tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post6332938803366127663..comments2024-03-09T15:11:29.350-08:00Comments on Exotic and irrational entertainment: Having It Both Ways: Bollywood ContradictionsPessimisissimohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-51386993373780025642011-08-29T22:02:50.580-07:002011-08-29T22:02:50.580-07:00M. Lapin, thanks for your clarification. When you ...M. Lapin, thanks for your clarification. When you write that "formal analyses of film structure or interpretations of its content can also provide ways of cracking into ideological strictures to reveal the liberating possibilities of a particular movie," I agree. <br /><br />But the question remains, whose analyses and interpretations? You talk about the balance of elements, but doesn't the weight that each of us gives to particular elements vary with our critical, emotional, and cultural frameworks? And doesn't what is perceived as "liberating" or "progressive" vary from person to person, and change over time?<br /><br />I very much liked your metaphor of "overspilling the mold." It seems to me that for films like DDLJ, <i>Kya Kehna</i>, <i>Vivah</i>, and many others, the mixture of contradictory elements makes any unitary interpretation and analysis impossible. And, as I wrote above, those unresolvable contradictions "are part of their fascination and richness."<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />P.Pessimisissimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-4582985955071553102011-08-28T12:56:46.800-07:002011-08-28T12:56:46.800-07:00Ah, Pessimisissimo! My (somewhat side) comment on ...Ah, Pessimisissimo! My (somewhat side) comment on how films are received seems to have been latched upon as the primary point, when I intended it to be a quick litmus test to determine the critical implications of a particular film...<br /><br />Truisms: Culture, with attendant values and tastes, is dynamic. Viewers bring a wide variety of interpretations to movies.<br /><br />But formal analyses of film structure or interpretations of its content can also provide ways of cracking into ideological strictures to reveal the liberating possibilities of a particular movie. As you note, the balance or preponderance of the elements matters enormously.<br /><br />Quick example: the "tag ending" slapped onto a movie. This can be a way of wrapping up a movie that is a jumbled mess, or can be a way for filmmakers to get an otherwise objectionable movie past the censors (or applied directly by the studio for the same purpose). In these cases, the disjunction is often obvious to viewers.<br /><br />Movies with "mixed messages" may be more subtle - as it is clear these two movies are. So my question remains: do the elements lead up to the conclusion (conservative) or does the resolution remain a bit troubling or more open-ended (liberating)? <br /><br />Despite changing cultural mores and a contemporary viewing context, there are ways of teasing out the critical import of films, and popular culture generally, no matter how dated (a past with both realized and unrealized possibilities) or contemporary (a seemingly eternal present that is an uncertain future).<br /><br />Your philosophical bunny, M. LapinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-54937677466626438072011-08-28T08:58:24.964-07:002011-08-28T08:58:24.964-07:00Ah. M. Lapin, as usual you have brought up a key p...Ah. M. Lapin, as usual you have brought up a key point: how the mixed messages of commercial films are perceived by their audiences (and in these cases, particularly by Indian women). <br /><br />But perhaps this question is unresolvable. For one thing, popular culture holds its near-universal sway in part because different audiences can see different things in the same cultural product. Take <a href="http://exoticandirrational.blogspot.com/2011/07/bollywood-rewatch-2-vivah-and-indias.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Vivah</i></a> (2006), for example: I might highlight its messages on women's equal status in and outside the home; another viewer might embrace its portrayal of arranged marriages and extended families. You mention dialectics, but I'm not sure that popular culture necessarily provides a synthesis of its disparate, not to say diametrically opposed, elements.<br /><br />For another, popular culture is dynamic, and its meanings do not remain fixed over time. <i>Kya Kehna</i> would likely be seen as dated today, when unmarried Bollywood heroines have no-strings-attached sex (<i>Band Baaja Baarat</i> (Bands, Horns and Revelry, 2010)), tattoo their boyfriend's names on their breasts (<i>Tanu Weds Manu</i>, 2011)), and play in rock bands (<i>Mere Brother Ki Dulhan</i> (My Brother's Bride, 2011)). What is progressive at one point can, from a later perspective, seem quaintly limited. While viewers like you strive to take cultural context into account, for many people popular culture exists in an eternal present in which the products of the past are judged by contemporary standards (which will become dated in their turn).<br /><br />Thanks for another thoughtful (and thought-provoking) comment!<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />P.Pessimisissimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-79510851517974592772011-08-27T12:30:12.344-07:002011-08-27T12:30:12.344-07:00As someone who has thought a lot, if not obsessive...As someone who has thought a lot, if not obsessively, about the liberating possibilities of popular culture, for me the critical issue for me in these cases is whether the "mixed messages" result in a pyrrhic victory for patriarchy and its attendant gender system. Specifically...<br /><br />DDLJ - does the cumulative effect of plot details, felt emotions, and expressed desires belie the actual tenants of the "patriarchal code" (liberating) or do they lead up to and confirm the code (conservative)?<br /><br />Kya Kehna - does Priya's invocation of the "role of Ma" provide her a tactic advantage in questions of love and sexual autonomy (liberating), or does she in fact embrace the "sacred vocation" (conservative)?<br /><br />Of course the general answer is "mixed," but the critical (dare I say, dialectical) impulse matters. Do modern Indian viewers, within India and NRI's, relate more to the *modern* circumstances, or the traditional resolution? Do modern Indian women seeking autonomy in love and sexuality relate to Priya, or reject her? How audiences relate to these movies matters.<br /><br />Part of my attraction to popular culture is precisely that the richest productions cannot be contained by ideology. I find didactic radicalism in movies as insufferable as conservative or nostalgic "happy endings." For me, the enjoyment of Bollywood, and musicals in general (neither of which are among my favorite film genres), lies precisely in the capacity of dynamic elements in the movies to "overspill the mold" in which they have been cast.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-9836553893049217892011-08-23T06:37:26.838-07:002011-08-23T06:37:26.838-07:00Lime(tte), there are a lot of bad movies out there...Lime(tte), there are a lot of bad movies out there (not just from Bollywood by any means). I can't claim that <i>Kya Kehna</i>, for example, is a good movie by any rational standard, and it is definitely a commercial product. <br /><br />At the same time, I think it also reflects themes that are of particular concern to director Kundan Shah: mainly, the plight of a young woman who is marked in some way as outside the norms of her society. (Anna in <a href="http://exoticandirrational.blogspot.com/2008/05/om-shanti-om-and-kabhi-haan-kabhi-naa.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa</i></a> (Sometimes Yes, Sometimes No, 1993) is from a poor family, Priya in <i>Kya Kehna</i> is an unmarried mother, and Shalu in <a href="http://exoticandirrational.blogspot.com/2009/05/dil-hai-tumhaara_06.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Dil Hai Tumhaara</i></a> (My Heart Is Yours, 2002) is an illegitimate child.)<br /><br />There are writer-directors who, while working firmly within commercial conventions, have distinctively personal styles and themes. You might look for movies in which the slick commercial surface is ruptured by such moments of "realness." <br /><br />But yes, a lot of what gets released is nothing but product. No wonder you feel endlessly cheated out of what movies endlessly promise.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />P.Pessimisissimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-10861576443741072412011-08-22T12:39:10.284-07:002011-08-22T12:39:10.284-07:00Right now, I'm going through a difficult stage...Right now, I'm going through a difficult stage with Bollywood... I've just seen so many bad films, and I don't want that anymore. I don't want anymore of that trash and boringness. <br />Hopefully, my passion for the industry is big enough, and I'll just keep watching the good films. But most of them are so commercial!Mettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08094234448852441633noreply@blogger.com