Several reasons have contributed to this. And Mindy Kaling’s lack of sensitivity could be one of them. The show’s decision to race-swap the protagonist and two other characters has caused mayhem among fans.
Kaling is the executive producer of the show along with Charlie Grandy, Sam Register, and Howard Klein. She is also the voice of the titular role, and has been slammed by netizens ever since Velma premiered on January 12, 2023.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s personal views.
What upset fans about Mindy Kaling’s Velma
Mindy Kaling’s failure to establish a connection with fans came through every time she spoke about the show. For instance, while speaking to a crowd of people in New York City, Kaling declared:
One might expect the creators of the show to take viewers’ tastes and responses into consideration while working on such well-known characters, but that does not seem to have been the case here. As such, there was no respect shown for the original characters while reframing them for the spinoff.
It is not just a badly made show. There are a lot of other elements that didn’t click with fans.
The show has abruptly experimented with race-swapping not one but three lead characters. That apart, the young adult comedy uses abusive language, emotional outbursts, and nudity in an attempt to seem contemporary.
Kaling has also been accused of pushing her agenda in this remake of the loveable persona. The new Velma is Indian, cynical, bitter, sarcastic and has a disturbing past.
While these qualities relate to Mindy’s idea of a teenager very close to her own personality, they are not reflective of the original depiction of the character, who was shy, sensitive, kind, and intelligent enough to solve mysteries.
The Mindy Kaling show has transformed her into a foul-mouthed caustic teen. This was not taken kindly by readers and fans.
Another blunder that the creators committed was trying to bring in all “woke” elements into this seemingly comfortable mystery series. Though racial diversity and queer inclusivity are acceptable, what takes away the fun is that they seem forced in the show.
Viewers were looking forward to the HBO Max series when it was announced in February 2021. However, Kaling’s decision to portray Velma as an Indian did not go down well with fans.
Despite the production team’s assurances that this would work out, when it didn’t, in a bid to justify the move, the team claimed that the show was aimed at modern viewers. Kaling also said that viewers who are happy to accept a dog solving mysteries should be okay with the titular character being Indian.
This insensitivity towards viewers’ sentiments also contributed to the show’s failure.
Mindy Kaling assumed that fans were reacting because Velma was a non-white character, which differed significantly from the original portrayal. However, that was not the case.
Viewers did not take too kindly to the revamped characters because they were not in favor of incorporating so many changes at the same time and instead wanted to be able to identify with the original Velma from the Scooby-Doo comics as well as the previous Warner Brothers shows.
Fans feel Mindy has depicted Velma in a wrong light
Mindy is believed to have pushed herself for the role. Instead of taking a few elements to embellish the character, she has ended up taking too much liberty with Velma, taking a distressed Indian teen with issues and forcing it into the Scooby-Doo fabric. She topped it off by stereotyping a nerdy girl with weak eyesight as an Indian.
Despite poor ratings, Kaling also said that her show was the most successful among HBO animations.
Given that fan response towards the show has been unfavorable right from the start, the production team’s decision to force inclusivity and incorporate bland humor in the story brewed the recipe for the disaster that Velma turned out to be.
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