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‘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)’ [1]
'How are Asians represented in film and television, with particular focus on Bride & Prejudice?'
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.
‘Bride & Prejudice’ is part of a hybrid of genres which includes comedy, drama, romance and musical film. It can also be placed into the newly founded British Asian genre. This particular genre of film was initiated by films such as ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ (Gurinder Chadha, 1992). An attribute of such texts of this genre is that they are productions by Asians, about Asians and are evident of the fact that Asians in today’s society have more power and influence as a social group than in previous years. This is also evident in the rise of the ‘brown pound’ over the years as there is a much wider and thriving target audience for the consumption of such texts. The genre ‘British Asian’ has prospered from the success of previous texts such as ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ (Sanjeev Bhaskar, 1998) and ‘East is East’ (Ayub Khan, 1999), and has created a realisation of the post modernist attitudes expressed by British Asian audience’s today whom have a more open mind and are noticeably not offended by the use of accents for example as they feel as if though they can laugh at themselves as their portrayal in British Asian texts is created by Asians themselves. Where although most British Asian texts have a comical element, they are still able to express issues and situations which the target audience may feel they can relate to.
The intended target audience for ‘Bride & Prejudice’ would be both males and females of all ages in the Asian community considering the films hybrid of genres; ensuring that audiences of all ages are able to relate to particular characters and situations in the film. Also, due to the fact that ‘Bride & Prejudice’ was created by Gurinder Chadha, who has been part of widely successful mainstream British Asian texts such as ‘Bend it Like Beckham’, the film would appeal to a wider multicultural audience that is familiar with her work. Another factor that would generate a wider audience span is that the film’s protagonist is played by former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai which would encourage certain viewers to watch the film as they may be fans, due to her celebrity status amongst both British Asians and traditional Asians. There may also be a strong secondary audience presence between the white, liberal middle class population and other non Asians whom may be interested by the nature and appeal of the film and may consider it as an educational experience.
‘Bollywood meets Hollywood... And it's a perfect match’ [5] is the tagline for ‘Bride & Prejudice’ and promotes the idea of a collaboration of two cultures; Bollywood & Hollywood in one. The mise en scene in the film helps to portray this attribute as it is displayed as continually colourful which links to Bollywood films and the way in which they are portrayed as usually you would expect them to be bright and cheerful in this way, this sense of colour is also depicted through the clothing that the characters wear; which is usually traditional Indian clothing especially in scenes such as the wedding. The bright lighting within the film helps to portray the light hearted feeling and images expressed throughout. This is true for most scenes in the film, even if the mood of the particular scene is not really of a 'bright' & 'happy' nature the lighting still generally remains bright reinforcing the comedy and musical elements of the film, also the strong use of non diegetic music used through out the film in the form of song and dance routines lives up to the conventions of most Bollywood films or Hollywood musicals. There is a strong significance of the use of the particular mise en scene and settings that have been utilised as they are important to symbolise the 'stereotypical' vision that the audience expects to have of a film which is in a sense a reproduction of a 'Bollywood' film. These sets usually look extravagant and grand as you would usually find them to be in typical Bollywood films. An example of this idea of a grand setting is the scene at the beginning of the film where there is a wedding taking place in an enormous and elaborate house. The conjunction of cultures is also evident via the use of two languages being spoken which is predominantly English but also some Punjabi. The use of both languages works to reach a wider range of audiences both, British Asian and traditional Asian.
‘Bride & Prejudice’ presents many characters that appear to conform to the stereotypical representations of Asians, however, it also demonstrates various alternative representations of Asian characters that challenge these conventions. For example, the stereotypical representation of an oppressed Asian female is often reinforced in British Asian films via the use of several inferior female characters, which is evident particularly in films such as ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ and ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (Mira Nair, 2001). Where these films do deal with serious issues regarding the likes of a patriarchal society, there appears to be no real development within the Asian community concerning such matters which is a misconception. ‘Bride & Prejudice' on the other hand features Aishwarya Rai as the leading protagonist of the film, giving her a sense of power and independence which makes the audience identify with her as she is in a central and active role. However, applying Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘male gaze’ it can still be argued that she has been deliberately used for this role to in order to satisfy the male gaze as she holds a quality of to-be-looked-at-ness. There are moments in the film where this idea is emphasised as certain parts of her body are fetishised by the use of semi revealing or tight clothing which, still reinforces the idea of a patriarchal society. The theme of 'patriarchy' can be expressed in ‘Bride & Prejudice’ as it features a very stereotypical Asian attitude at times, especially in terms of marriage, for example, ‘I will end up living in that rotten house, full of spinsters with no grandchildren’ [6], is the opinion expressed by Rai’s mother in the film whom feels as if she should marry off her daughters as soon as possible to relieve the shame of having the burden of unmarried daughters. This theme of marriage is a key aspect to the narrative of the film as it is a central issue covered that helps to showcase the idea of patriarchy. The character of Rai’s father and most 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 adapt to traditional roles women would be expected to fulfil. Also, even though the women in this text may come across as objects of 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 which is known as post - feminism.
‘Bride & Prejudice’ portrays the way in which young girls today have to deal with the division between Western and Asian culture and are often faced with the predicament of where their loyalties genuinely lie. Lalita’s character is initially presented as having a good balance between the two, however is faced with her own predicament between tradition and values against her choice for love given that Darcy is white. Lalita’s younger sister, Lucky is also an example of one such character in the film. She is portrayed as completely neglecting to conform to her stereotypical role as an obedient Asian daughter and is seen to be ‘wild’ in comparison to her sisters. An example of her ‘wild’ behaviour is witnessed when she runs away with a white boy in England or even in her persistency to dress seductively, which are all attributes that Asian girls are not stereotyped to coincide to.
Chadha’s previous release ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ from 1992 is also heavily evident of such struggle between the conflict of Western and Asian culture. This presents us with the idea that more than a decade ago this conflict would have been an even larger issue for young British Asians. ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ illustrates many stereotypical visions of the Asian community; more so than ‘Bride & Prejudice’, both positive and negative however, it also manages to display characters whom chose not to conform to their stereotypical roles yet the way in which such individuals would be treated by the remaining Asian community completely differs at that time in comparison to present day; they would have been much more frowned upon. For example, Lalita marries Darcy at the end of ‘Bride & Prejudice’ which demonstrates her parents’ and communities acceptance and conformity of multiculturalism. However, in ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ the character of Hashida becomes pregnant by her black boyfriend and as the other women in the community find out they are all far from accepting and look down upon her.
As different ethnic minority communities are gradually establishing themselves in Britain, stereotypes are changing as society is learning more about Asian culture. Due to this, alongside traditional portrayals of Asian women, we are also becoming increasingly aware of alternative representations of Asian women such as the character of Aishwarya Rai in ‘Bride & Prejudice’. One such example of a career orientated, beautiful, independent and successful Asian woman is Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty whom Britain became aware of from ‘Big Brother’ (2007). ‘Producers of Big Brother hope to attract more than two million Asians living in the UK’ [7] would have been ‘Big Brother’s’ motive of Shilpa’s arrival to the show; in an aid to reach a wider audience – Asians. As Shilpa entered the house she was an obvious example of a glamorised Asian culture that Britain is presented with today. This particular glamorised trend was set in many ways by the creation of ‘Bombay Dreams’, a Bollywood-themed west end musical in 2002. [8] Due to the much anticipated hype created by the establishment of such an event in British theatre, many varieties of Asian cultural trends were seen to be ‘cool’ and became glamorised ‘accessories’ almost. Asian culture is now seen to be stylish and is influencing areas such as fashion, music, food and entertainment.
Shilpa Shetty’s presence in the Big Brother house also created great controversy in 2007. With alleged racial bullying being carried out in the house by housemates; Jade Goody, a former Big Brother contestant, Jo from S Club 7 and model Danielle Llyod, news broadcasts all over the world expressed their opinions regarding the serious issue. ‘Jade Goody told the actress to "go back to the slums", in a row that erupted over stock cubes’ [9] is evidence of such ‘racist’ bullying that took place, however, the debate here is whether this was truly an intentional racial hate comment or perhaps just pure ignorance. This is an argument which can be considered as an on going one in society, where we had perhaps assumed that racism was no longer an issue in multicultural Britain today, this series of the show proved many wrong. Where ‘Bride & Prejudice’ presents a much more broad minded and multicultural representation of society, there are many texts such as ‘Big Brother’ (2007) and others from previous years in which we witness completely different ideologies.
‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, (Hanif Kureishi, 1985) can be viewed as a historic text in comparison to the more contemporary ones today. It is an example of the differentiating ideologies portrayed between the representation of Asians then to Asians today. ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, is set within the Asian community in London, during the Thatcher years, and displays those values, of money but 'anybody can make it' [10] The issues that are presented in this film are of a different manner in comparison to the typical comedic nature we witness in most British Asian films. They come across as a lot more serious than other British Asian texts; mainly because 'My Beautiful Laundrette' is just a drama. This film focuses largely on racial hate issues as well as the adjustments Asians had to make in settling into Britain and adapting to its ways. Although, it does relate to 'Bride & Prejudice' and other films of this genre in the way that it subverts many stereotypes instead of conforming to them. For example, the protagonist of this film, Omar is a homosexual, which is not a stereotype that we generally associate with Asians.
‘Bride & Prejudice’ presents a modern and westernised view of the Asian community, even within scenes that are shot in India, which aids to show the racial diversity and open minded nature of Asians today. Aishwarya Rai’s male lead in the film is
Martin Henderson whom plays the role of William Darcy. The blossoming romance between an Asian woman and a white American man is still regarded as a relationship that may be frowned upon within the Asian community; however ‘Bride & Prejudice’ portrays this as any other love story which helps to reinforce the promotion of multiculturalism and unity within society. Another aspect of the film which also creates this sense of unity and a prosperous multicultural society is the presentation of Lalita’s (Aishwarya Rai) mother and Darcy’s mother. Both women are presented as pressurising, over protective, possessive mothers with high expectations for their children, whom are both trying to arrange their child’s marriage. This motherly image is a universal, stereotypical representation of many mothers. Therefore, by showing Asian characters to share certain traits with white characters, we can see that the film is trying to promote multicultural values; forcing us to identify our similarities rather than regret our differences.
However, a reason for the cross over success of the film to white audiences may not just be due to cultural similarities but also due to the fact that the audience is encouraged to see many of the Asian characters as ‘novelty-value’ [11] For example, the character of Lalita’s mother is successful in appealing to audiences due to her use of over the top comedic gestures. This, in conjunction with her strong Indian accent presents her almost as a modern day ‘racial clown’ [12]. Therefore, it can be argued that the audience is laughing at her ‘un – English’ attributes and mocking her accent and cultural features instead of laughing at her as a comedic character.
Such similar characters have consistently been employed as ‘Brown Clowns’ in British Asian texts in the past. An example of this is the use of Asian characters in the sitcom ‘Mind Your Language’, (Stuart Allen, 1992). There is an evident use of stereotypes employed in ‘Mind Your Language’ as there is in ‘Bride & Prejudice’ although in different ways. Even though ‘Mind Your Language’ was initially created as a light hearted comedy we cannot be sure of the genuine intentions of the creators because they were themselves white British. Due to this fact, it’s harder to assess whether the use of Asians as the butt of the joke was simply a form of amusement and entertainment or even a way to showcase ethnic minorities on predominantly white television or in actual fact supposed to be offensive. Whereas, we know that the stereotypes we come across in ‘Bride & Prejudice’ aren’t intended in a racist or offensive way as the creators of this text are themselves British Asian.
In conclusion, ‘Bride & Prejudice’ is a film that contains a variety of different representations concerning Asians. Some of these conform to many well recognised stereotypes however, there are many which challenge these stereotypes and offer the audience ‘alternative’ portrayals of Asians. The protagonist of this film, Lalita, has been presented to us through actress Aishwarya Rai; encouraging the audience to identify with her and therefore take on her beliefs and views and through this film attempts to promote a more successful multicultural society. ‘Bride & Prejudice’ promotes the idea of today’s multicultural Britain and also the changing and developing ideas and attitudes of the Asians that live here and in fact even those that live in India.
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