Dating : Dating, through Mindy Kaling

What I learned about dating through The Mindy Project

*Spoilers below*

If there’s one thing I love doing it’s binge watching a TV Show series.

I recently started The Mindy Project, a 6 season show that was aired on Fox and on Hulu, starring American actress, comedian, writer and producer Mindy Kaling. She gained traction from The Office, an NBC sitcom, where she played the character Kelly Kapoor.

The Mindy Project stars Mindy Kaling as a main character who works as an OBGYN in a medical practice in New York City. She is a sassy, bubbly and vivacious woman who is a romantic at heart and has a great sense of humor.

Although it was slightly cringe for me to watch an older woman act so immature and childish in some of her serious/casual relationships (the first episode shows her crashing her ex’s wedding….and getting locked up by the police), I’ve learned a thing or two about dating from her.

Below are 3 things that I learned about Dating from Mindy Kaling from The Mindy Project.

1) You Will Get Played

In season one of The Mindy Project, Mindy dates a rich and sleazy sports lawyer named Josh. It isn’t mentioned how long they date but it ends terribly with Mindy finding out that she was ‘The Other Woman’ at a Christmas Party in her own apartment in front of all her friends.

Ellie Kemper, another hilarious character from The Office plays Josh’s other girlfriend in the episode where he is exposed for being dishonest and a player and both women end up fighting each other while Josh escapes.

As hilarious as the episode ends, with Mindy getting a cake smushed in her face and Ellie getting chained to a staircase, it brings a grim reality to dating experiences.

Sometimes you can be loyal, honest, committed and invested in your relationship and still be taken advantage of by the other party. Respect yourself and walk away when you’re being played.

It didn’t matter how well Mindy treated him or how committed she was to the relationship. It was never going to change the fact that Josh was not a good guy. In later episodes Josh even comes back and reveals that he wasn’t just playing 2 women, there were almost 4 other women that he was involved with at the same time too…

Dodge a bullet there much, Mindy?

2) Find someone that forces you to be the best version of yourself

During season 2 and 3, Danny and Mindy date.

Personally, I didn’t think that Danny and Mindy did not make a good couple. Danny was super controlling, Mindy was unable to make her own decisions in the relationship and neither ever changed or matured entirely.

Their relationship ends abruptly, partly due to Danny leaving the show, but also because of their built up issues and projections of their past traumas.

Though over all their relationship was terrible, there are some aspects that I can appreciate.

One example is how hard Danny pushes Mindy to be at her best health and work out. He accompanies her to the gym when she endeavors to lose weight, and holds her accountable for eating healthy when she is pregnant.

Part of a healthy, successful relationship includes both partners pushing each other to be healthy.

Holding each other accountable for reaching their goals and making good decisions are indicators of a mature, healthy relationship.

3) Keep loving, unapologetically

Over the course of 6 seasons of this show, Mindy had her fair share of breakups.

Each time she had to go through a breakup, Mindy kept moving on. Though her outlet was eating endless amounts of cake, drinking herself to sleep and her porn addiction, she none the less moved on from almost every relationship.

“Nothing helps a broken heart like having someone wonderful give you theirs”

-Rita Stradling

It’s hard to think about loving someone again after having your heart broken, but Mindy does a great job of showing her viewers that it is possible to move on, and that yes, there will be another one in the future.