No-one confronts her or questions her views, and she never admits she was wrong to denigrate ‘brown’ people. So by passively leaving the character to bask in her ignorance, the filmmakers (deliberately or not) leave me (and others) wondering if they share the same views and are ok with promoting those racist attitudes to a global audience. Totally irresponsible. No-one can deny that there are girls (and boys) who, like Alvira, choose mates based on skin colour AND look down upon darker hues as deficient in some way. I actually think scripting this character it was very honest and a good opportunity to explore the phenomenon, but they just made it look acceptable… they could have done so much more with it, even with just a few extra lines to make clear that it’s not ok to think this way. That the need for this obviously did not occur to anyone (even in post-production) is just sad.

I saw the movie in London, with a couple of Indian friends and one other black (West Indian) friend. We left the cinema rather irritated by the offensive comments. The people around us (mostly desis) didn’t laugh at the comments, and I definitely noticed more than a few gasps.

I guess the point I was trying to make about the star cast being ‘enlightened’, is that they’ve all received a western-style education and had the opportunity to travel across the globe and be exposed to different cultures etc. So one would naturally expect more liberal attitudes than from the average Raj who hasn’t had those privileges.

Rhianne, I’m sorry to hear that this movie was really ruined for you. On the actors…they may be A-list, but I don’t think anyone, anywhere has certified them as enlightened, never mind “super-enlightened” (unless that’s a play on words referring to Preity!).

I think that the way her character is written, even by the last comment of hers that you quote, my take on it was that she (Alvira) is shown as deluding herself in the end that the guy is some shade of skin color acceptable to her. I’m interested to hear your experience in the theater. Where (city?) did you see the film? As far I can recall, when I saw it, people laughed, as did I. My assumption was that we were all laughing because we were thinking “Wow, do people still really think that way in this day and age?”, but who knows, maybe some people were laughing because it was familiar to them, they’d heard others in their family, circle of friends, etc express the same sentiments as Alvira.

I think IF the filmmaker was indeed trying to make a point about the character’s way of considering prospective spouses based on skin color a very backward one, then it was necessary to make some other explicit reference to this attitude where she sees the error of her ways. Because otherwise, it could be (and has been) perceived as actually approving of or tolerating or endoring the attitude that fairer is better.

As far as JBJ is concerned, I HATED it! but then, we all are entitled to our views

Indianoguy, hmm, now I’m conflicted….part of me just wants to see it to see what all the fuss was about, part of me wants to wait for the DVD and start my Thalaivar education with something else…decisions, decisions….

Well, until I get the review of A Mighty Heart and two interviews up, I won’t be going anywhere!

Thanks for the list; I know some of the music from Padaiyappa. And for the Flushing ref. There are also places on Long Island and in Jersey that carry Tamil movies.

And yes, I find the Japanese love of Thalaivar quite amazing. Then again, I remember years ago a Japanese women winning a top flamenco dance competition in Spain….

Did someone at the theater tell you Sivaji was ending after one week?? Doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?