I was having a really, really hard day. Really down. Again. (Big surprise). This has been the story of my life for many years, the sadness comes and goes. I came home and tried to sleep. But I couldn't. I finally got up, got dinner together for myself (meaning I used my microwave and cooked an egg), and decided to watch the last episode of season 2 of "Master of None".
I was told some weeks ago by a friend of what to do when I'm down - have a routine that makes me feel better. I'm still figuring out that routine, but clearly wanting to just go sleep never helps. I need to make more of a habit of distracting my mind sooner rather than later.
So for that, I thank you Aziz. I've had mixed feelings about you for years, but I wanna thank you for helping bring my mind back to a more sane place tonight. There are a couple of silly things I just haven't been able to get over for too long and I long to just throw myself back into my work and forget about it all...so thank you for creating some TV that helped me get my mind off of stupid stuff (that I'm sure Dev could relate to actually. Actually I kind of wish I could hang with Dev and Arnold and get their advice).
Some meandering thoughts on your program/television show/Netflix series:
- This second season is MUCH better than the first one.
- Glad to see you date women of colour. Even though your character didn't end up with one.
- My God, you really love food. You must have great metabolism. I mean Dev - Dev must have great metabolism. Or maybe he walks around a lot. I miss all the walking I got to do in NY. In L.A. you have to make an effort to just walk around.
- I still can't buy that Dev and his family are Muslim. His name is DEV. His dad's name is RAJESH. You picked the most Hindu names for your TV family. My guess is that you didn't think this through, maybe you actually wanted them to have a Hindu background, then people called you out on it (rightfully so) and you decided to add some Muslim-ness to this season. In your "Religion" episode, I couldn't get past their names and think that they're Muslim. So my brain kept saying "That's Aziz. Aziz". A super Muslim name, even though you're not Muslim anymore - and hey, I get it, trust me, that's totally cool.
It might've been better to not add the Muslim stuff. Or to have just given them legit Muslim names from the beginning. I'm sure you know Aziz, that desi Muslims just don't have those names. Maybe a Hindu who's converted to Islam - but even then, they'd probably change their name (though they don't have to), but they probably would, just coz names like DEV and RAJESH are 1000% Hindu. I mean Dev means "God" in Sanskrit. Not hating on these names, but they don't work for characters who are meant to have a Muslim background. It'd be like if I made a TV show with a character based on me, who's Muslim, and her name was CHRIST. It'd basically be the same thing. Wouldn't work, right?
- Ok, moving on.
- Your parents can't act. Sorry man. Even though you're a better actor around them, but if you're going for the authenticity thing, well first off - you failed with those names, and second, you can't make up for authenticity by casting your own parents. I wasn't sold at all on it, bad acting is bad acting, and I can't look past it and consider these characters to be real people and not just people in a TV show. I mean when I watched "Master of None" the only people who felt like real people to me were the people in the "NY I Love you" and "Thanksgiving" episodes - and those didn't feature Dev and Kevin and their families...sorry.
- Alongside that, what also felt inauthentic to me (I dunno what other word to use) is that Dev is a native New Yorker. Look, you're Aziz bloody Ansari. Everyone knows you're from South Carolina. This show is basically about YOU (hello, you casted your own parents...duh). So why make Dev supposedly from NY, I'm guessing, Queens? You were a transplant to NY. Dev basically acts like one too. Trust me I know - I was one, albeit much more broke. Dev does transplant things all the bloody time, and acts like one dresses like one walks like one. Nothing about Dev or his parents - or his friend Kevin too, btw - makes it seem like they're New Yorkers. The only time I believed Dev was from NY is when you show him as a teenager smoking weed - that kid sold it. I believed that brown kid to be from Queens. Why? Probably coz the actor wasn't you.
On the other hand, Denise is clearly a New Yorker. She has that swag. (And that actor is from Chicago). Dev doesn't have that swag (hey that's a word I learned in NY - trust me I have no swag myself at all). Aziz why'd you do things like this - it takes viewers like me completely out of the story and annoyed with the show and you! If you're gonna make a program about you, and cast yourself (and your parents - don't forget) in it, you might as well as stick to the same story, and get that authenticity that's so missing...like imagine pasta with no sauce. Dev supposedly being a New Yorker, is so inauthentic it's like eating pasta with no sauce. Or, or...pizza with a knife and fork (shout-out to DeBlasio).
- The season shined with the episode that followed around a bunch of New Yorkers (getting told off for yelling "vagina" in ASL - HIGHLARIOUS) and of course that Thanksgiving episode, Angela Bassett really killed it. Nice work on those episodes. They don't really feature Dev, btw. I'm not hating on Dev...but those episodes were a lot more interesting to me. And to my friends who I whatsapped with about your show. So that's at least...3 people, including me.
- I did get sold though on Dev's feelings. All the feels. I get it, to be into someone who's taken, and it's mutual - in my silly life it's one of the worst things in the world and it repeatedly happens (don't blame me, I hate it). I get it. So I felt what Dev was going through. I got past the fact that Francesca is another white lady for Dev, coz I really recognized his emotional anguish, and for some reason her being Italian helped me look past her whiteness - coz she's a village girl, basically. Wooed by a brown man in a big city. But anyway - even though those scenes and episodes weren't my favourite (see above) this relationship played out much better than the one with Rachel in season 1 - that writing and speeded-up timeline just felt lazy.
- Chef Jeff. I recognize that actor from "The Station Agent" (great film, great actor). I think with your season endings you attempt to shove too many things too quickly right at the end, and so like the shit that went down with Rachel, this shit also felt like it happened too fast. Though the Raven show and cameo, were super funny. Oh yeah - I like the knocks made on reality TV shows, that was done well.
Alright Aziz. Thanks for entertaining me, giving me something to watch, something to write, and for making me feel better. I hated on you a bit (like a week or so ago before I watched this season...sorry) for not being political like some other comedians. But the personal is political too - how could I forget that (?!) It's POLITICAL to show a desi/brown/Muslim person on telly who's just obsessed with eating out and is trying to have a love life. Not everything has to be on-point political. Our real lives do mostly consider of food and whether or not we're lonely, it's exhausting to just exist (as Dev nicely pointed out when he talked to his parents about airport security). So, I get it, I think I know, what you're doing. I appreciate the show and I'm not gonna hate on you for not making it more political...we already are just by existing.
But throw in some Tamil again next time, or South Indian food. Dev's gotta eat a dosa or two. Foodies love dosas, and he's a brown foodie.
I was told some weeks ago by a friend of what to do when I'm down - have a routine that makes me feel better. I'm still figuring out that routine, but clearly wanting to just go sleep never helps. I need to make more of a habit of distracting my mind sooner rather than later.
So for that, I thank you Aziz. I've had mixed feelings about you for years, but I wanna thank you for helping bring my mind back to a more sane place tonight. There are a couple of silly things I just haven't been able to get over for too long and I long to just throw myself back into my work and forget about it all...so thank you for creating some TV that helped me get my mind off of stupid stuff (that I'm sure Dev could relate to actually. Actually I kind of wish I could hang with Dev and Arnold and get their advice).
Some meandering thoughts on your program/television show/Netflix series:
- This second season is MUCH better than the first one.
- Glad to see you date women of colour. Even though your character didn't end up with one.
- My God, you really love food. You must have great metabolism. I mean Dev - Dev must have great metabolism. Or maybe he walks around a lot. I miss all the walking I got to do in NY. In L.A. you have to make an effort to just walk around.
- I still can't buy that Dev and his family are Muslim. His name is DEV. His dad's name is RAJESH. You picked the most Hindu names for your TV family. My guess is that you didn't think this through, maybe you actually wanted them to have a Hindu background, then people called you out on it (rightfully so) and you decided to add some Muslim-ness to this season. In your "Religion" episode, I couldn't get past their names and think that they're Muslim. So my brain kept saying "That's Aziz. Aziz". A super Muslim name, even though you're not Muslim anymore - and hey, I get it, trust me, that's totally cool.
It might've been better to not add the Muslim stuff. Or to have just given them legit Muslim names from the beginning. I'm sure you know Aziz, that desi Muslims just don't have those names. Maybe a Hindu who's converted to Islam - but even then, they'd probably change their name (though they don't have to), but they probably would, just coz names like DEV and RAJESH are 1000% Hindu. I mean Dev means "God" in Sanskrit. Not hating on these names, but they don't work for characters who are meant to have a Muslim background. It'd be like if I made a TV show with a character based on me, who's Muslim, and her name was CHRIST. It'd basically be the same thing. Wouldn't work, right?
- Ok, moving on.
- Your parents can't act. Sorry man. Even though you're a better actor around them, but if you're going for the authenticity thing, well first off - you failed with those names, and second, you can't make up for authenticity by casting your own parents. I wasn't sold at all on it, bad acting is bad acting, and I can't look past it and consider these characters to be real people and not just people in a TV show. I mean when I watched "Master of None" the only people who felt like real people to me were the people in the "NY I Love you" and "Thanksgiving" episodes - and those didn't feature Dev and Kevin and their families...sorry.
- Alongside that, what also felt inauthentic to me (I dunno what other word to use) is that Dev is a native New Yorker. Look, you're Aziz bloody Ansari. Everyone knows you're from South Carolina. This show is basically about YOU (hello, you casted your own parents...duh). So why make Dev supposedly from NY, I'm guessing, Queens? You were a transplant to NY. Dev basically acts like one too. Trust me I know - I was one, albeit much more broke. Dev does transplant things all the bloody time, and acts like one dresses like one walks like one. Nothing about Dev or his parents - or his friend Kevin too, btw - makes it seem like they're New Yorkers. The only time I believed Dev was from NY is when you show him as a teenager smoking weed - that kid sold it. I believed that brown kid to be from Queens. Why? Probably coz the actor wasn't you.
On the other hand, Denise is clearly a New Yorker. She has that swag. (And that actor is from Chicago). Dev doesn't have that swag (hey that's a word I learned in NY - trust me I have no swag myself at all). Aziz why'd you do things like this - it takes viewers like me completely out of the story and annoyed with the show and you! If you're gonna make a program about you, and cast yourself (and your parents - don't forget) in it, you might as well as stick to the same story, and get that authenticity that's so missing...like imagine pasta with no sauce. Dev supposedly being a New Yorker, is so inauthentic it's like eating pasta with no sauce. Or, or...pizza with a knife and fork (shout-out to DeBlasio).
- The season shined with the episode that followed around a bunch of New Yorkers (getting told off for yelling "vagina" in ASL - HIGHLARIOUS) and of course that Thanksgiving episode, Angela Bassett really killed it. Nice work on those episodes. They don't really feature Dev, btw. I'm not hating on Dev...but those episodes were a lot more interesting to me. And to my friends who I whatsapped with about your show. So that's at least...3 people, including me.
- I did get sold though on Dev's feelings. All the feels. I get it, to be into someone who's taken, and it's mutual - in my silly life it's one of the worst things in the world and it repeatedly happens (don't blame me, I hate it). I get it. So I felt what Dev was going through. I got past the fact that Francesca is another white lady for Dev, coz I really recognized his emotional anguish, and for some reason her being Italian helped me look past her whiteness - coz she's a village girl, basically. Wooed by a brown man in a big city. But anyway - even though those scenes and episodes weren't my favourite (see above) this relationship played out much better than the one with Rachel in season 1 - that writing and speeded-up timeline just felt lazy.
- Chef Jeff. I recognize that actor from "The Station Agent" (great film, great actor). I think with your season endings you attempt to shove too many things too quickly right at the end, and so like the shit that went down with Rachel, this shit also felt like it happened too fast. Though the Raven show and cameo, were super funny. Oh yeah - I like the knocks made on reality TV shows, that was done well.
Alright Aziz. Thanks for entertaining me, giving me something to watch, something to write, and for making me feel better. I hated on you a bit (like a week or so ago before I watched this season...sorry) for not being political like some other comedians. But the personal is political too - how could I forget that (?!) It's POLITICAL to show a desi/brown/Muslim person on telly who's just obsessed with eating out and is trying to have a love life. Not everything has to be on-point political. Our real lives do mostly consider of food and whether or not we're lonely, it's exhausting to just exist (as Dev nicely pointed out when he talked to his parents about airport security). So, I get it, I think I know, what you're doing. I appreciate the show and I'm not gonna hate on you for not making it more political...we already are just by existing.
But throw in some Tamil again next time, or South Indian food. Dev's gotta eat a dosa or two. Foodies love dosas, and he's a brown foodie.
Those episodes stuck out to me too! And yes, his parents are terrible actors, especially his mom but I love when they are on screen. They steal the show! I couldn't get past their names either-- being Muslim was definitely an afterthought.
ReplyDeleteGlad you love the show too. He's really trying to tell stories about characters that feel very real and are not often on screen. <3
hi sid! just saw this. love always, hena.
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