DeTaiLeD eSsaY pLaN..x

‘Due to the lack of Asians in the media, any portrayal can be viewed as stereotypical, because that's all viewers have to define Asians (not that they should base their views on movies, of course, but many will)’ – from a review of ‘Bride & Prejudice’ [1]

'How are Asians represented in film and television, with particular focus on Bride & Prejudice?'

iNtRoDuCtioN...

Asians have been migrating to the UK for a number of years, although, migration from the Indian subcontinent peaked in the late 1960s and early 70s. [2] Since, we have witnessed the affluent progression of Asians in the business community; some of Britain’s richest such as the Jasminder Singh Family: owners of the Edwardian Group [3]. However, despite such succession within society, Asians have still been minutely represented in the media.

Gurinder Chadha is one of such successful Asians today. However, what differentiates Chadha from others is her progression in creating awareness of Asian culture and values and exhibiting them in mainstream media effectively. Chadha has produced two main landmark films in representing the Asian community, ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ (1992) and more recently ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ (2002).

‘Bride & Prejudice’, (2004) also by Gurinder Chadha, is an adaptation of the novel ‘Pride & Prejudice’ by writer Jane Austen, and is fundamentally about traditional mother Mrs. Bakshi and her eagerness to find suitable husbands for her four unmarried daughters. [4] Brought to us by mainstream producer, Miramax Films ‘Bride & Prejudice’ demonstrates the portrayal of young Asian women today. Breaking free from stereotypical roles, all four sisters are represented in individually distinct manners. Dealing with the themes of love, marriage, tradition and family values, ‘Bride & Prejudice’ is exemplary of the contemporary attitude of Asians in today’s society.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0361411/usercomments?start=60 [1]
http://www.ipa.co.uk/diversity/communities_asian.html [2]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2843321.stm [3]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361411/plotsummary [4]

‘BoLLyWooD MeEtS HoLLyWooD...aNd iT's a pErFeCt maTcH’...

• The genre is a hybrid between drama/musical/comedy & romance.
• Style and narrative in this case are a combination of both Hollywood/Bollywood, this blend has been constructed intentionally in order to give audiences a bit of both worlds.
• A way in which this has been particularly constructed is via the use of many song and dance routines linking to the general structure of Bollywood films, and then in turn showing a bridge between Bollywood and Hollywood. This could possibly be the aim and objective of the film in general.
• This text features a director which can be associated to a particular genre type - 'British Asian' and also a star (Aishwarya Rai) whom is associated with Bollywood - thereby also assocaited with the generic themes of drama, romance and musicals, which are seen to be the stereotypical genres of Bollywood films.
• Many of the characters are incredibly generically determined. As the genre is a hybrid of many different genres we come across characters which are generically determined in either one of these ways. For example, one of the genres and themes of this film is romance; therefore we see this romance depicted through the selection of couples we witness. There is also a particular ‘comical’ character whom we clearly state to be used as just comedy centralised.
• A major generic convention expressed throughout is the application of frequent song and dance routines which reinforce the genre of this film partly being a musical.
• The text generally conforms to the characteristics of the genre as the audience receives what it would expect to from such a text. Having been said however, considering the genre of romance, perhaps the text is not conforming to what the audience would typically expect from a Bollywood style film as the ‘heroine’ ends up with a white guy which is not typical of Bollywood endings.
• Bollywood films usually have high budgets but British films are less likely to have the same. However, this film was created to have the same blatantly high budget image to be able to glorify the idea of Bollywood cinema.

GuRiNDeR ChaDHa – contribution to the creation of many British Asian texts available...

• Although ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ is a slightly more recent text than ‘Mind Your Language’ dating back to 1992, I think this text has a better reflection of the differences and similarities between social attitudes and Asian representations then and now. Even from 1992 a lot has changed. ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ was Gurinder Chadha’s debut film – she is also the director of the text that I’m studying; ‘B& P’. I think that both films are a reflection of her wish to be able to demonstrate the lives of Asian women and the struggles they face in a battle between tradition and the changes in modern society.
• ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ is a good comparison to my chosen text as it was directed by Gurinder Chadha too, therefore in certain mannerisms it is similar to the way in which it has been composed when compared to ‘Bride & Prejudice’. This includes the likes of media language a considerable amount baring in mind the director and her style.
  
  

OtHeR tExTs - MoRe CoNtEmPoRarY...

This text can be compared to several others of a similar nature within recent and past years such as: ‘East is East’, ‘Monsoon Wedding’, ‘Bend it like Beckham’, ‘Goodness Gracious Me’.The texts that I have considered to use to compare ‘Bride & Prejudice’ to have been selected based on different aspects of their characteristics.

• ’East is East’ was one of the very first ‘British Asian’ genre of films of its kind which, marks it as a milestone towards the path that such a genre of films is moving towards.
• The same can be said for the memorable ‘Monsoon Wedding’. This film is able to make an even larger comparison to ‘Bride & Prejudice’ as it’s narrative is considering of Chada’s remake considering its daughters and marriage theme.
• ’Goodness Gracious Me’ is a text differentiating from the others mentioned above as it was a television series. However, this text has to be regarded as seriously important considering its huge television success.

OtHeR tExTs – HiStoRiCaL...

The expectations and stereotypes we hold of the Asian community have changed from previous years and texts as people have become more aware of Asian culture and traditions with time – there is a less racist attitude for example.

• Compare ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ where this racist view is the dominant ideology. the issues that are presented in this film are of a different nature - they come across as alot more serious than the other texts; mainly because the others are of a comedy genre whereas 'MBL' is a drama. This film focuses largely on racial hate issues aswell as the adjustments Asians had to make in settleing into Britain and adapting to its ways . Although, one way in which it does relate to 'B&P' is in the way that it subverts many stereotypes instead of conforming to them. For eg, the protagonist of this film - Omar is a homosexual.

aSiaN WoMeN – MuLveY...

'Bride & Prejudice' features Aishwarya Rai as the leading protagonist of the film. Although in a way this could give her a sense of power and makes the audience identify with her as she is in a central and active role - it can still be argued that she has been deliberately used for this role to satisfy the male gaze as she has a quality of to-be-looked-at-ness. There are times in the film where this idea may be emphasised as certain parts of her body are fetishised by the use of semi revealing or tight clothing. The idea of 'patriarchy' can be related to this text as it features a very stereotypical Asian attitude at times - especially in terms of marriage. This theme of marriage is a key aspect to this film as it is a main issue covered - it helps to showcase the idea of patriarchy as the protagonists father and most of the other male characters seem domineering as they feel what they expect should be done without argument. In many ways though Mulvey's theory is subverted by this text as the Asian women in this film all hold a strong presence and do not adopt to traditional roles women would be expected to fulfill. Also, even though the women in this text may come across as objects as the male gaze as they are beautiful and hold the quality of to-be-looked-at-ness they are still strong, independent women aware of their good looks and how to operate them - known as post - feminism.

RePreSeNtaTioN iN SoCieTy & SteReoTyPeS...

• This film shows the audience both the negative and positive stereotypes of Asians. For example, the stereotype that all Asians are hard working is employed in this film – portraying Asians in a positive yet stereotypical light. However, some other misconceptions of Asians have also been portrayed as stereotypes such as the burden of unmarried daughters.
• Asians are generally portrayed in a stereotypical way regarding matters such as marriage, family values and the roles of men in women – there still appears to be links to a patriarchal society.
• I believe this film portrays a fair reflection of society as it demonstrates the balance between Asians and their more contemporary attitudes, yet still shows how rooted many are in their culture.
• ‘B&P’ does both – reinforce and challenge stereotypes. Some characters reflect the reinforced stereotypical image of Asian society, whereas other challenge these stereotypes in their actions and attitudes.