First, Aziz Ansari, the creator and star of Netflix’s series Master of None, is a genius. The way he subtly exposes issues challenging single people today – especially with existing stereotypes of race, gender, and sexuality – is amazing. He points out our flaws and weaknesses in a way that truth gleams through without all the preaching.
Genius.
Season 2 is more amazing in many ways than season 1, (which admittedly I had my doubts about since i LOVED season 1). He goes from one life transition to another, in work and in love, trying to figure things out. He begins the season in the small town of Modena, Italy, the place he escaped to in the aftermath of his breakup in season 1, and it seems he’s no more wise or happy there. (Though he does love making pasta…) He ends up back in New York, but comes to realize he’s fallen for the Italian girl he befriended in Modena.
To take his mind off of her, he turns to online dating.
And the scenes of first date conversations are everything you have experienced if you’ve spent any time dating. Cringe-y. Magical. Boring. Appalling. Interesting. Fun. All of it.
And the women he dates make a lot of mistakes. They act rude to waiters, they talk incessantly instead of asking questions and engaging, and they disappear for fifteen minutes to take calls for work. One of them pulls out her phone to start swiping on a dating app in the middle of a conversation, because it’s such a “habit.”
Aziz’s character Dev does some pretty bad things himself, including sending the same opening message to all of his matches and sleeping with someone whose morals he questions, just to get some. And because he’s lonely.
We’ve all done bad things on dates.
But here’s the truth – it’s good to own it. Accept that you make mistakes. If you do this, you might be more forgiving of the mistakes your date makes. And you might correct yourself and make better decisions going forward.
Dating is not for the weak. It takes a lot of balls to meet a stranger and strike up a conversation, to see if you click.
But it also takes balls to admit you’ve made mistakes. That you could do better. And we all can do better.
Thanks for pointing this out Aziz.
XO,
Kelly
About Kelly Seal
Kelly is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about dating, relationships, personal growth and what "healthy living" means to her. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter @kellyseal or through her website www.kellyseal.com.
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