Coldplay released the video for their track, “Hymn For The Weekend” a few days back, and all hell has broken loose.
I personally don’t give a shit how India is
portrayed by a couple of has-beens, however I’d like to tie this in with a
larger narrative that the Europeans have built up over the years, and one which
the Anglosphere is continuing, so I thought that I’d weigh in with my two
cents.
(Before we start, why are you still listening to Coldplay in
2016? :p)
The whole controversy revolves around the fact that the
video has typical elements of Indian life and culture that the Caucasian loves.
Gratuitous shots of crumbling infrastructure, broken down means of transport,
poverty porn, “technology” that still seems to be stuck in the 15th
century etc. However, in the middle of (and in spite of) all this the “natives”
are happy, and sing and dance, and celebrate life.
“We natives really
know how to live, we don’t need none of that materialistic shit yo! See how we
are all totally fucked, but still stay so upbeat and happy. Learn our deep,
mystical secrets bruv”.
This seems to be the message from a quick glance at the
video. Another thing you can pick up from all these videos shot in the
"Third world", be it Asia, Africa or South America is the multitude
of people thronging around the sole white guy(s). The evolved white guy(s)
comes to the 3rd world to meet the faceless multitude and embrace and revel in
their way of life and seek enlightenment. Usually the white guy is the only one
you can identify with, whereas the "other" people are reduced to a
faceless, anonymous group. All these images reduce a living, breathing, complex
people to a 19th century trope of the mysterious, one-dimensional mystic
Indian, and in the process maybe massage the white guy's ego.
I’d like to point out
that Chris Martin (and a few other Coldplay members, if I’m not mistaken)
played an impromptu gig in a Delhi pub, so it’s not like he isn’t aware of the
other facet of India. I was also reminded of an Iggy Azalea video from a few
years back - which was very similar to the Coldplay video – with all the
clichéd elements in place. I’m damn sure that had the camera panned a few
inches to the left or right, you would have seen gleaming new buildings and a
modern looking neighbourhood, but no, we gotta stick with that poverty porn,
yo.
I’m by no means saying that we are perfect or that we have
all our problems sorted out. Far from it, huge numbers of our population live
in poverty, open defecation is a problem etc etc. So frigging what?
One aspect of life doesn’t negate the other.
India is messed up in many ways. India is awesome in many
ways.
Shall we use the same yardstick and stereotype all nations
equally?
Oh UK? Damned miserable country filled with paedophiles.
Overrun by fucking Chavs and people in housing estates. Binge-drinking
alcoholics who throw up everywhere. A bunch of thieving lowlifes who got rich
by looting and colonising other countries. Worse than the Nazis when it comes
to millions killed. Yet have conveniently whitewashed history to portray
themselves as a civilizing influence on “savage countries”, and not the mass
murdering lunatics they actually are.
Oh USA? An obese paranoid country with a mass-murderer
lurking on every corner. Overrun by trailer park thrash and ghettoes.
And so on, for literally every country on this planet. See
how stereotyping works? Now assume that Indian media and content was all
powerful, dominant, and in demand across the world, and whenever they portrayed
the UK or the USA, these same stereotypes were recycled over and over. Pretty
soon it becomes THE image of the country to the rest of the world, and
consumers of that content would be conditioned to associate those two countries
to the stereotypes.
But that’s not the truth, right? UK, in spite of its faults
is a decent country. The USA, in spite of its defects has contributed much to
the world.
And thus with India. And this is what irritates a lot of
people.
As I mentioned before, the issue is not just with this
particular video, it’s with the Anglosphere’s overall narrative of India in the
media. It was the same with China in the 90’s and early 00’s (before its
grudging admission to almost developed status). Forget China, If I mentioned
Nigeria and a few other countries in Africa, what would be the image that
springs to mind? More often than not, it would be one of extreme poverty, and
random vultures chilling out near some emancipated kid. But that’s not the
case, parts of Africa are very well developed, clean and doing well for
themselves. But that’s not the image you see in the media.
When cases like the Flint water crisis occur, the reaction
from the average western individual is, “Hey, we are developed, this is just a
one-off thing” (in spite of the fact that there is now evidence that this is
happening across various low income communities). But if this had been in India
(or any other non-white nation), “Lol, what a shit-hole country”.
I remember as recently as the late 90’s and early 00’s, puny
Britain lecturing us on Kashmir, self-determination yada, yada. Really? The
same country that ruthlessly colonized half the world, and still oppresses the
population of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Talk about hypocrisy.
But we listened.
With this particular
video, I think a lot of people are pissed off because they think that Coldplay
have seen the other side of India, and still resorted to stereotypes. The anger
seems to stem from the fact, “Why won’t
they acknowledge that we are developed, and show that side as well?”, this
again taps into the national psyche, where a lot of us still see the “White
Man” as perfect and desperately crave his approval. From the craze for skin
lightening creams, to the way we talk to them (I’ve witnessed several instances
of this personally, with people fawning over them), to how we refer to our film
industries.
This could be due to our colonial past as well as the
predominant image of the white man and culture in popular media. Hollywood and
other Anglosphere media almost always portray good looking white people, in
immaculately clean houses and streets. Even the poor and “ugly” people
portrayed on screen appear relatively attractive and not so poor. This is the
general image in mainstream pop culture.
This is all a make-believe fantasy, in reality, accurate
representation is glossed over. The problems facing the west, the atrocious
living conditions in cities, ghettos and trailer parks and rural communities
are not shown. This is propaganda. The
West is great, fuck the rest.
This even affects the way that Caucasians are portrayed in
our media - as good looking, wealthy, cool et al, when that’s not the case.
There are equally as many ugly, poor and nerdy white people, as well (not that
there’s anything wrong with that). Thus, it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.
This same message keeps getting repeated ad-nauseam, no
matter what the incident, thus building the narrative that the West is beyond
reproach, and India is an undeveloped country stuck in the dark ages.
This is not to say that the West is a horrible cesspool. Far
from it, they are well-developed and prosperous, but my contention is that the
West focus only on our negatives and gloss over our positives, whereas they focus
on their positives and absolutely gloss over their negatives.
So, you may be wondering, what’s the point? How do I change
the prevailing narrative? The answer is clear. You can’t. Just grab a beer and have
fun. India (and the rest of the non-white world) would always be portrayed as
lesser, not fully civilized beings (do you really think Mexico is as
underdeveloped as how they portray in Sicario and other popular culture? Or all
Latinos, thugs and gardeners? Well, if you do, I’ve got a plot on the moon to
sell to you)
These are all media the “white guy” has made for himself and
his people to make themselves feel good and superior, and subtly show the rest
of the world just how awesome they are. If you want to watch it, develop a
thick skin.
You can however build a counter-narrative.
I mentioned earlier, about seeking approval. The simple
truth is you shouldn’t. As an individual or as a country, you shouldn’t seek
approval, that would mean giving others the power to judge you. Respect and stand up for yourself.
Read up, gain knowledge. Figure out how the world works, how
a narrative is built and perpetuated.
As the generation born during and shortly after independence
fade away, so will the current approval-seeking mentality. I have high hopes
from those born post the late 70s – early 80s onwards. Already there is a
change in mentality (visible IRL, online and in new media), acknowledgement of
past injustices and a desire to change the present. Keep working, keep
developing. Don’t let the stereotypes affect you.
History is a cycle, and soon we will be back in a place to
build our own narrative. Till then, quit bitchin’, who cares what a bunch of white
guys think?.
Disclaimer from the
brown guy: The term “white guy” just
flowed better, and thus the use. I’m not racist, and do not condone racism. And
I’m by no means implying that the entire population of the Anglosphere is
racist or are engaged in building this “narrative”. I was referring to those in
charge of creating and producing the content.
