Mindy Kaling knows the importance of diverse storytelling, dynamic character development, and “shows about horny young women who want to be in relationships.”
At the Time 100 2022 Summit on Tuesday, Kaling and Netflix’s global head of TV Bela Bajaria talked about creating entertaining television shows that also prioritize inclusive storytelling. Kaling and Bajaria worked together on “The Mindy Project” and in bringing the hit series “Never Have I Ever” to Netflix.
“What I like about the shows is they’re not like, ‘We’re going to teach you how to be inclusive,’” Kaling said during the panel event. “They’re just really entertaining and sexy and fun, and what’s so shrewd about the way [Netflix] has programmed its shows is they just happen to have casts that we never see traditionally.”
She said she brings diversity to her shows by thinking about the kind of television she’d want to watch.
“As it turns out, those are shows about horny young women who want to be in relationships,” Kaling said. “What they show more than actual sex — they show women who are longing for connection and relationships, and women who’ve been traditionally told you can’t want to be in sexual situations or to be sexy, being able to explore that in a funny way.”
Kaling voiced a similar opinion during her acceptance speech for the A100 Legend Award at the 2022 Gold Gala last month. She said she likes to write about complex women, who are often labeled as unlikable because they don’t align with the audience’s expectations of how the character should be.
“It is also really rewarding that so much of my work features South Asian women getting to be sexual on their own terms versus being an exotic beauty who like, explodes from a genie lamp,” Kaling said. “We have women spanning from their teen years to Indian grandmothers who are exploring desire and being desired.”
Last month, Kaling revealed her character Velma, who she reimagined as South Asian in her new Scooby-Doo spinoff, “Velma,” expected to be released on HBO Max later this year.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.