I've been relistening to a lot of Kanye due to getting 808s & Heartbreak (which is AMAZING, so much better than Graduation and equal to Late Registration) for Xmas, hence the title. In the last few weeks I've been sort of having a violent reaction to the way India and Indians try to sanitize and assimilate parts of western, particularly American culture. Sort of like a post-post-colonialism; post-colonialism being the reaction (re: mostly rejection of their former colonizers) of societies that were former colonies, and post-post-colonialism as my reaction to the way these societies are now again borrowing from former colonizers. The two issues on my mind are hip hip music and dance and Hollywood movies. First with hip hop. An Indian's idea of hip hop and an American's idea of hip hop are generally vastly different with Indian people thinking of night clubs and flashing lights, while many Americans will think of the street and coke. I really don't think many Indians in India who imitate the gangster style even understand what they are imitating. Do they know the significance of rolling up a certain side of your pant's leg or titling your cap to a certain side? Do they know that bboys are a reaction to the violence of street life? Most Indian's who claim they can do 'hip hop' dance really mean they can do 80s pop, a la Michael Jackson, and don't know what clowning for crumping is, which is fine, but just don't say you dance hip hop if you really dance pop. I think this is just part of my passive aggressive reaction to being and Indian nerd and going to an inner city high school.

Now for movies... why can't Indian directors make subtle movies? They have individually amazing elements, such as score, cinematography, acting (occasionally), yet it's very hard to find movies in which all the elements come together. I mean, Chinese Kung Fu flicks are as foreign as Hindi movies, yet they just seem a lot less ridiculous, which is why Chinese movies translate more easily in the global market. Also, why do Hindi movies take amazing Hollywood movies and make such crappy remakes? For example, Chris Nolan's Memento is one of my favorite movies and has been remade into a Bollywood film, Ghajini in which the hero is ridiculously buff and rich. WHY? Why can't movies in India work if you have a skinny hero (Guy Pearce style) or if they aren't always rich business men? Why do all the girls have to look like models and not everyday people? (Okay I know that in most Hollywood movies the same rings true, but in Memento, most of the actors are fairly average looking).