Pop Culture and the Third World

May 20

“The casting of Cumberbatch was a mistake on the part of the producers. I am not being critical of the actor or his talent, just the casting” — Star Trek actor Garrett Wang is coolly generating a discussion with his fans on the whitewashing in Star Trek Into Darkness on his twitter page. (via racebending)

(via racebending)

May 19

I never thought I would be posting something from The Nanny on this blog but here we are.

(Source: mrsjessicachastain, via frandrescherr)

May 16

Some people seem to think that it’s petty or unimportant to point out racist celebrity misbehaviour because there are ‘bigger issues’ at play when it comes to racism, ie ‘there’s worse racism out there.’You should understand that normalising the casual mockery of people of colour through accepted mainstream culture - structurally preserving a white majority’s right to have fun at someone else’s expense - is a key building block in maintaining the hierarchy of racism. It’s naive to write off this kind of seemingly banal, pervasive everyday behaviour as if it somehow has no connection to people ultimately accepting actual systemic violence like the NT Intervention, the War on Terror, our refugee policy, and Australia’s straight up unwillingness to question our role in the wholesale dispossession of Aboriginal people.

(Source: aamerrahman)

jordannakamura asked: First off, your blog is a breath of fresh air, thank you for what you are spotlighting and sharing. Second, not sure if anyone really cares, but isn't that M.I.A. quote posted a few days back actually an original quote from a New Yorker author?

I have no idea? I frigging hate when quotes are applied to the wrong person though. Quotes juxtaposed on pics of Marilyn Monroe, for example, are rarely hers (not that Marilyn Monroe wasn’t awesome and wise and insightful) and it just pisses me off to the bone. Thanks for the blog praise, though, man!

[video]

Bollywood and Rape Culture

“In the past, rape scenes were common in Bollywood films, so much so that they were considered part of the formula for Indian blockbusters. The villain often raped the lead actress, and some audiences in the 1970s and 80s would look forward to this scene because it triggered the beginning of the hero’s big budget quest for revenge. Although the rape trend tapered off in the 90s, actresses like Shabana Azmi are of the view that such scenes have been replaced by new forms of misogyny.

‘Crass lyrics, voyeuristic camera angles, fragmented images of heaving breasts, swivelling navels, [and] swinging hips rob women of autonomy,’ she said. ‘So much easier to blame than to reflect and share part of the blame. All sections of society including films need to analyse how we are part culpable.’

Simi Garewal (a Bollywood actress and icon) says that the previous convention of rape in film still echoes through modern Bollywood, where women are portrayed as passive and where men remain the heroes.

‘It used to be part and parcel of every film earlier on. That era has gone. But films continue to be male dominated. The movie is constructed around the hero. If there is a mother she is going to be a sacrificing creature, and she will worship her son. If there is going to be a wife she is also going to serve her husband and she will worship him. If there is a sister…there is the possibility that she is eventually going to be raped, and of course the brother will save her, and seek vengeance. It’s all built around the hero.’ “

- Bollywood’s Culture of Rape, ABC Radio National

May 15

[video]

May 13

I just thought of something…

is Baz Luhrmann’s creative genius, creative genius or… coke ? The super-confident visuals, the extravagant flashiness, the sonic-speed pacing - maybe that’s just what happens when you give a gay guy some coke and a budget maybe.