Formative Performances: Mindy Kaling in “The Office”

The performance I want to highlight on Day 6 of Women’s History Month is from a writer/actress/producer triple threat: Mindy Kaling from the American version of The Office.

As Kelly Kapoor, Kaling plays a character who is, out of context, pretty much a feminist’s nightmare. Kelly is shallow, self-absorbed, materialistic, gossipy, obsessed with diets, obsessed with romance, and willing to do anything to trap a man (including faking a pregnancy). Most of the characters on The Office are horrible in one way or another, but even people like Dwight and Angela are occasionally portrayed sympathetically, while Kelly is often the punchline of a joke.

At the same time, the punchline is always great, because Kelly consistently has the best line of the episode. Sometimes she only shows up for a few scenes, sometimes just for a talking head, but it’s always funny. Kelly remained funny even as the show went downhill.

The fact that Mindy Kaling wrote for the show makes the Kelly character even more enjoyable. When I watch Kaling as Kelly, I watch a smart, capable woman having the time of her life playing such an annoying, self-absorbed human being.

Mindy Kaling has now gone on to create and star in The Mindy Project, a show I also enjoy, but it’s her performance on The Office that I find most intriguing. If I were ever in a position to write for television, I’d want a job exactly like Kaling’s on that show: producer, writer, and cast member, who never had any major storylines but popped in to deliver the best line of the episode. That’s my personal definition of a dream job.