Young Gifted and Brown
04/08/08 19:08 Filed in: About Me
Last night my friend asked me "Why do you like
Hindi films so much?" I get this question
relatively regularly, especially from people who
grew up watching them, which I didn't, and/or who
grew up in India (which I didn't). One of these
days I'll have to ask why they ask.
I replied to him that my answer depends on which film we're talking about. I think if pressed I could come up with categories of films I tend to like (naming them could be fun - watch out for an update) and why.
His question has been ringing in my ears. Today I realized one reason.
Let's take, for example, Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). If that movie were made in Hollywood, the cast would have included probably no brown actors. All the characters running around in their Polo clothes would have flashed me right back to 8th grade, the year I made a bad decision to go to private school because I thought there I would get less stick for actually liking to learn (which is not the same thing as liking school, I should add). I figured if you were paying for school, it must be because you really wanted to go. The school was on the edge of town and every day I had to ride the school bus with all the kids sporting their Jordache, Polo, Izod etc. gear who would tell jokes like "Mexicans are proof the Indians f***ed the buffalo" and blow spit bubbles on me. Even my blue-eyed, blonde "best friend" would laugh. Not happy times.
I begged my parents to let me go back to public school after the first half of the year, but they refused. I realized other people pay for school so their kids can avoid the kids who don't pay - education has little to do with the equation.
Now, until today I've never connected KKHH's costuming with those memories of mine, and even after imagining a Hollywood version (which would no doubt be a poor imitation for many reasons to do with the differences in storytelling sensibilities), the Indian original doesn't hold any bad connections for me. The Indian version isn't connected to America at all, and I can enjoy those characters without the sense that I would be not only outside the story, but likely unwelcome if it were of American origin.
I replied to him that my answer depends on which film we're talking about. I think if pressed I could come up with categories of films I tend to like (naming them could be fun - watch out for an update) and why.
His question has been ringing in my ears. Today I realized one reason.
Let's take, for example, Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). If that movie were made in Hollywood, the cast would have included probably no brown actors. All the characters running around in their Polo clothes would have flashed me right back to 8th grade, the year I made a bad decision to go to private school because I thought there I would get less stick for actually liking to learn (which is not the same thing as liking school, I should add). I figured if you were paying for school, it must be because you really wanted to go. The school was on the edge of town and every day I had to ride the school bus with all the kids sporting their Jordache, Polo, Izod etc. gear who would tell jokes like "Mexicans are proof the Indians f***ed the buffalo" and blow spit bubbles on me. Even my blue-eyed, blonde "best friend" would laugh. Not happy times.
I begged my parents to let me go back to public school after the first half of the year, but they refused. I realized other people pay for school so their kids can avoid the kids who don't pay - education has little to do with the equation.
Now, until today I've never connected KKHH's costuming with those memories of mine, and even after imagining a Hollywood version (which would no doubt be a poor imitation for many reasons to do with the differences in storytelling sensibilities), the Indian original doesn't hold any bad connections for me. The Indian version isn't connected to America at all, and I can enjoy those characters without the sense that I would be not only outside the story, but likely unwelcome if it were of American origin.
Scientologists <3 Ant & Dec - Let's get ready to rumble
03/08/08 23:12 Filed in: Television
Commentary
My favourite variety show
hosts, Ant & Dec, are apparently going
down a a smash with Scientologists in the
US. Say what?
Ok, says the Daily Star, so you may want to get outside verification. But check out the article link above all the same for extreme British tabloid fun!
I've really enjoyed their Saturday Night Takeaway for its nearly sarcasm-free zone of good natured gags, interviews, skits, and audience contests. It may be a little sweet seeming for most edgy Americans (and probably is twee even in the UK!). I like it, perhaps because I loved the Donnie and Marie Show, and Sonny and Cher, and even Hee Haw in my youth. I'd forgotten all about Hee Haw until my recent trip to Memphis, and in one of the interminable music museums I visited (I think it was one of my least favorites - the Rock & Soul Museum) was one of Minnie Pearl's outfits.
SNT was wildly popular in the UK - too bad we didn't import that format over with Ant & Dec instead of yet another game show. I guess no one wants to pay writers anymore. (That's not what I want to hear!) Check out their site at ITV.
Here in the US and A they're doing Wanna Bet?: " in which celebrity guests gamble on whether members of the public can perform an unusual stunt." Oy vey.