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"A Passage to India" and "Hairspray"
Yesterday, my mom and I went to the Ferguson Public Library to watch "Hairspray." A few nights ago, Pat and I watched a rented DVD of "A Passage to India." Both of the films featured a majority of white people, assuming superiority over darker people.
Mrs. Moore and Tracy Turnblad were the hopeful exceptions to the "white-is-right" attitude of most of the rest of the characters in both movies. The author of the book from which the Indian movie was made, E.M. Forster, was sympathetic to the underdogs of the movie, the Indians, and John Waters, the author of "Hairspray," was sympathetic to civil rights. Both writers were gay.
2 comments:
Makes sense. I watched Namesake. I've also read it. Much more layered
interpretation of culture/race, dealing with self image, family, loyalty, cultural insensitivity, cross-culturalism, assimilation, acculturation, shame, pride, ambivalence, love, universality, humanity, acceptance and identification. Loved the movie.
Loved the book.
Also loved Brick Lane, by the way, written by a Bangladeshi woman. Different and fascinating exploration of family, race, class, issues of love, religion, nationality and politics.
Then, there's A Fine Balance by Mistry. Totally devastating about castes and class. And Train to Pakistan, about the opportunism inherent in religious strife... Latest books I've read on the topic - Yiddish Policemen's Union, and Scream Queens of the Dead Sea.
Can you recommend any good books?
Do you know about bookcrossing.com. It's so cool. I just picked up a book in a coffee shop in Jersey City, where we were taking Zach for a sitar lesson, which I will register and comment on on the website, then set free and follow its path... More on later.
The most profound one I read was *The Inheritance of Loss* and then *Malgudi Days* was good and two weird, but interesting, graphic novels by Bannerjee. Pat made me read *Elephanta Suite* by Paul Theroux, which was one of the most disturbing books I've ever read.
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