A week in, the response to “Velma,” HBO Max’s new animated series, has hardly been the stuff of reboot dreams.
The series is now the third lowest-rated television series on IMDB; HBO Max turned off comments on the show’s trailer; and the South Asian community has been loudly voicing its concerns that while the show includes diverse characters, it doesn’t further explore identity.
But there’s a resounding voice of critics saying the negative commentary might be misguided because Mindy Kaling, the voice of Velma and executive producer on the series, is being held to unfair standards as one of the only representations of South Asian women in the industry.
“She has become a lightning rod for this kind of criticism,” said Lakshmi Srinivas, an associate professor of Asian American studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
The new reboot of “Scooby-Doo” serves as the origin story of Velma — who is now a South Asian bisexual teenage girl — trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.
The series received underwhelming reviews from reviewers and viewers. Critics gave the series a 50% positive rating and audience members gave it 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. Many users said they were disappointed that the show excluded Scooby, and that the story line didn’t hold up to the original series.
Critics had mixed reactions, with some who said the show was cheeky for its outlandish jokes and its engrossing story line, while others said the characters were unpleasant to watch, saying Velma acted selfishly and Fred was depicted as a helpless wealthy snob.
Kaling and HBO Max did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
One of the main points some South Asians take issue with in “Velma” aligns with a long history of what some say is Kaling cherry-picking the most negative stereotypes about South Asians while not properly exploring racial dynamics. The jokes on the show and her characterization are similar to most of Kaling’s…
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