Indian Culture For Sale

That was very educational! I often wonder about Indian culture. It is great that we all can blend in the melting pot. Commercializing a culture is no different then the Italians bringing old traditions like pasta dishes or Irish bringing Cornbeef and Cabbage. Latins bring salsa and Africans bring different dress codes. That is what makes America such a great country to live in. Your free to be you and learn what it is to be someone else.

Nice peek into a culture we don't know that much about. Put this on TV!!

This was really well done! I love how you went to all those places and interviewed people. I don't think I even realized how much Indian culture is all around me, as I've taken it for granted. It's good to see the origins of everything. And I loved your ending - perfect touch!

And way to go Julie for being such a good sport! I would have been screaming in that chair! haha

I LOVE THIS POD!!! yeah...white folks tend to appropriate third world culture. i see it all the time with indigenous cultures, being indigenous and all. i hate when they call us exotic! basically, i don't like when people of color culture is commodified and basically colonized by white folks. for me it tends to ad insult to injury...

"My very White friend. ..."

Classic!

Your mom's a star. I'm coming by for roti and dahl.

Keep it up.

;)

The basis of "White" people "adopting" Indian culture is rooted in orientalism. For those that don't know, the term is used to to describe deprecatory views of the East by the West, shaped by the 18th and 19th century attitudes of the era of European imperialism . These "White" people interpretation of Eastern cultures and peoples in a [now]ignorant and prejudice way [prejudice over racist, depending on your definitions]. The marketing of the East into this "mystic" land has definately opened the doors of exploration thanks to the beatniks, hippies, and Beatles in the 60's; however, it has also led to the commodification of a culture. Most natives of the South Asian diaspora accept these explorations with open arms, but also fail to see the root of it as well as the effects AND affects. They embrace White exploration with a positive attitude, partly due to that outlook of open mindedness being prevalent naturally in our culture,as well as simple minded ignorance with no blame on their part. This has open the flood gates to Post-Colonial imperialism, globalization, and the New World Order and the great Unholy Trinity [world bank, IMF, & the world trade org.] to take advantage of the East. Embracing cultures is not based on someone wearing dangly earings, silk for "belly dancing" (wrong culture there buddy!), and those PoCo writings by authors like Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie, or books on mystical voyages such as the latest Eat, Pray, Love. This embrace is almost turning something of culture into something kitschy and trendy. Something of momentary pleasing... commodification. Embracing and accepting cultures should come from something deeper than barely grazing tidbits. The acceptance of White people embracing the East is definately through steps, and through just showing interest but I think it's also our job to educate others. Embracing each others cultures is also about knowledge, and why chose to only learn 1/2 of something. We as the South Asian diaspora need to educate. That White womyn in the movie should have been told what an "outfit" was, etc. Partly, is also their job. Us as "brown folk" also tend to do the same with other cultures. It's a two way road. For us to learn about, for example, Chinese culture, we can't go around thinking that eating Panda Express, Pei Wei, PF Changs, mom and pop places and wearing a Kimono style shirt are the same as embracing culture.. and that questions like "Do you speak Chinese?" aren't ignorant or necessarily slightly offensive. I think as world citizens, it's our job to educate and be educated. But I guess it goes back to: try teaching the world that.

The deconstruction of this could go on and on...


I felt this clip was great, but it was more informative on culture rather than the debate I thought it would be. I would like to see more on that aspect.

I didn't know about this trend thanks for puttin' a brother up on game...

Poor white people so culturaly deprived.. ;)

I guess it's true immitation is the highest form of flattery...

but you cant pick and choose between a culture to "white wash" it and make it your own instead of someones indigenous food, clothing, dance, music, lifestyle... etc.

its not a trend that is to be imitated and "fusion'd" up.

it's not flattery when you're picking apart only the glorified aspects of it without also acknowledging and taking the other parts: the mentality, the social issues [and our humyn responsibility to resolve them], etc.

you cant "imitate" something as a means of appropriation. its offensive. fucking offensive.

hahah reminds me of my mom. and the threading was hilarious, the fact she let you tape them remove her mustache lol

Come on guys! The responses on here are getting pretty racist. What does "WHITE" people have to do with spiral9's cultural show? It was informative and well put together. It was something that her and her crew did for educational purposes at least. Wake Up! This is not "WHITE" America anymore! It is a diversed nation with many cultures to exam and learn from. Open minded people can learn from one another and not be ashamed, nor should be criticized for wanting to adapt to something other then themselves.

Very well done...it's true, Americans should do more research into the things that they wear on their bodies...reminds me of tribal and Chinese character tattoos...great topic, my love. =)

P.S. I LOOOOVE YOUR MOM!

I personally love to see people accepting other cultures... Finding beauty and appreciation in a culture that you observe from a distance, but what's even more beautiful is when someone explores the roots and origins of the culture which interest them. I am a lover of the Indian culture, thanks to the purest "love" I know. At one point I had never tried Indian food, all I ever heard was that it was spicey... : ) And IT IS!!! But I had the fortune of being taught about the origin of preparing Indian food, what goes into it... Indian clothing, in its simplicity, it is still very intricate. The texture of the fabrics. Some of the most beauty expressions. I think this piece opens the door to an exploration of a culture so rich in beauty and purpose...

This was a very informative piece! White people saying pajamas, shows the ignorance about indian culture along with their fascination with it,interesting contrast.

Wow people are really sensitive these days when you say "white" it was a joke people lighten up...

Nice job. Good breakdown of things from indian culture thats becoming popular in western culture

This documentary is a great creation for the Indian culture. It is very informative for people from both South Asian & West. I am glad to see young people from South Asia are getting powerful to tell their culture to the west; and the contents were amazingly articulated. I am proud for Tropa who created this documentary.

thanks guys! I Love the comments...keep em coming :) What I feel very proud of is sparking discussion and thought on Indian culture in the west!

The comments mean more then you know!

well done tania! keep me posted on your work

Excellent video. Very educational, enlightening and Well done...Keep 'em coming.

nice work! the funniest thing is - i literally showed my coworkers how to wear a sari today (i gave one as a gift to a coworker & i was asked to show her how to put it on!) -- i'm gonna share this!

I really enjoyed this. There is a tension between white people learning about and appreciating other cultures and imperialist/cultural appropriation/"Orientalism" that another poster commented on.

The odd thing to me is that it is usually white people in that latter group who are complaining about white people appropriating other cultures and being "imperialist" or "racist". Check out this forum discussion (most of the posters are actually white): http://community.livejournal.com/feminist/3124932.html

The only thing that angers me is when white people talk for others and say, "They just don't realize that white people are oppressing them. They have been brainwashed." Nothing is more dangerous (and ironic) than these accusations of false consciousness that Indians don't "really" like white people enjoying their culture, they just think they do.

I guess that is a bit of tangent, but I saw people posting on it and just wanted to add one more metalayer to the discussion.

Keep up the good work!

You did a really great job with this brief documentary! It was fascinating to watch. You were so lively, energetic, and truly interested in the topic. Those are obviously great qualities to have when filming a documentary as it catches the viewer's attention and makes them more intrigued by what you are saying about the topic of concern.

I thought the topic itself was compelling . I love learning about cultures and how their clothing, actions, and lifestyle in general often reflect the history of their culture. It's always good to present different viewpoints as you did as it allows the viewer to better understand the various attitudes towards the subject in question. I think its good when individuals wear clothing from different cultures even if they aren't aware about the history of why something is worn a certain way as it may spark a sense of curiousness and motivate them to learn more about the piece. This may even compel them to learn about other topics within the culture as well. Even if it doesn't, however, at least it tends to make people more accepting of individuals who may have a different background from them or just in general live their life differently. The more people learn about different cultures the better.

Again, excellent job with this video.

omg tropa apu this was a great video to put on. i think this was a great video to put to show people. Because alot of people we see love the indian culture and dresses but we never knew WHY they did. and now we know thanks to you!!

The video is very informative. I was born and raised in Bangladesh (a South East Asian country). And I had no clue that threading originated in South East Asia.
Also I think this video really bring up the fact that we have a really rich and colourful culture.
By the way, food is a BIG part of South East Asian culture. I am not sure if it is popular in LA, but here Indian cuisine taste heavenly! lol! In fact, there are street vendors all over NY making a fortune by selling indian style "chicken o/ rice" and "shish kabab".
Keep up the good work! LOVED THE VIDEO & your mum of course :)

hey tania! great pod, I really liked when you put the sari and talked about how hard it was to walk. I had to do something similar for a cambodian wedding, except with a sarong around my lower body and jeez, that folding and wrapping is ridiculous!

Very well done!!!

I agree with you completely that more people should be made aware of what exactly this South Asian art & fashion represent, because only then can it truly be appreciated for its cultural value.

From a western perspective, I can also appreciate and understand the fascination with Indian culture, because Indian women always seem to maintain such a regal and elegant apperance while still managing to be sexy and beautiful at the same time.

In a modern American society filled with all sorts of lewd and questionable images of men & women being exploited by the media, it is encouraging to know that some of us can still reflect values rooted in such rich spiritual culture.

Thanks everyone for the great comments! It was me getting threaded and boy was that crazy painful! This was a lot of fun to shoot, a wild ride to edit, and I am very proud of our production team. Thanks to all the people who appeared in this and helped us out.

Ommmmmmm

"THIS IS 'OM' IT'S PARTY FOR THE TRANCE, OKAY?"

Great topic, and the video is engaging. Tanya is an excellent host into this world. I wanna see more!

yo...this video was good! it had good insight into the culture. it's helped this east asian brotha understand a little more of the culture and peeps up here in seattle, especially since the company i work for has a lot of indian employees. kudos for the documentary :)

I loved this from start to finish. Now I get to impress my Indian girlfriend by knowing what threading is. Thanks Julie_Soller and Spiral9!

Great job...Julie.....Elise....Spiral9..the old saying.......United we Stand....Divided we Fall....could not be truer....we must embrace all people of Earth....break down barriers.......language, racism, FEAR......things like this video do that......I wish someone in India would film the slums of Calcutta......India is a magnetic force on Earth where some of the greatest thoughts of the Universe were received....American Indians picked them up too...Not all of yall, but some were not too nice to either....is it fear, ignorance, or jealousy.....I believe it is because some of yall never caught Love.....It's like a disease...only different....camera is so much stronger than the gun.....one preserves..the other destroys.....yall should have figured out where destruction gets you....if not look around.......please quit placing labels and colors on people....white....black.....have any of you ever seen either......take and start callin yurselves.....off-white.....sounds good......if not ....what about jaded and shaded.......Golden Ruler.......Will..........Will....Not....Will.........Not...............

All covered up and most everything left to the imagination.
Now, THAT's sexy!
A very entertaining pod about a culture that deserves more tolerance and understanding.

A very cute look into Indian culture and those who love it, whatever their reasons :)

Great pod thanks for the link Julie.

I really enjoy learning about the cultural exchange going on in this country. Acceptance and understanding has to start somewhere and I feel overtime those who truly wish to embrace another culture will educate themselves. My pops was a goofy white dude with a perm and a pair of bellbottom jeans but he did his homework and won of love of someone outside his own culture. So like I said I enjoy seeing things like this, it makes me think of the love my parents shared.

I was especially happy to see Indians embracing the awesomeness which is Glen Danzig and the Misfits! Now that’s what you call bartering,

Salaam Tania,

Congrats on producing a good video. I like how you showed us the appeal of the Desi culture and how whites and non South Asians have adopted many of the cultural aspects. I like how you did the in-person interviews and gave people the chance to explain their feelings and position on the matter.