(L to R: Kal Penn, Nikki Haley, Aziz Ansari, Bobby Jindal)
Not since Apu stormed these shores in 1990 have we seen such a surge in Indians in the popular consciousness. I’m talking about Kal Penn on House (and later in the Obama White House), Aziz Ansari on Parks and Recreation, Bobby Jindal back to national prominence in New Orleans, and most recently, Nikki Haley as GOP candidate for governor of South Carolina. What distinguishes all these Indians is that they’re portrayed as American first. No “thank you, come again” accents, no jokes about all being engineers or 7-11 managers. It’s like all of a sudden they’re the go-to ethnic group to demonstrate how far we’ve come in the post-Obama, post-racial America.
Then there’s the counter-directional examples. First MetroPCS’s bizarre Tech & Talk ads featuring Ranjit and Chad, two walking racial stereotypes. The first spot ran during the Superbowl, and I think The Richards Group is walking a very fine line. And then in the Fall we can look forward to Outsourced, an NBC show from the creator of The Office that plays the immigrant fish-out-water story for laughs (a la Balki from Perfect Strangers) - in this case it’s a gang of (heavily accented) call center workers and a well-meaning, white call-center manager teaching them the ropes of American culture. It’s like Indians are the last ethnic group that’s safe to make fun of.
So which is it? I think India is in a very interesting place in the American consciousness- simultaneously exotic (Slumdog Millionaire) and familiar (Jay Sean).
