I did not see the movie "Bride and Prejudice" but I am told it is along the same lines as "Bend it
like Beckam" where the Indian girl finds happiness in a romantic relationship outside her cultural
group, specifically with a white English boy. Interestingly, the movie was directed by
an Indian woman. I think a neo-colonial mentality (self-inflicted) was at work. To be happy she
had to be with a white boy, an Indian was not good enough. In "Bride and Prejudice", an Indian
woman falls in love with a white boy. We do not see the reverse as if Indian or Asian men are not
good enough. This racism in the movies continues today. Bollywood has it own racist version where
light-skinned actors & actresses are preferred to dark-skinned ones who usually play the villain
roles.
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Dear George,
I am surprised at the extremely prejudiced statements above from a person like you whose views I have come to admire. How can you focus on just one movie and from just that one movie draw such far fetched conclusions?
There are hundreds of movies released every year where the Asian falls in love with the Asian. And villains are fair skinned. And heroines and heroes are dark. In fact if you look at the Hindu pantheon all the major deities are dark skinned "Ram, Vishnu, Kali, Durga, Amitabh, Shah Rukh, Mithun..." How can you ignore all that?
And if a white loves/marries a black so what of it? We're not in the middle ages are we? In this constantly shrinking world, thanks to modern technology, we now communicate with and meet with people from all over the world who interest us. Skin colour no longer has the relevance it did before.
Please read by doctoral thesis "Complexities of Complexion in Post-Colonial Societal Constructs". It is obvious an academic dissertation. I will try and explain below in layman's terms. If you want a even more basic explanation try reading 'Skin" by Margaret Mascarenhas or contact Herman Carneiro who is studying dermatology.
There are basically two factors at work 1) Wanting the "other's" complexion 2) Wanting to exploit the person with the 'other' complexion.
Let's analyse the first point. 1) Wanting the "other's" complexion
The dark skinned Goan girl aspires to have a white skin because it represents the 'other'. Nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. Just the 'other'. So she uses fairness creams which leave her with a complexion mid-way between mauve and purple and with panda like dark circles around the eyes. The Caucasian female on the other hand spends her two weeks charter holiday in Goa trying to get tanned to a crisp (when she's not getting her teeth or spectacles seen to at one fifth of what it would cost in her own country). For her a dark skin represents the 'other' and that's what she aspires to be. That she's going to get skin cancer, her face is bright pink/red and not brown, and her untanned bikini straps look ridiculous in a backless dress does not seem to bother her.
That's why a dark skinned culture celebrates fair skin (see the matrimonial adverts) and a fair skinned culture celebrates dark skin (ever heard tall 'fair' and handsome in the West?)
This is of course mainly in the female gender. Men wouldn't care less about the colour of their skin. See how much more interesting the colour of beer is.
Second point 2) Wanting to exploit the person with the 'other' complexion.
The best example is our regular young (dark) Goan beachbelt stud dating a (fair) European woman old enough to be his eldest aunt. He is exploiting her money and hoping for a chance to make a life abroad using her as his ticket. That failing he will start work on obtaining a Portuguese Passport.
She on the other hand is exploiting his young body and his modified bike (normally an Enfield).
But exploitation in both these cases does not have a negative connotation. It is akin to use-and-be-used. In this case the other's skin colour is being used as a metaphor for an aspiration which is suggested by that colour. Or whatever! I find it difficult to speak layman's language. And I quite forgot what was the point I was trying to make and have to get back to work.
Jai Hind!
Cheers!
Cecil =====
