Mindy Kaling has always been a personal hero of mine. It started when I found out that she wrote my all-time favorite episode of “The Office” — “Diversity Day” — and then quickly snowballed into a very healthy obsession. This might sound super creepy and far fetched, but one time I went to a B.J. Novak book signing hoping that his BFF Mindy would show up — she didn’t. Regardless, it was a fun event.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mindy, she’s really awesome. She was a writer for “The Office” in addition to starring in the series as the office’s resident drama queen, Kelly Kapoor. Kaling then went on to create her own show, “The Mindy Project” as well as writing two books of essays.
What’s apparent in all of her work is her candor. Mindy keeps it real like no other and that gives me LIFE. Reading her work has gotten me through some of my most difficult personal struggles. This past summer when I got injured, I was lying on what I thought was my death bed, and two of my wonderful pals read me chapters from her second book “Why Not Me?” to keep my spirits high.
“The Mindy Project” is perhaps my favorite piece of Kaling’s work — it’s totally my cultural North Star. The show follows Dr. Mindy Lahiri, OB-GYN, and all of her crazy antics trying to deal with her coworkers and find love. The pilot opens with Mindy professing her love for romantic comedies to a cop after having just been arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct when she made a scene at an ex’s wedding. When I watched that scene for the first time, I honestly saw my future flash before my eyes.
I love Mindy because she always writes exactly what she’s thinking and feeling, no matter what. Her honesty is so refreshing. Mindy Kaling owns who she is, flaws and all. One of my favorite lines from “The Mindy Project” was when Mindy said in a self deprecating and matter-of-fact way that her “BMI is not great.” Kaling is also constantly writing in lines where she’s being catty or superficial — and even though those aren’t exactly admirable qualities, they are qualities that many of us certainly possess at least to some degree.
Kaling’s character in the show has a lot of relatable neuroses that millennial women share, like extreme internet stalking and over thinking what to text back. Mindy is also very open about her bad diet and love for reality TV, which I also find highly relatable. I think the fact that Mindy is so open about aspects of her personality that people might find distasteful is really refreshing. For me, it makes for really good and relatable entertainment.
I’ve been a big fan of Mindy since my senior year of high school, and watching her grow as a writer while I was simultaneously growing as a human has taught me a lot. First of all, it’s taught me to be myself. Mindy has displayed time and time again that it’s 100 percent acceptable to be a passionate, smart, interesting, person and still love reality TV. Mindy has also shown that sometimes it’s really important to speak your mind, but you have to be able to deal with the repercussions. Excessive snark, sass and cattiness will bite you in the butt one day — and if you are a snarky person, there will probably be consequences. I think her whole show is a hilarious balancing act of someone trying to be themselves while still being a good person.
Mindy’s brand of entertainment celebrates striving for success in whatever form that takes: minimal weight loss, a boyfriend or career success. She celebrates unconventional and traditional pathways to self actualization. I believe Mindy’s honesty and candor have sparked a revolution in entertainment and I can’t wait to see what she does next. P.S. I bet her baby will be awesome.
