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Read Mindy Kaling’s Field Guide to Rom-Com Leading Ladies

Photo: John Shearer/2011 Getty Images
HOLLYWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 10:  Actress Mindy Kaling arrives at Elyse Walker Presents Pink Party '11 Hosted By Jennifer Garner To Benefit Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Program at Drai's Hollywood on September 10, 2011 in Hollywood, California.  (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for Pink Party)
Photo: John Shearer/2011 Getty Images
The Klutz Despite being five feet nine and weighing a hundred and ten pounds, she is basically like a drunk buffalo who has never been a part of human society. The Ethereal Weirdo If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her. The Woman Who Is Obsessed with Her Career and Is No Fun at All Often, a script calls for this uptight career woman to “relearn” how to seduce a man, and she has to do all sorts of crazy degrading crap, like eat a hot dog in a sexy way or something. The Forty-two-Year-Old Mother of the Thirty-Year-Old Male Lead When “Mom” was an adolescent, the very week she started to menstruate she was impregnated with a baby who would grow up to be the movie’s likable brown-haired leading man. The Sassy Best Friend You know that really hilarious and horny best friend who is always asking about your relationship and has nothing really going on in her own life? [Ed. Note: This character is sometimes also known as The Sassy Gay Best Friend.] The Skinny Woman Who Is Beautiful and Toned but Also Gluttonous and Disgusting If you look closely, you can see this woman’s ribs through the dress she’s wearing—that’s how skinny she is, this cheesecake-loving cow. The Woman Who Works in an Art Gallery How many freakin’ art galleries are out there? [NYer]

Which Zooey Deschanel character romantic-comedy archetype do you not identify with most?



1. “The Klutz”

2. “The Ethereal Weirdo”

3. “The Woman Who Is Obsessed with Her Career and Is No Fun at All”

4. “The Forty-two-Year-Old Mother of the Thirty-Year-Old Male Lead”

5. “The Sassy Best Friend”

6. “The Skinny Woman Who Is Beautiful and Toned but Also Gluttonous and Disgusting”

7. “The Woman Who Works in an Art Gallery”[NYer]

Read Mindy Kaling’s Field Guide to Rom-Com Leading Ladies