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Ear to the Ground

Hollywood, Bollywood in Culture Clash

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Posted on Apr 16, 2007
gere
AP

Ambassador d’Amour:  Richard Gere pulls a Pepé Le Pew on Shilpa Shetty.

Who’d have ever imagined that serene Buddhist actor and do-gooder Richard Gere would be burned in effigy by angry Hindu throngs all over India?  The outcry erupted Sunday after Gere dipped Indian starlet Shilpa Shetty and kissed her face multiple times at an AIDS-awareness event.


Daily Mail:

In the latest controversy, individuals in Mumbai belonging to the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena set fire to images of Shetty and beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks.

Protests also erupted in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted “Down with Shilpa Shetty”.

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By Lefty, April 17, 2007 at 9:18 am #

Gere had the temerity to spoil the sexual fantacies of millions of Indian men by sullying the object of their collective desires with his American male sexuality.

Off with his head!

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By Douglas Chalmers, April 17, 2007 at 8:48 am #

Well, we’ve had the English version - that was the American one, ha ha!

I guess he was simply imaging himself to be some Bollywood hero. He did bow to her at the end, though, so what was wrong with that?

Oh, it was all because he was American (and white)!!!

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By Jaded Prole, April 17, 2007 at 7:33 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

While this over-reaction is due in large part to the growth of Hindu nationalist parties, it is always a good idea to be aware of cultural morees and taboos when traveling.

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By Tom Doff, April 17, 2007 at 2:07 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

I had no idea Buddhists went in for oscular rape.

I thought they just sat around and contemplated rocks and navels and sh*t.

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By Dr Richard blackmoor, April 16, 2007 at 7:02 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Incredible that a few kisses ment in a friendly way could bring such violence .
These people should focus on the real problems faced by India’s people .
This is what religious fundamentalism does,leaves a person mindless and reactionary. The violence springs from such abandonment of intellect.

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By Goffredo, April 16, 2007 at 3:23 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Wow, she looks like she is really enjoying that.  Sad really, because Indian women are really attractive.  Shows what happens when you add Richard Gere to your body you become instantly avoidable, like the plague.

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By James Yell, April 16, 2007 at 2:47 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

This is happening in a country with some of the most amusing sexual religous sculpture in the world? The nationalist movement and reformation of Hindu religion is largely promoted by the historic aggression that Islam has played on the Hindu and the process continued with the advent of European colonialism. In a country of large minorities it is hard to understand such mindless behavior.

Of course, it is possible that Hindu’s have seen the Christian broadcasting promo that I saw on tv some time ago. In it, one of those typical Christian, if every one was Christian the world would not have any problems, ignoring that in fact large areas have at times been controlled by funamentalist Christians and the results were massive slavery, murder and rather repugnant behavior, but the point of mentioning this is the program belabored Hindu’s as thursting for Christian Fellowship and waiting in Hindu inspired hopelessness. In fact India has great contrasts. Immense educated populations, immense poverty and ignorance, but Hindu religion is still vibrant and most identify with it. As someone pointed out the outrage is often nothing to do with the immediate event. Perhaps that is right.

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By 127001, April 16, 2007 at 2:16 pm #

I have been trying to say for years that it will take very little to trigger violence in the coming year, and perhaps longer. The whisper became a shout, and now the shouts roar.

None of the violence we are seeing are actually about the events they target; they are indicative of an overall dismissal of the rights of individuals and the diversity of cultures.

I’m sorry this happened, but it has been in the works for a long time. If the people of India felt safer and more comfortable globally, especially regarding Americans and the U.S., they may have been more forgiving of this mistaken act. Instead it gives a reason to resist more than what Gere did. He is an American, and representative unfortunately of the image the Twig’s administration has given this country.

I’m just not surprised.

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By QuyTran, April 16, 2007 at 12:30 pm #

Buddha himself never bans embracing and kissing ! Don’t be too monarchist than king !

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