Back in the day, Iggy released the song 'Bounce', which on hearing for the first time, sounds like a typical Azalea song. It has the drop to make you bounce, and the beat to make you sweep.The lyrics, as usual, have words that rhyme with Iggy and make no apparent sense whatsoever. But on watching the video, oh my, you will not think of the song in the same way ever again. The lyrics have no real meaning, and the context of the music video make them demeaning and even more, well, meaningless.
This video is filmed in three different situations, the first film sequence depicting 'The Big Fat Indian Wedding'. Iggy walks in wearing the Sari, but in a very different manner from the norm. The revealing nature of her costume mocks the traditional image of a sari. A sari symbolises a woman's beauty and the Indian culture of respect for the elders. Saris are normally supposed to cover a woman from head to toe, but Iggy walks in almost half naked, revealing more than she should. This is cultural appropriation, and the 'sari' that Iggy has donned is an insult to it's own culture.
During this sequence, there are short screens of Iggy riding an elephant through the streets of Mumbai in a gold clad outfit. This symbolises the power she is trying to exert over the people on the streets. It feels as if she wants to show how she is at the pinnacle of being 'Indian' than anybody else, by sitting on top of the great animal and looking down at the commoners, literally.
In the other scene, Iggy is shown in front of an open temple, where people go to pray everyday. Dancing in front of the idol everyone worships is just not very nice, Iggy. There are also a couple of different people in this scene. A priest is shown conduction the venerations, and after they are done, he takes a big puff of his cigarette. There might be some priests who do that, but showing it on screen is just not acceptable.
These scenes keep on interrupting each other, and this goes on until the end. The lyrics just don't sync with the video, and whatever the song tries to convey is completely false about Indian culture. No, people do not 'bounce' in Indian weddings. No, people do not wear half-cut saris to weddings and dance like you don't give a care in them. People who have a positive opinion about the video say that it celebrates Indian culture. The scenes though just don't look like she's celebrating Indian culture. Sometimes, it feels as if Iggy tries to berate the Indian culture. Given Iggy celebrates Holi and dances in the wedding with a lot of spirit, this video still doesn't give an impression of celebrating Indian culture. It appears as if Iggy and the director were stuck between celebrating Indian culture and appropriating it, and have made a complete mess of what was already a really bad song.
This video is filmed in three different situations, the first film sequence depicting 'The Big Fat Indian Wedding'. Iggy walks in wearing the Sari, but in a very different manner from the norm. The revealing nature of her costume mocks the traditional image of a sari. A sari symbolises a woman's beauty and the Indian culture of respect for the elders. Saris are normally supposed to cover a woman from head to toe, but Iggy walks in almost half naked, revealing more than she should. This is cultural appropriation, and the 'sari' that Iggy has donned is an insult to it's own culture.
During this sequence, there are short screens of Iggy riding an elephant through the streets of Mumbai in a gold clad outfit. This symbolises the power she is trying to exert over the people on the streets. It feels as if she wants to show how she is at the pinnacle of being 'Indian' than anybody else, by sitting on top of the great animal and looking down at the commoners, literally.
In the other scene, Iggy is shown in front of an open temple, where people go to pray everyday. Dancing in front of the idol everyone worships is just not very nice, Iggy. There are also a couple of different people in this scene. A priest is shown conduction the venerations, and after they are done, he takes a big puff of his cigarette. There might be some priests who do that, but showing it on screen is just not acceptable.
These scenes keep on interrupting each other, and this goes on until the end. The lyrics just don't sync with the video, and whatever the song tries to convey is completely false about Indian culture. No, people do not 'bounce' in Indian weddings. No, people do not wear half-cut saris to weddings and dance like you don't give a care in them. People who have a positive opinion about the video say that it celebrates Indian culture. The scenes though just don't look like she's celebrating Indian culture. Sometimes, it feels as if Iggy tries to berate the Indian culture. Given Iggy celebrates Holi and dances in the wedding with a lot of spirit, this video still doesn't give an impression of celebrating Indian culture. It appears as if Iggy and the director were stuck between celebrating Indian culture and appropriating it, and have made a complete mess of what was already a really bad song.
As a fellow Indian, I wholly agree with your standpoint on the subject of cultural appropriation but I would argue that Bollywood and the Indian media industry has played a large part in the exaggerated depiction of the Indian Culture. Nevertheless I really enjoyed your take on the matter and found it a highly interesting read, great job.
ReplyDeleteYes, Bollywood might've played a part in exaggerating Indian culture, but it is not just that. It might in the end just as well amount to us being nonchalant about how people perceive our culture don't you think? Anyway, thanks!
DeleteAmazing blog post. I totally agree with your standpoint and its is certainly an example of cultural appropriation to the extreme. I personally didn't like this song at all and if I was old enough I would sue her :P.
ReplyDeleteBut great work but like Rohan Toor says, Bollywood does play a big role in the encouragement of such appropriation. Do you also think Indians are not reacting appropriately the way they should?
Yes, and that is why it is up to us to make the change Rohit. :D
DeleteI may not be Indian, but after watching that video I can't help but to feel that you tried to keep your post too academic for a subject that should be addressed with full-hearted honesty. The video is obviously an attempt at appealing to the Indian market, which is rapidly growing not only in India itself, but in pretty much all English-speaking territories; and it is definitely a disgusting example of cultural appropriation. The song itself has absolutely nothing to do with India and, as you said, their choice for the video was just making a complete mess of a song that was already bad. I guess I can't really speak for India myself, since I'm not Indian, but if a video like this were to be trying to celebrate Venezuelan culture I would be really angry. I've only been in India for about 2 weeks in my entire life, but asides from the beginning before she appears, nothing in that video felt like India.
ReplyDeleteVery good analysis overall, but I feel you could have talked more about why the creators of the video chose to portray Indian culture in such a way. And I love how you praise the song at the beginning just to say it's bad at the end XD
I will never understand the reasons Iggy does this. But whatever, yeah I just realized I could've done that. I could write another 10000 words on this. XD
DeleteThis is a good response. Consider this question - How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? You answer the how- but how about the why?
ReplyDeleteThere is really no apparent reason behind the representation of the Indian community in such a way. Maybe it wanted to give the song a vibrant and easy-going feel. The fact that they show how the priest smokes just supports the fact that the song is meant to be listened to with a light heart.
ReplyDelete