BG: In Masala there is an issue that I’ve never seen dealt with before, the issue of black and brown – the conflicts and situation. That is very fresh, and goes with you saying you wanted to make cinema that puts black and brown people at the centre.

MN: Well, Mississippi Masala grew out of being an Indian student at Harvard. When I arrived I was accessible to both white and black communities – a third-world sister to the black community and Kosher to the others – yet there were always these invisible lines. I felt that there was an interesting hierarchy where brown was between black and white. Even before Salaam Bombay!, I had wanted to tell this tale. That, along with the irony of Indian racism and the separatist nature of the Indian community in America … I began to read about the weird phenomenon of every southern motel being owned by an Indian, and many of them were exiles from East Africa after Amin had thrown them out.

There is this very cerebral concept: what was it like to be an African, but of Indian skin who believed India to be a spiritual home without ever having been there and to be living in Mississippi? An what if this world collided with that of black American who believed Africa to be their spiritual home, but had also never been there? It must collide through love, because we must sell tickets!

But where are the other interviews? How does a movie that deals with identity, racial and shade issues, and an interracial relationship with both people being people of color not have more press? I can find YouTube appreciation posts of the music, interviews by both Choudhury and Washington for other movies, and even the full movie but no review videos. I want to be surprised, but I’m not. Even though this film pushes the boundary of how racial identities are perceived by oneself and others while redefining the the portrayal of interracial/ cross-cultural couples it remains hidden under a multitude of other results. After this realization my spectrum did grow; the lack of exposure for alternative representation of this film makes the film itself even more important and necessary.

I also thought it was interesting how the film portrays racism but in a way you never see very often, in terms of it not being white/black or American/Japanese. The division between Mina’s father and Demetrius only emphasizes this aspect, which is why I like when Demetrius confronts Mina’s father about the color of his skin, basically saying that there’s really little difference between us, and that this categorization of skin color is superficial at best. His past history in Uganda and getting expelled from his home country gives him reason to feel as he does, but I’m glad that Demetrius and Mina decide to stay together despite the pasts of their families. Someone in our class said that they kept expecting something crazy to happen, and I have to agree considering some of the other films we’ve watched (Better Luck Tomorrow for example) have dipped into the darkness, so the fact that this did not happen in this film makes it more unique in my opinion – this is about other things.

This quote really resonated with me and I say this because I feel as though this is the struggle that people like me have had to deal with throughout my life. How, no matter how much we may love our current country that we have called home, at the end of the day, if we look any different from the major race of that country then we truly cannot call that place our home.

Home is where the heart is though right? Well, yes and I agree with this to a certain point but for me, home is where I can lay in my bed, home is where I can walk down 4th ave and recognize members of the community. I can only how devastating of an experience it would to be kicked out of a place you call home because of the way you look. For me, what happened to the Indians in Uganda was very similar to the treatment of Japanese Americans in the United States during WWII.

I can understand how it’s understandable how Mina’s parents were opposed to her dating an African American possibly because of the history that they had with Africans in the past because my Japanese family reacted very similarly to my father when my mother first introduced him to the family. My mother said that if her father had been alive, he would never allow for her to marry my dad because of my grandfathers experience during WWII.

Other than the title, I realized that the movie had also portrayed a different kind of racism. There was a scene where Jammubhai tells Demetrius, “If you are not white, then you are colored.” This quote, I think, makes their relationship somewhat stronger in a way that they are both minorities. They both understand the struggles of being colored, or not white. However, though Jammubhai comforts Demetrius with that line Jay, Mina’s father, cannot stand Demetrius with his daughter. After Jay and Demetrius’s little altercation, Demetrius tells Jay something along the lines of his [Jay] skin only being a few shades away from Demetrius [point at his face].

Sadly, before this scene Jay sort of turns his back on Black people because of Okelu telling him that he had to leave Uganda. So I can understand why Jay had this bitter feeling towards Demetrius. Anyways, after this scene where Demetrius points out their skin color, it showed the audience that racism can still be present without a white person. There is still this heirarchy of races and who has the more “whiteness.” I thought that that scene was very important.

Another thing I thought was important for this movie was to move on. Throughout the movie there are scenes beween Jay and Okelu and when Jay had to leave. Okelu was in tears as well as Mina and this obviously bothered Mina because she was too young to understand why Jay and Okelu had never talked again. I understand that they still had their Indian traditions because that will hardly ever change; however, Jay cannot seem to let go of Uganda and the way he remembers it. For years, he had wrote letters for his property in Uganda. He eventually gets to go back to Uganda and it looks like nothing he remembered. He also learns to forgive Okelu, but finds out that he is dead and has been. Overall, Jay’s visit back to Uganda was nothing as he expected it: things changed, it did not feel like home for him, and his best friend had passed away with Jay’s grudge against him. I think that letting things go, or moving on plays a very important theme in this movie.

It relates to A Tale For the Time Being. Time has kept moving and it has been lost. While Jay was in America, I do not think that he understood that even though Amin is not the ruler, does not mean that things have gone back to the way it was. Also, Jay never really got to say good-bye to Okelu or leave on a good vibe. After that, time was lost in-between Okelu and Jay that Jay was completely unaware that Okelu had passed away. Time was also lost between Jay’s constant mind battle between saying his home was in Uganda, rather than spending every moment with his wife, Kinnu, where as he said, “home is where the heart is and my heart is with you.” At least now, Jay can spend his time not worrying about Uganda, but with the time he has in that current moment.

Liar, liar, bums on fire.

First of all, I thought the first hour of the film was great. It starts ominously with Khan being detained in an airport, but it quickly moves into his back-story and his relationship with his family. Seeing his early years, his mother’s love for him and his brother’s rejection of him was very interesting. I’ve never really met anyone with Aspergers before, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of his portrayal, but I found his performance to be very endearing. His relationship with Mandira plays out beautifully as they get to know each other and overall I enjoyed that aspect of the story very much. I also have to say that I love how this film also focused on the racism that exploded post 9/11 and how that affected the Khans because, much like the Japanese internment, it’s a part of American history that isn’t really represented on the silver screen very often. In that sense, this film serves a very important role in portraying a different side to the post-9/11 climate, and could do well to educate people that racism is still something that happens and needs to be dealt with. With a message as strong as this, you’d think it could be seen as a major victory. Here’s a hint: it isn’t.

The reason why I say this is because this film has a whole other racist issue, in which we meet a black community in Georgia which, for some reason, seem to live in a village straight out of the colonial days. When the film shifts into Forrest Gump mode (another problem I have with it haha), Khan finds himself in the care of a black woman named Mama Jenny in this strange town, and boy does this character feel like a Mammy/Aunt Jemima stereotype ripped right from the early 1900s. Despite this film making a big deal about Obama being the first black president, it didn’t really do a good job of portraying African Americans. The whole hurricane molly bit felt very forced, as if they were trying to hit me over the head with the theme, and I think they could have dropped that whole subplot. The film would have precious minutes shaved off its running time and we would have a much more cohesive film. So beyond that, the film had pacing issues, felt too bloated for its own good, and had some major continuity issues which I’ll address now. Okay so maybe “continuity” is not the right word, but this film handled the passage of time very poorly. It’s supposed to cover 2001-2008/09, but it never really feels like there’s any growth or difference with the characters. Mandira’s son and his friend seem to never age, despite being kids during 9/11 and apparently during high school as well. That part is more of a minor nitpick, but I felt like it the timeline was sort of cobbled together. All to all, My Name is Khan has the best intentions but it was just poorly executed. The only bright spots in this film were the two main characters as I thought their relationship was beautifully played out, but Mandira is sort of shuffled to the background during the second half of the film, which kind of sucks considering how much she brings to the film.

Overall, I give this film 2 1/2 bums out of 5.

It is the relationship between being a person of color and a person with Asperger’s that also makes this film both heartbreaking and beautiful. The amount of negative attention so often given to men of color (and especially when this movie is set, post 9/11 for Muslim men of color)  and the bombardment of dangerous stereotypes was put in the spotlight with this film. Last academic year I spent three quarters taking American Sign Language. Part of the class was not only to learn the language, but to learn about the very distinct culture. Because of the discrimination that deaf/ hard-of-hearing people have faced their groups have become protective and mostly exclusive from hearing people.  While watching this movie I thought of the cases where deaf individuals have been stereotyped by those who perceive their signing as gang signs. Google prompted many results when trying to find examples, but I’ve only chosen one to share. Lashonn White, a women of color from Tacoma, called police to report an assault and upon greeting (which she used sign) was then tased and held in jail without an interpreter.

Like we saw in the movie, the insensitive, ignorant, and clearly indecent treatment of people of color with disabilities is not just unjust, but it is incredibly dangerous for them and can be fatal. For an Indian American Muslim man to be viewed immediately as a dangerous criminal (“terrorist”) is to then completely ignore any other part of his existence. To see him  as only an individual capable of harm is to then perceive all of his actions or words as one that will bring harm. Like the instance of White in Tacoma, it did not matter that she called to report an assault, but instead that she is a Black women and therefore her signs were perceived as “aggressive”.

***It’s important to note that in ASL, your own space is important. When signing with another person I would never touch them or grab them. Even when indicating that something is really, really big, I would use my tension in my face or repetitive motions to indicate that and I would not extend my arms fully.

Book-inspired scenes to watch for prior to film: page 123– yellow/white uniforms- Lee vs. Ohara (with special attention to the “spectator clapping” which shows us the reality of the cast dynamics) page 152- lack of acceptance for of yellow gi by Lee.
Why I’m watching for it: The context for “Lee’s” refusal with the uniform and to see the reactions during the fight. Also, to better understand Ohara as symbol (“personifies”) of imperialism (page 133).
Post film thoughts on the scene (The review): In this scene, there is a guard of Han’s that comes into “Lee’s” room and uses definitive words when referring to the (yellow) uniform: “you must attend the morning ritual in uniform.” With must, there is an “or else” attached to the end of it, even if it’s not spoken. With the yellow gi, “Lee” is refusing to be identified in a way that he has not chosen for himself. The book also mentions this theme among Lee’s real life actions in his resistance while making films and how he did not accept the traditional “Orientalist” themes. Likewise, the book explains how the reactions of those who were watching and clapping during the “Lee”/Ohara fight were real. Because of the tensions and discrimination that they [reactors] faced, the ways Lee had stood up for them, and especially the original scene with the glass bottle where Robert Wall actually cut Lee’s hand the fight scene between the two men symbolized more than just a dramatic fight scene in the movie.

Book-inspired scenes to watch for prior to film: page 126– Sin-Lu (Angela Mao Ying) and her “battle against patriarchy”
Why I’m watching for it: From what we’ve read, kung fu movies were not made with female roles as the main protagonist, so to have a woman in the film (which was made in the 1970s) fighting for herself and standing for so much– of course I was excited to see this scene.
Post film thoughts on the scene (The review): My initial reaction after seeing this was “seppuku? But the character is  Chinese…?”. I thought this was important because of the constant use of “Asian” as an all-inclusive culture and to have a Chinese character imitate an exclusive Japanese ritual did not seem to combat that idea. However, this is not a traditional seppuku and the important details on how it is done are missing. But the choice to have her stab herself in the belly instead of hypothetically slash her neck seems to be symbolic of dying honorably by her own hands. Sin-Lu’s screen time was completely spent on her fighting off the advances of the men and also running from them. While she was defending herself completely and competently, she came to a point where she was surrounded and immensely vulnerable. The only option for her that was still her own was to kill herself. So while I have mixed feelings about the details in the way she killed herself, I do think that the scene made a powerful statement.

Other notes!!
Page 146 mentions some writers who used “Oriental” themes in their stories, one of which being Arthur Conan Doyle of the Sherlock Holmes series. While I do not watch the show myself, I immediately thought of the modern television show Elementary where Lucy Liu plays Joan Watson.

My last note is very brief; merely pointing out the use of opium in Enter the Dragon and the way that stereotype continued into the 1970s.

In My Name Is Khan, Rizvan is a Muslim man with aspurgers who is held up to many expectations. His mother expected him to thrive with his education, his brother expected Rizvan to listen to him, and Mandira didn’t expect him to go on this real journey to tell the President. In reality, we all bear heavy burdens of expectations, but how heavy is the burden of the U.S. country constantly targetting you for something you did not do? Rizvan struggles through the whole movie to please his wife Mandira and her demand for him to tell the President he is not a terrorist.

Along his journey he comes across these people who have this expectation that he is either or a terrorist, or he is just a normal guy. Every white person in the movie assumes he is a terrorist, while people who are not White accept him for him. Rizvan, exceeds his mothers expectation and does excel with his education, which comes in handy throughout the movie. He tries to get on a plane, but of course after 911 security locked down and they searched nearly everything they could. One of the security guards mocked his journey to visit the President and gives him something to say to the President once Rizvan meets him and rest assured, Rizvan delivered that message. Rizvan was threatened by his brother that he (Rizvan) will not mary Mandira because she’s Hindu; yet, Rizvan broke that expectation and married her. His wife Mandira, tells him to tell the President, “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist” just to get rid of him; however, she ends up missing him and he ends up breaking her expectations of never doing it and he finally gets to tell the President that exact line. Lastly, though most of the U.S. see him as a terrorist, Rizvan proves himself more than a Muslim, terrorist, or any other labels that can go with him. Rizvan proves himself to be a human being with a heart.

He believes his mother’s words, “There are only two kinds of people in this world. Good people who do good deeds. And bad people who do bad. That’s the only difference in human beings. There’s no other difference.”  He sticks with that saying and lives by it. On his journey, he sees a fundraiser for children in Africa and a chance to meet the President. Sadly, the woman who is giving tickets for this event, turns him away.

Rizvan Khan: That’s… that’s $500
Fund Raiser Receptionist: What church are you from?
Rizvan Khan: Church? Church?
Fund Raiser Receptionist: This is a Christian’s only event.
Rizvan Khan: But… but it says it’s a fund raiser for the draught in Africa.
Fund Raiser Receptionist: For Christian’s honey.
[Giving the money back]
Rizvan Khan: Honey, honey keep it. For those who are not Christian in Africa.

This scene is ironic on so many levels. Rizvan breaks the expectation of a Muslim not having a heart and a “terrorist” but still donates his money to this fund, walking away empty handed. It’s also ironic because I do not think turning people away because they are not “Christian” is not a very Christian thing to do, nor is turning away money from someone who is not Christian giving their money to charity or good cause. Also, Rizvan goes back to Wilhemina, GA to help out Mama Jenny and Crazy Hair Joel and all those affected by the Hurricane. For someone who is a terrorist, helping a broken, battered community just doesn’t seem right.

I chose not to use the word stereotype because I believe that the movie goes on beyond Asian traditions, but expectations of a person. Rizvan has aspergers and I’m sure many people who knew that would not expect him to do all the amazing things he did in the movie. It’s more than a stereotype that a person is forced to live with, but expectations of them as a person as well.

As a matter of fact, I wasn’t even alive during WWII and you know what? Neither were my parents. But you see, even though this happened 72 years ago, you all keep blaming me in particular for it and I just don’t understand how you can make that sort of accusation. Scientifically, it makes no sense at all.

I hate the 2001 film Pearl Harbor that starred Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. Us Japs killed off that babyface Josh and so many people went wild about this FAKE death. I remember when that movie came out, I was just starting my adventures in A.O.L. chatrooms. When I found out that there was a chatroom for an interest in Japan, my eleven year old self enthusiastically entered one of these chat rooms and when I revealed my ethnic background I was bombarded with messages like :

“YOU KILLED JOSH HARTNETT”

“GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY WE HATE YOU HERE”

“JAP, JAP, JAP, KICK THE JAP OUT OF THE ROOM”

Eleven years old. How can you accuse an eleven year old to have taken part in WWII?

In some ways, I relate to Sameer. I could never tell my family the sort of harassment I was facing when I was young. I only wanted to give them good news about my life. How can I tell my mom that her only daughter was being picked on because I am Japanese. Whether it was in school or on the world wide web, I just had to swallow that pain and hope for the best.

There are so many other harmful stereotypes that different people of different backgrounds have and it needs to stop. Please, stop. I am an American. Just like you.