Never Have I Ever... realised that the show is basically Ugly Betty meets K-dramas
What do Devi Vishwakumar and Betty Suarez have in common? And how are they connected to K-dramas? Read on to get all your questions answered…
Jun 14, 2023
Never Have I Ever, Ugly Betty, and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
Back in the early 2000s, Ugly Betty was all the rage. Adapted from the Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty, La Fea, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. It even inspired the Hindi soap Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, which made Mona Singh a household name.
Read also: Never Have I Ever Season 4 review: It pulls you in, leaving you to predict everything right!
The protagonist, Betty Suarez, portrayed by America Ferrera, had an unconventional appearance and unique sense of style that defied traditional beauty standards.
Cut to Devi Vishwakumar, the protagonist of Never Have I Ever. Played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, season 1 of Mindy Kaling's show sees Devi as a ‘nobody’ in her high school, Sherman Oaks, who often describes herself as a "loser", much like what everyone saw Betty Suarez as.
Like Betty, Devi isn't the best-looking girl around. And like Betty, she is intelligent, smart, and a go-getter who lets little get in the way of her determination.
Let's look at other parallels. Betty is trying to find her way around and make her mark in the cutthroat fashion world, while Devi initially tries to blend in and later rules her high school, considered equally cutthroat and difficult to fit into.
People initially look down on Betty, despite her obvious talents, as they do on Devi. They are both goofy and have a knack for getting themselves embroiled in messy situations that they would otherwise do best to avoid.
As both shows progress, Devi and Betty go on to win the hearts of the most good-looking and popular people, becoming one with them and, in the process, becoming quite popular themselves as they become accepted and even celebrated for who they are.
And of course, may I add the obvious similarity: Betty and Devi are both women of colour in America who stand out and then later shine among their white peers.
Now, what is the K-drama connection, you ask? Full marks for paying attention!
The thing about 99% of K-dramas, or Korean rom-coms to be more specific, is that they all have a nice, sweet happy ending, with everyone finding their ideal partners and coupling up.
When I watched the final episode — actually the final season itself — it was clear that all the characters on Never Have I Ever were also getting their happily ever afters as they finally and in a rather well-orchestrated manner find their perfect partners.
Devi and Ben (Jaren Lewison) finally confess their feelings for each other and end up dating. Even her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), and grandmother, Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty), find partners; Elanor (Ramona Young) makes up with Trent (Benjamin Norris); Kamala (Richa Moorjani) gets her dream job and is happily settled in with Manish (Utkarsh Ambudkar); and even Paxton (Darren Barnet) finds his life’s calling as well as a new girlfriend, Lindsay (Genneya Walton).
Could the last season of Never Have I Ever been better? For sure! It was too predictable, and there seemed to be a rush to make everything end on a happy, cheery note. Also, the sudden forced Indianness in the last two episodes stood out like a sore thumb.
But was it a treat for someone who also enjoyed watching Ugly Betty and gets her daily fix of K-dramas? Oh, yes!
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