I watched a movie today called "Bollywood/Hollywood". It wasn't what the average American viewer would expect. It's also not exactly typical Bollywood. As some might observe, there is a recent trend of hybrid films - somewhere between the two. This particular movie was actually very funny (by American standards). If you are at all familiar with Bollywood film, and have been somewhat acculturated by America, you may appreciate the hybrid attempt. After all, in this movie, the leads KISS!!! (see a scene where head turns are discussed from: American Chai).
This film caused me to feel the crassness of American pop culture (coupled with a comment made by my mother about the current radio favorite 'My Humps' and how it was a bad song). I like the Black Eyed Peas, but I don't appreciate the crudeness of their sexual references.
In the B/H movie, the daughter says 'Jesus!' The mother then admonishes her with 'Don't take the name of God in vain!' the daughter replies, 'He's not our god!' The grandmother then says 'All gods are equal.' While this is very telling about the Hindu religion, it is also very telling about the sense of Indian respect, and/or reverance.
There is something to be said about our popular disrespect for the name of our deities. There's no getting around how many times in an average day a person can hear someone saying 'Oh my God!' or 'Jesus Christ!' Perhaps it is so necessary to say it because it is so very taboo. Perhaps this is why all of our culture is disintigrating. There is no set of standards. There is no set of rules for moral behavior. I look at the characters in the movie I watched today and I can't help but wish that I too had a similar set of standards to follow. Perhaps this is the allure of Islam, because it is so easy to follow the set of rules. They are laid out for you. There is no question what you should or should not do. Morality is not subjective in such a case. While it may be safe to say that there are certain extremes that would be universally agreed upon as 'immoral,' there is still a broad range of things that may be deemed 'moral.'
What is the problem with such a society? The problem is that soon anything goes. When anything goes, the fabric that holds society together begins to buckle and tear. This is what the beloved neo-conservatives would say, and religious fundamentalists all over would agree with them. The solution is where these groups differ.
Now, I would not say I am a religious fundamentalist. I would not say I am a neo-conservative. In fact, I am far from both (as my earlier posts illustrate). Yet I can say that I do agree that a standard of morality helps to facilitate a more stable society.
Simultaneously I do not feel that we should have a set of morals imposed upon us. We do have laws, and these are supposedly determined by consensus (though with elections that are deemed fraudulent by international impartial observers, I cannot but help to question this assumption). Yet these do not govern culture. There is no clear set of cultural expectations as to morality. We do not culturally say that explicit (and often violent) sexual references, abusive language (sexual, mental, and emotional as well as physical references to abusive acts), and foul language are immoral and should not be acceptable in polite conversation. There are some words that remain offensive to certain groups if said by other groups (the 'n' word, the'b' word, the 'c' word). 'F--- you' is offensive but only within certain contexts - for example how well acquainted those involved are with one another. 'Shut up' can also be offensive under the same types of conditions - often it is more offensive if said by someone who is closer than by an unknown person.
This is bizarre.
Perhaps if I had gone to a small private Christian school for junior high and high school I would adhere more strongly to my own ideals. Such is not the case. I too, like most of my generation and younger, have a potty mouth. I admit it. Anyone who is in my age range and doesn't have a potty mouth is one of three things - a liar, sheltered, or hasn't fully assimilated into American culture. It's a sad truth. Perhaps I am just standing with one foot in the past and another in the future, holding the remaining guilt for behaving in a way that used to be considered improper.
I could philosophize as to why we chose a more cynical cultural linguistic path. I could say it aligns with the relatively new hyper-modernist trends of disenchantment black coffee drinking gritty underbelly bearing and the list could go miles.
So then does it make it right? Less offensive? Only to the desensitized. As movies like B/H remind us, the rest of the world... is sensitive.
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