I’m going to start my commentary on the BBC article Padmaavat: India clashes as controversial film opens with an open letter to ‘Merica.
Dear ‘Merica,
I know there’s been some awkwardness in our relationship. You’re red state. I live in civilization (Massachusetts). I like poking fun at you. Maybe you think fun is too delicate a term since I refer to you as a banana republic.
I believe in fair play. I don’t want you to feel like I’m only picking on you. In that spirit, I am writing about the worlds largest democracy, India. You will be happy to know India also has bipolar political disorder.
Sincerely,
Andrew Hall
Now it’s time to get to the meat and potatoes about the insanity going on in some parts of India.
As many of you know, India is plagued with its own religious right-wing radicals. Just like American zealots, they too have an outrage machine cranking out crazy:
Hardline Hindu groups allege the film Padmaavat is disrespectful of their culture by depicting a romance between a Hindu queen and a Muslim king.
Can you smell that amazing aroma? Someone is cooking up some Make India Great Again.
And the crazy isn’t limited to the someone ordering their Starbucks coffee with the name Jesus Saves! These people mean business.
There were several attacks due to the film. However, the most shocking was the attack by a mob on a school bus.
A school bus carrying students was attacked by protesters in Gurgaon, adjacent to national capital Delhi, as protests turned violent in several states a day before the release of “Padmaavat.” The attackers threw stones at the school bus, smashing its windows. Nobody was injured, but a video showed terrified students ducking and cowering in fearing fear. There are prohibitory orders in Gurgaon banning large gatherings. -from the article GD Goenka School Bus Attacked In Gurgaon As Protests Over Padmaavat Escalate; Large Gatherings Banned
Here’s a news clip describing the attack.
So, the Hindu fanatics are upset because there is a sex scene between a Muslim king and a Hindu queen in the film.
The thing is there is no sex scene in the movie!
The film Padmaavat does not depict a romance between a Hindu queen and a Muslim king, as has been alleged by protesters over the last few months.
Neither is there a dream sequence between the two, nor does the Hindu queen Padmavati dance in front of strangers or wear outfits that are revealing. – from the BBC story
What is in the movie may make you sick.
In fact, the outrage against the film should be directed at the glamorised portrayal of mass self-immolation, or “jauhar”, led by Padmavati. She and hundreds of women take their lives by jumping into a fire to escape being captured by the Muslim king.
Yikes!
You would think the killing of women would make religious fanatics happy?
Andrew Hall is the author of Laughing in Disbelief. Besides writing a blog, co-hosting the Naked Diner, he wrote two books, Vampires, Lovers, and Other Strangers and God’s Diary: January 2017
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