ABSTRACT
In various interviews Master of None (MON) (Netflix, 2015-21) creators Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang discuss how the concerns the characters express about dating, racism, and the problems of finding the best tacos take inspiration from their daily lives. They also claim a visual style aligned with, at first, 1970s New Hollywood auteurs like Hal Ashby. This cinephilia, especially for post-World War II Euro-American auteurs, persists in the subsequent seasons alongside Ansari and Yang's avowed politics to improve representation for Asian Americans and other people of color in film and television.
Netflix is now thought of as a global media empire, however in its foray into original series programming it presented itself like an independent maverick, especially as it used “indie-auteurs” to market its programs. MON aspires to be a corrective to Euro-American film canons that have whitewashed New York and the world in general. This chapter explores the function of the more strident cinephilia as the show continues, especially in its more recent season. Unsurprisingly, it is not only connected to Ansari's public sexual assault allegations, but also to the gendered and racial valences of cinematic aesthetics and the auteur.
