How Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever Is A Tribute To Her Younger Self

gamerant.com:

Currently on its third season, Never Have I Ever has been received considerably well by viewers and critics alike. It follows a first-generation Indian American teen girl, Devi, as she tries to navigate the struggles of growing up, and all the mistakes, maturing, and heartbreak that it entails.

While the series certainly does a fantastic job capturing the complexity of growing up in the US in an immigrant family, the other perspectives the show includes creates an even broader span of people it's relatable to. Its broad span of characters with different backgrounds, interests, and different types of intelligence and worth, illustrates the raw and challenging trial of growing up that everyone endures.

Never Have I Ever Season 3 Review

Because this period of life that everyone goes through is a time of learning for everyone, there’s no doubt that Mindy Kaling’s own experiences as a teen played a role in her motivation for creating Never Have I Ever. Her distinct and lovable voice is clearly woven into all the humor and characters of the show, but it’s likely that some points more than others mean something to Kaling. Though the setting and time period may have been tweaked to make the series more appealing to the youth of the times, Kaling has admitted that the show is loosely based on her own experiences growing up in Boston.

One of the most unique qualities of the show that both creates a sense of clarity and, again, alternate perspectives, is its constant use of narrators. Most often this is the voice of John McEnroe narrating Devi’s life, though sometimes other characters get a focus episode that comes with their own personal narrator. Because this is a story about making mistakes in one's youth and learning from them,