Thanks IT! No more chocolate in my peanut butter! No more sharing of ideas, of tastes, of music. The Beatles should have NEVER gone to India, Christopher Columbus should have NEVER gotten on the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria (which ship was he actually on anyways?). My Mayflower relatives should have just sucked it up and dealt with their unhappiness. And, damnit, keep your Mexican food in MEXICO. Same goes for you, Sushi. Oh, and everyone who lives in North America must immediately revert to the ways of the American Indian. Blue Corn anyone? Of, is that inappropriate because I have no Native American blood in me - only Native American blood on my hands.

:throws up blood hands in disbelief:

Pardon me, while I annex your Sudetenland

Heh, the appropriation of American culture by Japanese was my other argument tactic! Our brains are on the same wavelength.

I don't know who the mystery person is (and I feel a little bad that we're talking about him/her without him/her choosing to bring this up themselves) so I don't know their personal argument. But I do know my sociopolitical activist acquaintances' arguments. This isn't my POV, but I do find it interesting to hear it.

I don't think that the reasonable, non-extremist anti-appropriation folks are suggesting wonder bread and tang. I think they're suggesting that we should consider and respect the origin of the cultures we're exploring, as well as, in the case of India or other third-world countries, to strive to understand the difficult conditions that the people currently live in. I don't think that's a bad thing to suggest, nor do I think you're not doing it.

Also, I don't think anyone here is actually arguing the extremist anti-appropriation position. I've said - here and elsewhere - that I think it's ridiculous.

(And, yes, I have seen Bollywood films, and listened to Bollywood music, appreciated Indian art, and eaten all different kinds of Indian food from different regions. No one here is saying anyone shouldn't!)

This should really be a discussion over Bhura Pegs, but the "third world" angle is interesting in light of the recent security briefing that predicts we will be loosing our unilateral super power status, and be forced to share with India and China. With Bollywood already overtaking Hollywood in terms of both revenue and worldwide viewership, perhaps we are just welcoming our new cultural overlords (Baz Luhrman Moulin Rouge anyone?)

First of all, my tweets had nothing to do with Mumbai. I'm reading "Hot Flat and Crowded" and it's getting me so angry at how stupid we've been on energy policy.

This Mumbai thing is horrible.




In response to iSm's question, um, dude, you were seriously thinking of darkening your skin? :eek: There's a huge difference between wearing an outfit and changing your genetic appearance, aka slanted eyes etc. That's a pretty obvious line there.

I love that you guys are all counter-arguing someone who didn't even post the original argument. If the mystery persons iSm mentioned actually wish to discuss it then I'll discuss it, but until then, it's a bit of a straw man, isn't it?

I find it a great jumping off point for a number of cultural musings - and so I shall continue with more of mine - regarding Bollywood:

Watching a number of Bollywood films recently, I enjoying seeing the blending of cultures in action. Contemporary Bollywood films seem to borrow a lot from American Hip Hop culture, in music, dance, and language. It's always great to hear a string of Hindi followed by a "He's some Dude." Culture evolves and Bollywood is one of those places I love watching the evolution taking place.

I agree about the understanding part. I spent a good part of my college years studying art within its cultural context. I don't believe that you can truly understand art without understanding it's cultural context. I DO believe you can appreciate art sans cultural context, but you can lose the meaning. However, I can also argue the other side of that by saying that, once a piece of art is complete, it solely up to the viewer to bring their own ideas and experiences to the viewing and the relationship is really only between the viewer and the piece.

No, not directly - or at least not the person who ISM is alluding to.

(I know - but I was speaking to the more "General You" segment.)

Now that I've had an actual conversation with the person who actually said what ISM is alluding to, I have a greater understanding of what actually went down (which was a bit different than what was stated here).

However, I do always enjoy a good discussion about culture, Raita, Salsa, and Wonder Bread. Not to mention, an opportunity to get surly early in the morning. ;)