Though Mindy Kaling’s teen comedy-drama The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO Max is a hit among the majority of the audience, some South Asian TikTok users do not seem very impressed with how certain things are portrayed in the series furthering harmful South Asian stereotypes.
A video clip from the HBO Max series, which was created and produced by Kaling, has gone viral on TikTok. In the clip, Bela, played by Amrit Kaur, talks to her parents about how she used to be an “Indian loser.”
TikTok user Jasmine (@totallyprincessjasmine), who posted the video last month which has clocked over 332,000 views and 60,000 likes so far, says, “Mindy Kaling. Just because you are an Indian loser, does not mean Indians are losers," Jasmine says in their video. "At this point, you're genuinely doing more harm than good.”
Sharing Jasmine’s video, TikTok user Aqil Dhanani (@aqildhanani) says that South Asian comedians are to blame for the promotion of harmful stereotypes in the U.S. Dhanani calls out Kaling and stand-up comedians Russell Peters and Lily Singh in particular:
“If you're in America and you want to be racist against Black people, you can deep dive into the ancient tomes of racism and find a stereotype or a slur. Same with East Asians, same with Latinos. But if you want to make fun of South Asians, where do those insults usually come from? South Asian comedians,” Dhanani writes.
He goes on to add, “Mindy Kaling, Russell Peters, Lilly Singh, what do they talk about? Our parents talk funny and they beat us and we eat stinky food and we are stinky and there's hair all over.”
Dhanani further shares that the popularity of comedians who promoted harmful South Asian stereotypes affected the way he was treated in high school. "Russell Peters popped off when I was in high school, and I had white people coming up to me in the hallway and quoting Russell Peters and laughing about it," he says.
Keep visiting this space over and again for more updates and reveals from the world of entertainment.
Streaming blackout angers fans just days before new South Park seasonPrime Video
Global outrage grows as South Park vanishes from Paramount PlusWikipedia 
Fans slam Paramount and Skydance for blocking South Park accessRotten Tomatoes 
Kanye West’s spokesperson says the claims are inconsistent and defamatoryBBC/Getty Images 
Photo of Kanye West from a past public appearance Getty Images 
Attorney Lisa Bloom says Kanye West has already admitted to key allegations 
Kanye West’s spokesperson says the claims are inconsistent and defamatoryGetty Images 
Gregg Wallace dropped from MasterChef after over 50 sexual misconduct claims surface Getty Images 
Gregg Wallace seen filming prior to being removed from the show Youtube Screengrab 
BBC confirmed it will not work with Wallace againGetty Images
Wallace claimed he was scapegoated amid a toxic production cultureGetty Images
Pedro Pascal addresses fan backlash over playing Reed Richards at 50Getty Images 
Kangana Ranaut speaks on equality and her role as a ParliamentarianGetty Images 
Kangana Ranaut calls equality a flawed idea, claims it’s ruining work ethic in today’s youthGetty Images
Kangana Ranaut says belief in equality has created a ‘generation of morons’ in viral Times Now interviewGetty Images
Kangana Ranaut blames equality for entitlement culture, says no two people are equalGetty Images