To anyone who knows me it’s no secret that I want to be a writer. It’s a passion that is nothing short of all-consuming. However, not that many people actually know is how serious I am about scriptwriting, directing and acting; a love that came much later than my love for novels and hasn’t left since. While I performed in a Shake&Stir production of the Tempest, I was able to see what our director and writers did with the script and that left me with no doubt in my mind that I had to do this myself.
Only there were a few issues. Well one issue. I was afraid I couldn’t do it. I was afraid I wasn’t good enough, or smart enough or connected enough; but above all, I thought I wasn’t white enough. If you turn on Australian television or put on a film, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single character that isn’t white.
Like many people, Puberty Blues is one of my favourite TV shows
It’s a problem that’s not as bad on channels like ABC and SBS than channels like Ten or Seven. Even watching American television shows, I noticed that any non-white character seemed like an afterthought, an archetype to garner laughs or sympathy. The sassy black girl, the nerdy Asian, the clueless foreign student…The list goes on. I also realised that none of my favourite movies or television shows were created, directed or written by women, which prompted me to do more research only to discover that 95% of directors are men, despite 50% of film school graduates being women.
I was in a fit of despair. I thought I could never succeed, that I should just cut my losses and focus on getting in Med School. That is, until I discovered for myself, Mindy Kaling.
Mindy Kaling
To any Office fans, I can assume you’re scoffing at my lateness. You’ve known about Ms Kaling’s amazingness for a while now. I’m sorry, please forgive me. I stumbled across this explosion of talent while I was looking for a new television show to watch and her new show ‘The Mindy Project’ (which she created) seemed like a good idea. I watched the first season in a day before realising I needed to pace myself. Even though I took my time watch the second season, it still finished too quickly and I found myself staring at a 2 month hiatus until the next episode. I’m not ashamed to say I cried. I was so upset. Here was a show about this Indian woman who couldn’t cook, had heaps of horrible boyfriends, spoke like ‘a twelve year old girl’ and she was the main character! I was shocked. It didn’t even occur to me that this could happen and so, of course, I lapped it up. Mindy (the character not the person) was this incredibly smart and unique character who was so intensely funny and addictive that I soon found myself imitating her voice and mannerisms which is a definite sign of idolisation.
During the Season Two hiatus I kept myself busy by reading, re-reading and re-reading certain chapters of her book, re-watching the Mindy Project and (obsessively) googling everything I could about Mindy. She went to Dartmouth College (which even as an Australian I know is REALLY important). With her best friend Brenda Withers, she created this insanely funny play called Matt and Ben, based on the lives of actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It’s a dear wish of mine that I was alive back then so I could watch the play in all its hilarity instead of settling with Youtube clips.
Mindy then went on to work on television eventually becoming a writer on the lovely television show the Office. She also played the role of Kelly Kapoor.
Oh, Kelly!
Mindy is what inspired me to start writing again. I began talking to people I knew who knew about filmmaking, writing, acting and directing and became more informed about what I wanted to do. I owe a lot of my current confidence to the women who gave us the quote ‘There is no sunrise worth waking me up to see”. //
Zaitoon x
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