A
Fremont-linked Hindu rights group that got a last-minute screening of
The Love Guru, had few kind words about the new Mike Myers comedy,
which pokes fun at enigmatic Indian spiritual guidance.
The film was vulgar, crude and — in the opinion of many of our
attendees — too often tasteless in its puerile choice of humor, said
Aseem Shukla, a board member of the Hindu American Foundation: Very
few of the Hindus viewing the film, however, found it overtly anti-Hindu
or mean-spirited.
In a statement, the foundation said: Most agreed that the film will
be widely seen as a satire of a Hindu character, though this is never
overtly stated in the film.
Still, many of the foundation members expressed unease that since
widespread understanding of Hinduism ... is so limited, this film does
nothing to promote tolerance and pluralism, and may reinforce widely
held negative and exotic stereotypes of Hindus.
Virginia Lam, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said in a statement: The
'Love Guru' is a Mike Myers comedy in the same spirit of 'Austin
Powers.' No one could confuse, or has confused, this film as intending
to tackle serious issues surrounding faith and religion.
Hindus are for free speech...BUT...
Rajan Zed is a Hindu chaplain in northwestern Nevada and he has led the
campaign against Love Guru
He wrote in a blog:
Despite
lot of support and encouragement, we faced some criticism also: Why is
religion trying to censor free speech? Is Hinduism so weak that a small
movie can damage it? Why are you protesting when you have not even seen
the movie? Why can't Hindus take a joke? Who made you the representative
of Hindus and speak for them? This movie is not about Hinduism and
Hindus and is a mythical and completely made up system of teachings. And
so on.
Hindus are for free speech as much as anybody else, if not more. Hindu
tradition encourages peaceful debates to be won on their intellectual
merit...BUT...faith is something sacred and attempts at
belittling it hurt the devotees. Filmmakers should be more sensitive
while handling faith related subjects, as cinema is a very powerful
medium.
Of course a small movie, which will be forgotten in few months, would
not destroy the great tradition of Hinduism, which has been around
longer than any other established religion and has faced many onslaughts
and come out stronger...BUT...Hinduism is often
misunderstood and wrongly portrayed outside India. Movies like this
bring more confusion and create stereotypes in the minds of audience,
many of whom may not have had any other exposure to its tenets.
...
Humor is a part and parcel of Hindu society and
our folk festivals, plays, stories, etc., are full of parody, satire,
mimicry, buffoonery, etc. We are strong enough to take a joke or rather
many jokes...BUT...there are certain convictions in every
tradition, which are venerable and not meant to be mocked.
...
Comedy should make everybody smile and should not come at the expense of
ridiculing others’ faith and spreading misinformation. Hinduism is the
oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion
followers and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken
lightly. No faith, larger or smaller, should be ridiculed.
Moreover, cinema is a forceful medium and it can create stereotypes in
the minds of some audiences. So it should handle faith related subjects
especially carefully.
