#category: cinema

[catpriciousmarjara]

Tell me: Is He Gay or In a Sherwani?

Imposition of western norms in fandom analysis of Asian characters

With the rising popularity of Indian cinema sparked by the recent success of RRR on international platforms as well as the easy availability of multiple streaming services, in addition to the appearance of South Asian characters in prominent roles in western, particularly US media, I've begun to see some concerning 'analysis' posts online. So I thought I'd address something I found common in most of these takes.

Guys, characterizing your blorbos as queer is great and all, love it, but you're making a fundamental mistake by making their clothing choices the foundation for your queer headcanons, especially when it comes to male characters. Do not apply existing western cultural ideas regarding male clothing onto South Asian characters and their dressing please.

The vast majority of the clothes being used by people in various online spaces as 'evidence' of a character being queer(gay or bi mostly) are just normal Indian clothing for men, like daily wear. A top being pink or a character's wardrobe being mostly pastel means absolutely nothing...cos Indian clothing tends to be colourful in general and the tendency to ascribe colours masculine and feminine qualities is considerably less in the subcontinent. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but generally not a concern.

There's also this pervasive idea that colourful clothing = flamboyance = queer and that itself is something many people have already pointed as a deeply flawed way of thinking and a stereotype. Furthermore, even if you do lean into the archetype of queer men being flamboyant, subscribing to the 'stereotypes exist for a reason don't they?' school of thought perhaps, there's also the fact that ideas of what is considered flamboyant change dramatically across different cultures. What is 'flamboyant' for someone might just be normal for others. Like maybe pink or purple or yellow might be considered too much, unmanly, emasculating etc in the US or something but they're just perfectly normal colours for men to wear in many, many cultures.

It's the 'Is he Gay or European?' principle. Did you characterize this Indian character (or any South Asian character really) as queer because of their canonical behaviour and portrayal, or did you just see their clothing and decide they're queer because being well groomed and having a colourful wardrobe is a character trait you exclusively ascribe to being queer?

Like guys, I like Chaipunk like the rest of you, but if you consider Pavitr queer just because his costume is a lot fancier than the others' (An actual take I've seen multiple times) without taking into account his cultural background....¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Let me make this clear, I don't think people need a ten page analysis to imagine their fave as queer. Headcanoning a character as queer can have any reason ranging from 'I said so and so it is' to 'this is my light character analysis that makes a masters thesis look shabby' and they're all valid and an integral part of the fandom experience. What I am annoyed at are these so-called 'well-researched' theories that did not make the slightest effort to look into South Asian culture and simply transposed their western bias onto Indian media and confidently make flat out wrong judgements and mislead other people. Clothing based sexual identity determinism is the least of it. That I can at least understand through the lens of a habitual process built through years of analyzing crumbs of queer representation available only through queer coded characters and symbolism such as clothing choices being the only way to see an aspect of yourself portrayed in an aggressively heteronormative media ecosystem. I do that too, because media is tragically heteronormative everywhere. But the rest? Its just straight up misinformation and misrepresentation touted as truth.

Its the same with relationships between men. There are plenty of cultures where skinship between men is not unusual and dynamics and nuances tend to be vastly different from western representations of male friendships. In xianxia and wuxia fandoms you can see this same problem in a different font when outsiders, most often the western side of the fandom, try to apply their own standards and morals onto the original work and try to interpret it through a lens it was never supposed to be interpreted through in the first place, except maybe for comparative analysis. This practice itself isn't a major problem, its natural for people to apply what is familiar to them to try and understand something new. But when this is also accompanied by them foisting their personal interpretation and analysis as the 'correct' one and trying to impose it on the fandom as a whole, it escalates into a powder keg situation as you can imagine.

Again, not saying that western parts of fandoms are the root of all evil or anything like that, gods know how toxic netizens can be. But in this specific situation, where people try to impose western ideals on to non-western content and assumes the universalism of their own principles and value systems? Indeed an issue to be addressed.

[whiskeywithrayna]

Nyad (2023)

[eremin0109]

Just watched Salaar on Netflix and HOLY FUCKING SHIT do I have THOUGHTS about the film. Will be back tomorrow with detailed shitposts I promise.

[terriblegam2r]

They might as well save us all the time and just give the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series to Danai Gurira for episode 4 of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ right now.

[drawfee-quot3s]

around the age of like... thirty, i became a big baby because i learned what mortality was

at thirTy you learnt what mortality was??????

- julia + jacob

[cream-and-five-sugars]

How the hell did Suzume end up crushing all my admittedly very high expectations despite the fact that I was literally watching a girl talk to a chair for over an hour

[familyabolisher]

Do you know what going into Polite Society (2023) almost completely blind when you have autism about reproductive gothic horror does to a person Do you have any idea

[angel-maldonado-enthusiast]

You took money from Harlem’s biggest dealer. You committed perjury at his trial. [...] You were a cop, Joe, and now you’re garbage, you’re nothing!

NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN (1996)

dir. Sidney Lumet

[raineandsky]

#31

Getting into a villain’s lair has never been so easy. The hero more or less just walked in—there’s no security, the place in plain view. She’s half expecting to find the villain already putting cuffs on his hands when she finds him in this maze.

She finally—finally—comes across another human being lingering at the end of one of the endless corridors. One of the villain’s henchmen.

He spots her before she can hide, and he throws her a welcoming smile. “Ah, [Hero], right?” His voice echoes slightly across the space. “[Villain]’s just the third door on your left. Can’t miss it.”

She doesn’t trust this in the slightest. She slowly shuffles towards him, cautious. “What, you’re just giving me your boss’s location?”

The henchman shrugs. “He wants to see you. Big fan and all.”

“... of me?” the hero asks disbelievingly. She’s finally close enough to him, and he leans forwards slightly, lowering his voice. 

“Look, he’s not really a villain,” he says quietly. He checks down the corridor nervously, ensuring the two of them are alone. “He’s a nice dude. It’s just his birthday, y’know? He wanted to pretend to be this big scary guy for his big day.”

The hero can’t believe this. “So I’m not… arresting him?”

“Oh, no, he wants to be arrested. That’s part of it,” The henchman snorts amusedly, “unless he whoops your ass, which I doubt he ever could. Let him have this for today, please? Just play along.”

“Fine,” the hero snaps shortly, and the henchman beams, “but if you’re saying this to try and get my guard down, it won’t work, okay? The moment I think he’s actually a threat he’s going down. You too.”

The henchman nods quickly. “Of course.” He gestures down the corridor next to him. “Third door to the left.”

She rolls her eyes in exasperation as she sets off past him. Hopefully this means today’s job is easy.

[doitinanotherlanguage]

Non-Anglo Movies You Should Watch 33/∞: Minari (2020; 미나리), dir. Lee Isaac Chung

Country: United States

Language: Korean, English

Genre: Drama

Summary: A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

[soullessjack]

it’s 3am I’m extremely dehydrated and ate poorly but I m having severe autism symptoms and cannot keep this to myself or I’ll die . I need you to understand that I am irrevocably haunted by these two quirked up artsy male actors and the entire epidemic of quirked up artsy male actors who are all about making real weird slutty art in the name of true cinema and being a slut and also being silly. They’re like an invasive species. I need to smash them with mallets. I need you to just know that. . Thank you

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

The Age of Adaline (2015, Lee Toland Krieger)

07/04/2024

The Age of Adaline is a 2015 film directed by Lee Toland Krieger starring Blake Lively.

Adaline Marie Bowman was born in 1908. The girl is destined for eternal youth. During her stay in the city of San Francisco in the United States, Adaline, under the name Jennifer Larson, works in a library and lives in the company of a dog.

Ellis wants Adaline to accept her donation so they can take a photo together, but she refuses, as she wants to avoid being recognized by people from her past through photographs of her.

William, although years have passed since he met Adaline, still defines her as a magnificent woman and gives her every credit for having given him the courage to abandon medical school to dedicate himself to her true passion, astronomy.

Filming of the film took place in Coquitlam, Canada. Gabriele Muccino was initially considered to direct the film, with Katherine Heigl and Angela Lansbury in the cast.

Lana Del Rey composed the official soundtrack, titled Life Is Beautiful.

[dumbbitchawards]

[youssefguedira]

i'm NOT going to read diabolik 3 diabolik chi sei reviews (said in the tone of a person trying really hard not to do this and hoping saying it will make it true) but it is currently sitting at the highest average star rating on letterboxd of the trilogy (3.1 vs 2.9 for the other two) so MAYBE it is a masterpiece actually

[jiz-henry]

[ceasarslegion]

On that note i also really wish people understood that media criticism doesn't justify being total assholes to the fans, that's just being an asshole.

You can make criticisms about the MCU without saying that everyone who likes marvel unequivocally sucks in some way, and you can talk about what unhealthy engagement looks like without equating every single fan of that thing with a small minority.

You aren't more enlightened or better than them, you're just being a dickhead. And they aren't being "resistant to criticism" or whatever for telling you to get out of their house when you show up uninvited on their property to yell at them about how bad their choice of decor is. They don't owe you an explanation, justification, or a dollar in the problematic jar either. Can we please stop acting like they do