Rashmi mentioned to me that a recent episode of Outsourced was particularly troubling, so after I watched it we decided to each write about it. Read Rashmi’s take on the specific episode in her article “Outsourced, I love you no more!”.
I suppose I have something more along the lines of “Outsourced, I never really loved you”. To give some background: The reason why Outsourced is… the way it is, is because of its producers. It is another show that is mostly about desis, but is primarily produced by white men. It enforces stereotypes about desis that white people, and really anyone who isn’t familiar with our culture, are usually unequipped to understand or analyze. There is a certain sense of self-affirmation and being in on the joke when we see desis playing out stereotypes about our community in a humorous fashion. However, there is a difference between Outsourced and a show like Goodness Gracious Me, which had a desi cast, a team of desi writers, and at least one desi producer. Outsourced, on the other hand, grounds the colonial concept of a large group of desis working for a white man, in their own country. The stereotypes performed and played out in this show are not owned by empowered desis.
I am a huge fan of sitcoms and lighthearted comedy, so initially Outsourced was just another show I was going to give a shot. Since it was about desis, I was wary, but even critics don’t have the tools to critique until they’ve indulged the thing. Aaand the more episodes I watched the more I was convinced the white people that made this show were out to ruin us. While the producers were preying on clues as to what desi jokes to use for their next episode, I do not doubt that they were playing up on the stereotypical desi man’s repressed sexuality and queerphobia. In fact, desi men have been depicted as timid and weak since colonial times; since it was then that those with more power delegitimized desi men’s sense of self. And to neutralize any sense of powerlessness or vulnerability, desi men have acted out with sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. But will viewers of the episode “Rajiv Ties the Baraat” understand this? Will they see through the marketing of this show, and the manipulation of desi culture and imperfections? No. They will continue to laugh along and think about how much it would suck to find out that their “female stripper” was “really a man”, as Rajiv said, degradingly. I want to mentally slap the producers of this show, because it is essentially them that produce these transphobic thoughts for people to buy.
There were several instances in this episode that play on stereotypes of desi’s gender and sexuality expression across the spectrum. To begin with, the two significant white men on the show, Todd and Charlie, are at the Sangeet and have a side conversation. First they remark on the woes of not being able to find a single stripper in “a country full of so much unintentional 3rd world nudity”. Ugh. Then they proceed to claim that they couldn’t find any of the supplies they needed for a bachelor party, because of course the citizens of India must pray when they party. While Todd and Charlie are stressing out about that, Manmeet is figuring out how to get it on with his White American girlfriend. Manmeet is a character that is portrayed as more effeminate and instead of respecting or celebrating this characteristic of his; his sexuality and character are infantilized and made to seem humorous. This is a common trope assigned to “the innocent brown boy” in a show, comparable to Fez from That ‘70s Show. Moving on, we get to the aforementioned scene. When the bachelor party happens, one of them says they have found a stripper. As she walks in the door Rajiv is horrified that she is a hijra and starts insisting on being confused about titles and pronouns. While Charlie ponders whether the stripper’s status as a “hijra” was the cause for a cheaper or more expensive price, she dances silently around Rajiv smiling at him, dancing with him, as he berates her. I question the motives of the producers as they wrote this part of the script. With sexism and transphobia compounded, the hijra was completely objectified.
Rather than expecting or trusting primarily straight, white people in control of the media to represent us fairly and respectfully, we have to do it for ourselves. And more accurately, rather than allowing them to continually fail at representing us fairly and respectfully, we need to let them know that they do not have our permission or the right to do so. First we have to take ownership of what is our own and learn what stories we want to communicate to each other that are positive, negative and neutral about our culture. Then we undeniably have to consider how the public may react to what we put out there about our intra-community dynamics regarding race, gender, and sexuality.
Nice opinion piece, Anurag. Thought provoking. It is about time, we confront LGBT phobia and subtle racism, served in the form of comedy in the media.
Nice one Anurag. While I feel I can cut some slack for race, culture, status and queerness related stuff in the sitcoms, this show and a lot more go far enough to only use my freedom of slackness to them.
I do not know if the Indian characters in this sitcom have any sense of self-respect in portraying such phobic feelings.
As a man of color -albeit not of Desi- descent, but a lifelong admirer of the beauty of the Desi man- and knowing how antiquated most Americans view of India/Indian culture- i shuddered when i heard about this show-as u could just assume what it was going to be- and i watched the first episode-and got pretty much what i expected…the same pat, stereotypical caricatures that Euro/USA white men put on any ‘ethnicity’…… So tune in when nothing else is on- and not even Sacha Dhawan’s huge, dreamy brown eyes can make me stay now…. I had wondered how Desi watchers of the show take it…
Very nicely written, Anurag! … However, the sexuality mess-up aside … had we been making the very same jokes – wouldn’t that have just been funny?
Well written, Anurag.
I found in discussing this episode with many of my straight desi friends that they did not understand why those jokes were phobic at all. As they saw it it was put forth clearly as sarcasm and irony, as most of the jokes on this show have been when it comes to Desi stereotypes.
But I was very offended, and I felt many of the same things you described here.
I too wonder, Rashmi, how these actors feel as they portray such things about their own culture under the guise of “comedy”.
I was watching Suhasini’s tamil movie review show on the movie ‘Narthaki’ and though she looks strictly from a two-gender view she is very respectful of the alternate reality to a bigendered world.
When people who know less about a group of people have the basic sense to be respectful, I wonder why the international audience and film/sitcom-makers lack it and do not want to discuss it openly.
Ditto. Was thinking just that on seeing the review.
Interesting post.
If it’s any consolation, NBC has cancelled ‘Outsourced’ due to all the criticism the show received in it’s first season.
Yeah I heard! I was gonna post a comment with a link to the article about it but I forgot.
would luv link to article saying Outsourced was canned due mote to complaints than low ratings….. having ‘argument’ with whit guy on Facebook who thinks there was nothing offensive about outsourced -very typical, clueless white response…