Never Have I Ever spoilers follow.
South Asian representation on screen is often confined to stereotypes. Sidekick nerdy friends with strict parents, taxi drivers with a thick accent, and images of impoverished children abroad flood our screens.
For a long time characters such as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons or Raj Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory were the only ones to appear in highly popular American sitcoms.
What to Read Next
On the rare occasion a South Asian character did occupy a central role in a show, they were more than likely to be male — that's why Never Have I Ever, whose female protagonist Devi is a first-generation Indian-American, is such a positive step forward.
It's written and directed by Mindy Kaling, and with the exception of The Mindy Project itself, Never Have I Ever is the first mainstream US sitcom with a female South Asian lead.
Devi (played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is 15 and the show centres around her high school life, which largely revolves around her trying to get the most popular guy in school, Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet), to like her in a bid to be normal.
Related: What Never Have I Ever needs to address in season two
But in addition to the high-school dramz, we are shown Devi grappling with two cultures: her Indian home life and her desire to be a normal teenager.
"Some loser tells me I'm too Indian, some other people think I'm not Indian enough," she says, encapsulating the classic perils of growing up in a culture where you are always made to feel like an outsider – a relatable situation for many immigrant children.
Devi subverts the typical nerdy-Indian-girl stereotype: she is outspoken and confident, she openly talks about wanting to have sex and she doesn't do everything her mother tells her to do.
She is by no means a perfect character either, and admittedly is quite annoying. She is selfish at times, rude to her mother and makes poor life choices based on what she thinks she should be like – most notably ditching her friends Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) when they need her most to impress a boy.
But aren't most 15-year-old teenagers guilty of all of the above?
Kaling said she based the character of Devi on her own experiences growing up and said she never intended for her to be a role model.
Ostensibly, Never Have I Ever embraces some stereotypes: Devi's cousin Kamala is meant to have an arranged marriage, her mother is a doctor with strict house rules and Devi herself is pressured to attend Princeton and takes part in all the extracurricular activities to boost her resume.
But alongside the stereotypes are examples of nuanced humour poking fun at their futility: we see three independent women – Devi, her mum Nalini and cousin Kamala – with their own minds and beliefs that show their characters and identities cannot be reduced to mere labels.
We also see subtle insights into American Indian life – Kaling wanted to tell a story similar to her own life growing up – and the fact that it is actually written by her shines through. Devi is asked for a picture because she looks like Princess Jasmine (an Arab character); and we see the gossipy judgemental community at the temple.
Some stereotypes exist for a reason and not every show with an Indian cast has to represent every single aspect of Indian culture – which is hugely diverse depending on state, class, and diaspora.
Never Have I Ever does not claim to be representative of the entire Indian-American experience, nor does the fact that it is one of the few mainstream representations mean it has to contain perfect characters.
More importantly, we are shown how Devi compartmentalises her grief for her father, who had a sudden heart attack at a school concert which led to her temporary paralysis: a traumatic devastating episode is sprinkled into the mundanity of high school life.
Throughout the show, Devi attends bereavement therapy sessions where she refuses to discuss her grief, nor does she tell anyone about her flashbacks to the traumatic day itself.
We see a very real depiction of triggering episodes. Despite being extravert about her desire to have sex, she is, as any other bereaved person, just trying to live her life as normal.
The way in which therapy is shown as a healthy way to explore and deal with feelings in a culture which often stigmatises mental health in a toxic manner is so refreshing and so important.
These are aspects that are rarely if ever touched upon in scripts by Western writers who too often choose to exoticise the otherness of Indian culture.
Kaling has written a three-dimensional Indian character who has an identity outside of being Indian, as well as beautifully exploring the subtleties of diaspora culture.
Having such a protagonist in a mainstream coming-of-age Netflix show is so rare — and for it to become the No.1 most watched show on Netflix shows how much it was sorely needed.
Never Have I Ever is available on Netflix.
Netflix/Left Bank Pictures The Crown season 3 with Amazon exclusive box artwork
Digital Spy now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.
Looking for more TV recommendations and discussion? Head over to our Facebook Group to see new picks every day, and chat with other readers about what they're watching right now.
