I’m not Asian but ‘Never Have I Ever’ is making me uncomfortable
The difference between indifference to interracial dating and self-loathing
Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Devon Sawa. Luke Perry. Rider Strong. Brian Austin Green. Matthew Lawrence. These were all white boys who I had posters of on my wall. Mind you, if Romeo from Immature (later IMX) gave me the time of day, they’d have all been dumped in these imaginary relationships. (Why my teenage eyes did not notice that Kelton “LDB” Keese is finer than the other group members still blows my mind. My adult eyes want to get my teenaged eyes checked.)
I saw nothing wrong with showcasing all these handsome white teen guys on my wall. My mother and father shrugged and let me do me. I was a boy-crazy teenage girl (and still a virgin, so I wasn’t going overboard — if you exclude the time I almost drowned). Even my friends approved of my celeb crushes.
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My older (and only) brother was the first person to look around at my walls and point out how many white boys were on the wall. I instantly pointed to another wall entirely dedicated to Immature posters and a couple pictures of Mike Vitar from “Sandlot,” alongside Brandon Q. Adams.
Recommended Read: “From child star and actor to rapper, Brandon Adams is back!” Chicago Defender Online, June 24, 2009
He shrugged. It still seemed to bother him a little. Not enough to argue about it. It was just something he put into the air and made me start to look at my wall of white boys a little differently. Was there something wrong with not having a type? I wasn’t sure. Almost all of my exes have been African-American and around my complexion. Still, I did end up dating a few non-black guys as an adult. Never once did we part ways over race. It was the same bullshit reasons that most women and girls break up with a guy over — a personality clash.
Recommended Read: “Dating black women: Interracial dating gone right and wrong ~ Step one: Stop talking about slavery at dinner”
But watching the Netflix show “Never Have I Ever” is making me understand why my brother seemed concerned. I love Mindy Kaling’s work and really want to see Asian women be more present and winning in the entertainment industry. But this cheer-for-the-white-guy theme she’s permanently on is making me increasingly uncomfortable.
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‘Never Have I Ever’ cheered for Indian men so much
If you’ve never seen the show, Devi Vishwakumar (played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) stars alongside her two friends — Fabiola Torres (played by Lee Rodriguez) and Eleanor Wong (played by Ramona Young). Although the three friends have checked out the occasional Asian guy, they all seem to be determined to find white girls and white boys to be their significant others. (Fabiola is a lesbian.)