9 Things Hollywood Should Just Stop Doing While Representing India

We do get excited to see someone from our nation in Hollywood, or even when we see our country holding a specific spot there. But there are things which are disappointing as well. Hollywood has been making films about India and Indians for years, but there are a few backdated things that they still follow and it’s high time they should just stop stereotyping.

1. Is pronouncing Indians names that difficult?

People who can make the attempt to study French may also take the time to learn how to enunciate Indian names correctly. Because local names are difficult to pronounce, excessive speech patterns are just as terrible as adopting English names. Make an attempt, Hollywood; it isn’t that complicated. Not everybody gets it wrong. It’s a big deal, too!

2. Glorifying yoga and sprituality

We’re way more than spiritualism, yoga, chakras, and ‘Hindu gods’. Apart from Yoga and Chakras, India is also home to classical antiquity (the second biggest wall after China’s Great Wall), lush and diversified wildlife, a booming IT economy (not only call centers), and a plethora of other things.

There’s nothing wrong with being proud of India’s yoga and meditation history, but focusing on only one part is a narrow-minded, conservative and orthodox approach that ignores reality in favor of foreign fantasy.

3. The disappointing outfits to represent Indians

The absolute joke of a costume that was provided to Padma and Parvati Patil in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was literally disrespect and a low blow to the culture. That isn’t the only example Hollywood films and television series have gone wrong. In terms of formal clothing, India has created a wide range of Indo-Western ensembles.

Despite this, Hollywood continues to favor plain lehengas and sarees (and that too just one kind, when the range of saree and that way it is worn in alone is enough to make someone fully confused and very overwhelmed ). Likewise, expecting even a minor modification in the multi-purpose salwar kameez is a recipe for disappointment.

4. Fake validation to blend in

The white savior mentality goes hand in hand with the glamorization of poverty. While this isn’t limited to Asian nations (in reality, the mentality has been applied to plots and characters and what presentation including African-Americans and Native Americans), the assumption that people of color need to be redeemed by white folks is a Colonialism residue that we might do away with.

5. Indians are not just Engineers and Doctors

A character’s status as an NRI does not imply that he can solely work as an engineer or a doctor. Women characters aren’t all housewives either. There is, obviously, a third type. We need characters who are well-rounded and truly represent the considerable variation that occurs today, and symbolic participation is not the way to go.

6. Using yellow filter to represent India

How filthy does Hollywood consider these countries to be? Yes, pollution prevention and cleaning campaigns are needed, but our skies aren’t yellow… and it is not always that polluted everywhere. Unless we look at them through an Instagram filter. As most Hollywood films appear to do. Do you recall Extraction?

7. Exaggerating accents while speaking English

We’ve come a very long way since The Simpsons’ Apu and there have been many changes with the world and how we look at it now. It is racism, a very inappropriate, highly formatted version of bigotry, and it must be eradicated. Also remember how weirdly Kelly Kapoor was portrayed in, The Office?

8. Portraying lack of diversity

In India, Hinduism is not the sole religion, and our country is more than simply desserts, forts, and Goa. However, for Hollywood, Mumbai is no different than Delhi or Bangalore, and places like Ladakh, Meghalaya, Ranthambore, Sundarbans and other parts of India aren’t even mentioned.

Simply, it’s not India unless the most obvious few places are shown like the Taj Mahal which is already a big thing the world knows anyway. Likewise, while India is a Hindu-majority country, it is home to a diverse range of religions and cultures – and even basic study reveals that this variety is not hard to interact with.

9. Glorifying poverty and the bad side

Romanticizing poverty is not a thing to have fun about, it requires attention and tones of it in fact. No Oscar can change the fact that Slumdog Millionaire, and many other films like it, frequently blur the line between reality and economic pornography.

Poverty isn’t glamorous, and it’s also not a disease with a quick remedy. Furthermore, it is not the sole characteristic that distinguishes a third-world country. Poverty is an issue that needs to be addressed, but this isn’t it.

Also read: 20 Things That Are Normal To Indians But Freaking Weird For Foreigners