Master Of None is Aziz Ansari’s new show on Netflix premiering on Friday. Last night there was a screening and Q&A moderated by Jon Hamm (we’ll get to him later). This is probably Aziz’s most significant career move yet – he co-created and co-writes with Alan Yang, from Parks And Recreation, and he’s the star. Which is exciting for everyone, not just because of his talent but because this is how diversity is happening now. People like Mindy Kaling and Aziz Ansari are producing their own content. They’re voicing their own stories. And the result?
Aziz plays a character called Dev. Dev is an actor, mostly commercials. Dev is a millennial. Dev is the son of an immigrant so he tries but he doesn’t have to worry.
F-ck. YES.
That sentence right there? That’s a universal immigrant experience. And this. This!
“Fun is a luxury only your generation had.”
Dev’s dad says this during the second episode, “Parents,” an astounding piece of work that announces why Master Of None should exist. In the opening sequence, Dev and his buddy Brian (Kelvin Yu) blow off their fathers’ simple requests (computer help, fetching rice from the store) so they don’t miss the trailers or the movie trivia questions before the new X-Men movie. Each father flashes back to his youth and his immigration to the United States, thinking about how they came from India and Taiwan to become successful New Yorkers, giving their sons the opportunities they were never afforded so those same sons could blow them off for seeing one of 15 X-Men movies (although, according to Brian, this one does make the top nine). “Parents” isn’t a tragedy; instead, it shows the simple, inescapable divides created by immigrants and their first-generation-American children, and how those divides are smaller than they appear. Dev’s dad may chide his son for the freedoms he takes for granted, but he also enjoys those same freedoms. This is something that Louie is never going to tackle because Louis CK can’t, and that’s totally okay. (Source)
It is totally OK. It’s OK to be interested in other narratives. It’s exciting that there are other narratives being made available to us to be interested in. It’s amazing that Aziz Ansari has this opportunity and that, clearly, he seems to be making the most of it. I’ve read several reviews so far. And everyone seems to be on board. Click here to read Variety’s and the trailer is below. The part when the kids start pointing out “black lady, Chinese man!” kills me every time. PS. Aziz’s own dad plays Dev’s dad.
