Mumbai under siege

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

However .... the slant-eye thing got to me - because I think my uber-pale vampire complexion is going to look stupid in Indian Garb, and I was actually thinking of darkening my skin with tanning agents for Bollywood night. Uh-oh. Is this a step too far in the wrong direction?

I find it interesting that you would consider doing that for this event which is not a "costume party" yet, on Halloween you dressed as Jimi Hendrix and didn't darken your skin.


Could it be that you're just trying to stir the proverbial pot? Couldn't be!

[Not Afraid]

If our Bollywood party isn't a celebration and appreciation of Bollywood culture, I don't know what is. How many of you have seen a popular Bollywood film (or 10)? How many of you regularly listen to Bollywood soundtracks, Najma, Bally Sagoo, Asha Bohsley, or even Ravi Shankar. I would guesss that the closest most people come to Ravi Shankar is Nora Jones. I would suspect that many have eaten some sort of Indian food, but have you eaten Dhosa for breakfast? (Not that I'm promising anything.)

The world is a large, varried and wonderful place. There are many takes on what's right, what's wrong, were you go after you die, what is appropriate in love and lust, how you celebrate holidays - why wouldn't ANYONE want to learn about, experience or celebrate these differences?

EVERY culture has it's extremists, those who feel that hate is the way to lead your life. No matter what culture they are attached to, I find them all very sad. But, I will never throw out the wonderful parts of a culture because of the extremists. That would only make me one of them.

This NYE, we will be celebrating the joy and color that is Bollywood and, by extention, the beauty, art, culture and cuisine of one of the most fascinating countries in the world. If someone finds this racist, then feel free to stay at home and comsume Wonder Bread and Tang.

[€uroMeinke]

okay so these concepts of cultural appropriation have got me wondering about things like Contemporary Japanese Pop Culture - is it okay to appropriate that, since it was already appropriated from contemporary American Culture? Or is it doubly wrong for being multi-appropriated?

[Not Afraid]

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:

[€uroMeinke]

Pardon me, while I annex your Sudetenland

[LSPoorEeyorick]

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.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

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.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

(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!)

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

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.

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.

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

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.

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

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

(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!)

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

[€uroMeinke]

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?)