Words by Shayni Solanki
After so many years, New Girl’s Cece is still one of television’s best representations of a brown girl.
Premiering in 2011, New Girl carried relatively solid ratings up until the show’s culmination in 2018. The sitcom’s marketing was largely centred around its quirky main character Jess, played by Zooey Deschanel. Thanks to TikTok, the show has recently experienced something of a renaissance.
Often seen beside Jess is her best friend Cece, played by Hannah Simone. Time and time again, women who aren’t white have been cast as simply the best friend of the main character, with little room for any added depth. This is where Cece broke the mould. From her first screen appearance, we’re shown that Cece has her own life independent of Jess, earning her living as a model with her own circle of friends, hobbies and love interests.
As the show progresses, Cece continues to be established as her own character. Whilst New Girl does tend to revolve around Jess and her storylines, Cece’s own arc isn’t ignored, even if it is often intertwined with Jess’. The friendship between the two women is filled with love and support, with any conflict between the pair never being dire, instead portraying a very realistic and healthy representation of female friendship.
Mindy Kaling’s name is often referenced when discussing brown girls on-screen. Kaling is talented, but the brown girls she creates in her shows are often insecure and inclined to belittle their own culture in order to impress love interests (see Never Have I Ever’s Devi Vishwakumar). Cece, however, is a strong-willed, confident character, proud of her heritage. New Girl platforms a realistic brown girl in Cece, who has experienced the ups and downs of life, without sacrificing her culture.
There will always be criticism about the way women of colour are portrayed on screen, and it’s completely understandable. There’s been some criticism about Cece deserving better. Some believe that she lacked progress as a character, saying she had no chance to grow because her friends tend to influence her decisions. This is a fair point of view, but arguably overlooks the point of New Girl.
The show is about people in their late-20s making bad life and career decisions, simply living day to day, and Cece is no exception. Not all representation on-screen has to be immediately successful or predictable. Sometimes it’s nice to see how someone struggles and grows from it. Because of that, Cece is the one of best brown girl representations we’ve seen on American television.
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