Summary Of Mira Nair And Mississippi Masala

The film I have chosen is “The Namesake” by Jhumpra Lahiri. A traditional Bengali Indian family, the Ganguli’s, are moving to New England and are trying to stay engulfed in their unique cultural identity. Ashoke Ganguli brings his new wife, Ashima, to a strange new world, leaving her lonely and confused of a culture outside of her own. Ashima needs to learn to love a man she does not know, to customize herself to a country she is unfamiliar with, and to hold true to her values in a culture foreign to her traditional beliefs. In this paper I will inform the reader of the Family structure, social class on gender as well as material culture and nonmaterial culture pertaining to the Ganguli’s and how they made a place in American society. I

Jesminder Bhamra, like the director, is British-Asian. Just like Director Chadha had refused to take traditional Punjabi dancing lessons and watch Bollywood films as a child, Jesminder unintentionally rebels when trying to integrate cultures. Jesminder’s traditional Sikh parents want her to be ‘good’ by completing university and marrying an Indian man. However, due to local

After giving a brief introduction to her subject, Desmond quickly begins her analysis on the piece Radha choreographed by Ruth St. Denis. She states that St. Denis was one of the mothers of modern dance in America despite how her works are not as well remembered as others including Martha Graham’s. She depicts Radha by describing the dancing quality, patterns in choreography, lighting, set, and costume in detail. Desmond also recounts the social issues that are reflected in the piece including gender roles and race. The author’s main point in writing “Dancing Out the Difference: Cultural Imperialism and Ruth St. Denis’s Radha of 1906” was to introduce St. Denis and share her detailed analysis of St. Denis’ Radha.

Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey. Thesis. N.d. N.p.: Laura Mulvey, 1975. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey. NG Communications, 2006. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. .

The movie gives the message that women must do acknowledge their responsibilities towards themselves, which can and should never be neglected or postponed for the sake of anyone or anything. Nothing in this world is worth sacrificing your own aspirations for. A person’s greatest assets are self-respect, dignity and individuality. Woman should safeguard her identity by not letting her individuality get submerged and by keeping her priorities intact all her life and creating a place for herself.

While Smith and Anzaldua may define identity through a culture or a voice, Jhumpa Lahiri, herself, had a different experience. Rather for Lahiri, she helps the reader

This real based true story film revives in our character some traits that we are sadly unable to explore with our current social environment. It is an environment where we lack honesty, braveness and decisiveness.

In this paper, a motion picture about a story of a family who was forced to move out of Uganda to the United States will be discussed. In addition, it will be presented the story a couple from two different cultures who fell in love, which brought consequences to both of their families. Also, this paper will discuss about how some people have a hard time assimilating to other cultures.

Mukherjee uses contrasting diction to emphasize the difference of experiences the sisters had on immigration and the sacrifices they had along the way when faced with the American culture. For example, Mukherjee’s use of “maintain” and “self-invention” are contradictory to each other, but in the context “maintain” refers to her sister Mira and “self-invention” is directed to Mukherjee herself. In Mira’s case, she is very attached to her Indian culture and stresses about not letting the American culture take that away from her. The author’s purpose was to highlight the tenacious mentality Mira has on her culture. In contrast, Mukherjee's use of “self-invention” regards to her loosening her strict hold of Indian culture; the exact opposite

In the second film, “Strung Out Between Beginnings and Endings”, Sky is joined by another dancer by the name of Toni Cannon. In this film, which was featured in Topsy-Turvy Queer Circus’ 4th production named “Paradise: A New Mythology”, these two artists show black queer love in a new light. One that is completely in sync, free from stigma, and gender-free. The blending of energies from these two artists is more than powerful, it is life changing. Watching this, one cannot help, but to be compelled by the magnificent beauty which is performed on this stage. This dynamic expression of black queer love is so sensual and so pure at the same time. The viewer is granted the opportunity to witness more than just interpretive dance, but also how when it is unconstrained, how the soul’s energies are supposed to mix with each other. The concept of a rigid binary is demolished when one sees this film as well. Throughout it, both dancers exemplify the fluidity of principal energies, thus invalidating the concept that masculinity and femininity are two polarized dynamics, especially in relation to black bodies. A union of expressionism unlike any other ever before seen when black

Bathhouse, a public place which Shirin Neshat depicted in her film Women without Men, as well as a fantasy of imagination of orientalism, is the name of the exhibition which Veronica Bechtold, Rebecca Gross, Tia Harestad, Lisa O’Connor, Selena Skalisky have curated as their dream feminist exhibition. Inside the space of the Bathhouse, the works of seven artists from all over of the world are chosen as part of the exhibition. All of the art prieces articulate the multiplicity of identity through visual representation across medium, utilizing an array of subjects that ranges from pubic hair to female genitalia, which opens up a conversation on how each artist represent differences by visually engaging the audience.

Mira Nair’s social location lies in multiple spheres. She is a brown, Indian woman who has lived in America, Uganda, and North India for residence. She has also visited lots of places for research of her films. Nair has been an immigrant, a young woman, an old woman, and those are just the obvious class divides. She has also suffered from classism in India. Nair has lived working as a poor student and artist, trying to survive and still promote

Cléo from 5 to 7, directed by Agnes Varda, is a film about one woman’s struggle to come to terms with the possibility of her potential illness. Not only is Cléo struggling with her physical health, but she is also dealing with her beauty and the consequences of being an attractive woman in the modern world of the 1960s. When examined through the lens of Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” theory, another aspect of the film comes to light. The film seems to objectify Cléo and thus trivialize her struggles with others’ perceptions of her throughout the film by adhering to the construct of the male gaze. Although Cléo from 5 to 7 appears to play into the construct of the male gaze through the repeated objectification of Cléo, it actually subverts this idea and instead confronts the viewer, and the notion of women as passive objects to be viewed.

In this essay I will be looking into the work of Marina Abramovic in relation to the Feminist movement. By looking at her work, I aim to emphasise her influence on this movement. In this essay, I shall also briefly examine the works of Abramovic, particularly Art is Beautiful, Artist must be Beautiful (1975) and four of her performances from her Rhythm series (10 (1973), 0 (1974), 2 (1974), and 5 (1974)). I shall describe the history of the Feminist movement and its influence in order to develop an understanding of Abramovic’s influence.

The novel Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee is an incredible story about the transformation and life experiences of a Panjabi girl from India. The life of Jyoti is told from her point of view when she is twenty-four years old, and pregnant with the baby of Bud Ripplemeyer, a crippled banker who is more than twice Jyoti’s age. During the span of two months in Iowa, Jyoti narrates her biographical experiences in Punjab and in America as she strives to become independent. Jasmine illustrates that when one’s relationships go through changes, it will impact one’s identity.