hating outsourced?

How Racist is "Outsourced"?


Side note: One of us (Sacha Dhawan!) was in "The History Boys".

Lots of people seem to be annoyed about NBC's newest Thursday night comedy. Many of my friends refuse to watch it, citing racism and rampant stereotyping. At first I was also concerned. The show could have easily turned into a comedy based solely on racist jokes. The first episode was really problematic (it showed the workers in India as totally clueless about America, and made jokes about Todd's bad reactions to Indian food). However, I've watched the last couple of episodes, and the show is working hard to actually develop the characters. They've (mainly) moved past the inappropriate Indian stereotypes. And the truth of the matter is that whether racism is overt or not, it's basically present in everything we watch. Check out this study.

For those of you who don't know the premise: Todd is a manager for Mid-American Novelties. The company decides to outsource their ordering service to India, and Todd is told to move there to oversee the switch.

The entire show revolves around Todd adjusting to Indian life. And, honestly, if anyone is shown in a bad light, it's Todd. He is often shockingly stupid about culture in India.

Are there issues with the show? Definitely. Is it racist? I think you can see hints of racism in most episodes. But it also depends on your interpretation. I certainly don't think that the writers are trying to be racist. If anything, they're trying to write a new "Office". Just set in India, with a "fish out of water" experience.

The Americans are often presented as complete idiots for the sake of "comedy" (sometimes this is funnier than others). On tonight's episode (3/24/11) Todd video chats with an American HR Rep. She proceeds to hit on him repeatedly, telling him it doesn't matter because she can just erase what she says:
"In fact, I'm in charge of the tapes...ass, ass, ass, ass, ASS."
Everyone else who is in the United States is also presented in a bad light. Jerry, the owner of the company, occasionally appears via video chat, making ridiculous suggestions while driving poorly or eating whole steaks with his hands.

Sure many of the Indian characters are presented as just as quirky and eccentric as Todd and Jerry, but that's part of what this comedy is about. It's very character driven. If it were completely PC and showed a sensible manager with typical employees it would be boring as hell.

There are also times when aspects of Indian culture are celebrated. Todd and Asha had brief romantic relationship, but she was committed to the idea of an arranged marriage, and she is now engaged in the show*. "Outsourced" is doing a good job of reflecting why Asha wants an arranged marriage, and it should be interesting to see how this evolves.



So, will "Outsourced" be renewed for another season? It's not yet clear. Last week its audience grew by 7 percent (to 3.64 million viewers). Robert Borden, the executive producer, spoke to the LA Times today and expressed his hopes that the show would be renewed.



*I was a little upset when Asha and Todd broke up, but now he's dating Tonya, so I definitely feel better about that. You know, cause she's hot. And Australian.



"Outsourced" is on NBC on Thursdays at 10:30 pm