Althouse: "What can one say, when three pecks can be made into an issue in the land of the Kama Sutra?"

April 26, 2007

"What can one say, when three pecks can be made into an issue in the land of the Kama Sutra?"

Richard Gere is in trouble in India.

UPDATE: Gere was on "The Daily Show" last night, and Jon Stewart asked him about it. He didn't seem too concerned.

11 comments:

XWL said...: This is so typical of westerners and their "orientalism".

The sexualization and colonialization of the darker 'other' like the people of Southern Asia is yet another way the eurocentric nations of the world attempt to assert their hegemony over those they assume power over.

Richard Gere's manhandling and kissing of Ms. Shetty is entirely typical of this strain of thought within 'western' 'culture'.

Bringing up the Kama Sutra also speaks to the exoticization of South Asians and how even Southern Asians (like Ms. Shetty's spokesman) themselves who have bought in to the co-optation of their glorious culture and help in the production and reproduction of their perceived inferiority when faced with 'westerners'.

Oh wait, sorry, the ghost of Edward Said got into my keyboard for a few moments, hopefully that won't happen again.

As far as all the above, nevermind. I agree with the spokesman, how the hell have they gone from the Kama Sutra to the vapors over a playful peck on the cheek?

(and I could so write a twenty page paper on this incident if forced to); 4/26/07, 5:58 PM
Meade said...: Aids awareness. How about a little oral herpes awareness?; 4/26/07, 6:41 PM
tiggeril said...: I still have a ton of family in India. Maybe I should work with them to make an effigy-creating business.; 4/26/07, 9:57 PM
Galvanized said...: Forget the factors of culture and ethnicity -- this would offend me simply as a woman. It just seemed to go on forever, and she seemed a little overwhelmed by it.; 4/26/07, 10:21 PM
John Burgess said...: While media attention focuses on Islamic extremists--with due cause--there is a vast underreporting on Hindu fundamentalism. Arguably, it has been responsible for as many death as Islamic fundamentalism, even if one starts only in 1947 with the separation of India and Pakistan.

When it takes place, it is equally barbaric in its manifestations. Bombings, beheadings, hangings, or just simply setting people on fire, it's nasty stuff.; 4/26/07, 10:23 PM
Kevin Lomax said...: "Bombings, beheadings, hangings, or just simply setting people on fire, it's nasty stuff."

You are simply projecting your Midwestern Protestant values on another culture. Having not grown up there you cannot judge them. Everything is relative.; 4/27/07, 6:25 AM
Balfegor said...: Just look at that picture there, though -- how on Earth could that nitwit have done something like that in public, in India, to an Indian woman, and thought it could pass without comment? Three pecks on the cheek might have been okay, if they were quick and chaste. But that? Cor. It looks like he's molesting her.

And of course, the Kama Sutra was written some 15 centuries ago -- not exactly modern India. It's a bit of a non sequitur.; 4/27/07, 7:26 AM
Anonymous said...: Now I know that Richard Gere is a jerk. I don't think there is anything useful I can do with this new knowledge, however.; 4/27/07, 9:17 AM
TMink said...: I smell a shakedown. Does Al Sharpton have an office in India?

Trey; 4/27/07, 11:49 AM
Revenant said...: While media attention focuses on Islamic extremists--with due cause--there is a vast underreporting on Hindu fundamentalism.

Hinduism isn't an expansionist religion the way that Islam is. Hindu extremists aren't a problem unless you move to India or a neighboring country.; 4/27/07, 12:05 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: tmink:

I smell a shakedown. Does Al Sharpton have an office in India?

Actually, the Indian public and the Indian authorities get exercised about this all the time anyway. See, e.g. this, or this.; 4/27/07, 1:25 PM