Master of None is a dramatic comedy created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang for Netflix, which stars Ansari as Dev Shah, a 30-year-old actor living in New York City. This clip from Master of None intercuts two coming out scenes. In one scene, Denise, a black lesbian, comes out to Dev as a child, and, in the other, she comes out to her mother as an adult. Dev’s accepting attitude is contrasted with her mother’s disappointment.

discussion

Compare Dev’s reaction to Denise’s mother’s reaction. How are they different? How can we tell based on their conversation, facial expressions, body language?

Why do you think Denise’s mother is disappointed? How does she show it?

How does this scene highlight the difficulties of coming out in the black community? Do you think this scene play out differently if Denise were a black man? A white woman?

How does this scene compare to other coming out scenes you’ve seen in movies, television or online?