Monday, February 29, 2016

Pop Culture Fun Series: Dev, Master of None

So I recently finished the new Netflix comedy Master of None created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang. I've been a fan of Ansari's for awhile beginning with Human Giant, loved him on Parks and Recreation as the absurd Tom Haverford, and last year read his book Modern Love a surprisingly smart and funny book. I say surprisingly smart because I am a fan of comedy writer books but frequently have found many actually can't write a book and Ansari actually wrote a decent book about modern dating that was funny and shockingly backed up by real research. So to say I was excited for Master of None is an understatement. I like an Ansari he is funny, his humor can be dirty, and yet he seems to be genuinely not an asshole. After reading Modern Love I knew he could tackle issues with an excellent humor perspective that could be smart and sharp and what I think makes Ansari so great is the guy has a clear sense of empathy. I mean the guy can tell dirty jokes with the rest of them but he is not a derogatory asshole.

So as I expected Master of None definitely is about modern romantic relationships, it tackles lots of other issues as well such as race representation, but the main underlying theme of this show is modern romance. That is okay, especially when it is done well. Dev is a romantic, Aziz Ansari is a romantic, and Tom Haverford is a romantic, hell Ansari wrote a book about modern dating this is clearly a zone he likes to be in.

So as I watched Master of None it also became apparent to me that this show has a clear sense of style. Dev is a stylish guy, he is a guy who is into sensory experiences, especially food, his apartment (however unrealistic for New York) is clearly been decorated with care and a sense of intellectual romanticism. His first date with Rachel involves taking her all the way to Nashville. Dev of course wears perfume, in fact as I watched more I clearly knew that this character would have spent time making sure these perfumes represented his character well. They would be stylish but definitely romantic, in fact they would probably classic and yet not run of the mill. In fact I have a scene in my head of him and Arnold roaming around Sephora while Dev tries to find the perfect perfume and he is making Arnold smell all this stuff.

Dev's everyday scent is Atelier Cologne's Vetiver Fatal it has that plum note that appeals to the gourmand in him and yet the fresh earthy citrus aspects of vetiver wears excellent in New York. The scent is neither too fresh nor too off-kilter, it just smells really good and makes for an excellent everyday wear without smelling like everyone else. The scent is unobtrusive but has character, excellent if you are constantly interacting with people like an actor does.

The scent though that represents Dev to me the most is Guerlain's L'Instant pour homme. This is Dev's going out scent. It is combination of romance, gourmand, and intelligence all of the things Dev wants to represent. it is a extremely likable never aggressive scent. The cocoa note of course speaks to Dev's love of food and the sandalwood is an excellent all around smell but not intense and overbearing. It's romantic but never tries to be a lothario.









First image from Complimentarycritic.com
Second image from cimg.tvgcdn.net
Third image from ateliercologne.com
Fourth image from makeupalley.com

3 comments:

marzipan said...

Just got a the sampler of Atelier's (30 2ml samples in all) and was bewildered by Vetiver Fatale...now I get why it is so sweet! My favourites of the bunch were Orange Sanguine (ended up buying the whopping 6.8 oz bottle to share with my daughters and mother), Vanille Insensee (the oakmoss in this one makes it so good) and Cedrat Iniverant (very similar to Orange Sanguine)

marzipan said...

And Mandarine Glaciel (not spelling it correctly, I know!) which smells like sweet mandarine/nectarine sherbet!

Unknown said...

Yes, Vetiver Fatale is confusing until you realize the notes. Orange Sanguine is very enjoyable, liked the Neroli one a lot, Vanille Insensee does not work on me and can't say I have tried the other two you have mentioned.