asian men would say this is how these girls really do behave pretty often, favoring white guys over Asian men.
Looks at “Grey’s Anatomy,” which takes place in a hospital, but has sex everywhere. How many Asian or Indian men do you see? And there’s only one Asian woman. Ridiculous. But it’s because sex comes before anything medical.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:46 am
So th, and they en asian guys are jealous of the way asian women are portrayed in the media and they also want to be portrayed as highly sexual beings? And so the wome want to be portrayed as what? Intelligent geeks?
Anyway, desi women being portrayed as kama sutra goddesses in movies as always worked in my favor, so no word of complaint from me.
I mean, look at the picture of Padma you have posted. Seems like you do the same thing to us….
But it’s worked to my advantage here in the American dating culture, always has.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:50 am
In addition, it’s not true that asian men were NEVER portrayed as sex gods.
Back in the silent film era there was one very famous (korean?) man who had a whole genre of film created around him as an oriental don juan, wanted and pursued by American women. Saw the documentary on TCM just last week, can’t remember his name.
But since then there was a decline, and now it’s picking up again…
the exotic allure of the sexy asian man.
Let’s face it, some are sexy, some are not, but women tend to be better looking on average than men in any race.
Again, that’s all worked to my advantage.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:12 am
2010: Summer of the Korean. You’ll see. They’re bringing sexy back. 2012: The year of the Indian, finally. Just in time for the end of the world in accordance with the Mayan Calendar’s prophecy for new beginnings.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:40 am
@ Mithi: I wouldn’t say Asian men are “jealous,” I think it’s more that they don’t get a fair shake with their own kind. It’s one thing for Asian women to be sexualized: it’s another when they’re ONLY shown as sexualized and ONLY with white men.
Padma, e.g., is just by her hot lonesome in the pic. Had it been her hugging on a white guy, the chances of me posting it without mocking it are around 0%.
Agreed that women are generally better looking than men. By a lot. Thankfully.
And Indian women have not had nearly the kind of negative exposure Asian women have. Brown people in general barely showed up in TV or Film til a few decades ago, and it’s still extremely rare. So being sexy etc. etc. is nice, as there has been no wave of “sexual slave/object” portrayals yet to pigeonhole you.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:12 am
Had an Asian friend complain about the lasting damage done by Long Duk Dong in “16 Candles”. Been a subject of many an Asian discussion board about the “denadding” of Asian men. Still pretty pervasive in social situations.