Master of None: Sitcom or Dark Satire?
View this post on Instagram
Master of None is the audacious, critically acclaimed offering from comedy sensation, Aziz Ansari. It follows aspiring actor Dev Shah and the adventures that come with his modern life in New York.
Dev welcomes you into what feels like a carefree rom-com. At a shallow glance, the show is just some good wholesome fun – a cheeky glance into interesting cultural trends and social quirks. The characters are so diverse that by the end of the season you find yourself completely invested in strangers. These are stories about people on the periphery, stories about people you’ve met but don’t truly know.
View this post on Instagram
In one such revealing episode, Ansari asks you how much you truly know about old people. Dev sneaks his girlfriend’s grandma out of a retirement village and they hit the town. You’re swept away by the tomfoolery as they wine and dine, fully absorbed by the contrasting perspectives of two vastly different eras. It’s only slowly that an eerie realisation begins to overtake your thoughts.
When was the last time I talked to my grandmother?
What am I going to do when my parents grow old?
Why are retirement homes such a hotbed for STDs?
View this post on Instagram
The show has a remarkable ability to disguise deeper examinations of everyday life as fun, punchy romps. It allures you in with millennial mischief, but you end up immersed in conflicts, questioning your own perceived realities. Master of None made me rethink through my relationships. It made me question why I haven’t ‘lived’ more for the stories around me. It explored issues that are so present in my life yet so often swept to a place forgotten.
View this post on Instagram
The episode ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ alone, should be a part of the sexual-education curriculum in schools. At a time of #MeToo and “Pussy Grabbing”, the show’s dissection of misogyny and privilege underlines the gap in the conversation about gender dynamics, while working to prove there are still avenues available for compromise.
This offbeat cast and wicked soundtrack enable you to explore diverse characters and untold stories often unseen in mainstream media. The episode ‘Parents’ is an obvious example. In a country littered with the prosperous lives of migrant children, it’s easy to forget the challenges our forebears surpassed to enable such success.
The ‘Parents’ episode of Master Of None on @NetflixUK is a blinkin’ masterpiece. Watch it. Then see if you don’t call your mum or dad.
— Brett Goldstein (@brettgoldstein) November 21, 2015
Master of None, for the most part, depicts Dev as he contemplates the complexities of modern romance. This struggle begins with his search for someone to love, but inevitably becomes a search for himself. Following his misadventures, his glee becomes your joy, his ruin becomes your loss, and most of all, his ceaseless FOMO becomes your introspection of modern millennial self-focused views.
When it feels like we’re falling deeper into our screens and ‘lost for purpose’, Master of None dispels our idleness and brings us to bear upon some hard truths. With everything at our fingertips, are we too paralysed by choice?
Be the first to comment!