hindi cowboy is storming asia and saving cows

So, while researching my paper topic, which concerns cowboys and indians (as in from india, har har!), i found my new hero:




















QUICK GUN MURUGUN!

india's coolest spoof on the good ol' boys of the wild west. you see, every cowboy needs something to fight for, and this one? his war to wage is against meat eaters:










pow pow pow! take that, cattle ranchers!






a vegetarian, indian cowboy. surely a man after my own heart.

Now, this is a fairly recent film, premiering earlier this year. Apparently, Quick Gun was a character on a commercial to advertise a new international music video channel, and became a culturally confused sensation. His catchphrases, "Mind it!" and "We are like this only!" were instantly popular and highly quoted. Now his duty is to protect the world against arch villain restaurant owner, Rice Plate Reddy, who wants to create the ultimate non-veg dosai!

(dosai being a crepe-like dish, usually made of rice and lentils):

mmmm...










and what's any shoot 'em up flick without a little saloon gal anyways? meet Quick Gun's prospective girlfriend, Mango Dolly!





sweet little hyper westernized thing, isn't she?

Devi

now that we're talking about indian culture, i would like to talk about the most the coolest religion ever, hindu.

seriously. the artwork, the narrative, epic.

i think we can learn a lot about the idealized female in ancient Indian culture through a set of goddesses, the devi. they represent female divinity.

I'm going to nerd out on everyone here and talk about a few of them briefly:

Mahadevi - the one female goddess that all of the other ones come from. in some cases, she represents the only female goddess.

Durga - a warrior goddess that calmed demons after many male gods could not contain them

Daraswati - associated with art, science and culture

Sri Lakshmi - associated with power, higher capability, knowledge, and being a good wife

Paravati - dark skinned goddess associated with the mother of time

Kali - not associated with any male god, which is unique to the other Devi. Her face turns black when she is angry, is best known for destroying a male entity, and carries a sword with a human head on it.


I think Sri Lakshmi is the most interesting, because she is an idealized wife, and yet holds a position of power. To me, this makes sense because pious Hindu women could pray to her for strength, and look up to her if they ever worried that being a wife was oppressive.

you will never think of clark kent the same way again

so, in light of the introduction from last weeks reading, where it mentions westernized indians, i would like to direct our attention to a few indian music videos with american adaptations. enjoy please.


Indian Thriller - Watch more Funny Videos

Shayna's Badasssss Post

Alright, i know this is long, but i don't know how to post a URL of a word document. I recently wrote a paper for my english senior seminar on the Blaxploitation film, "Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song", which debuted in 1971 with an X rating. I thought it was relevant to this class, and would appreciate feedback.



check out the trailer, and even, my paper.

Shayna Curran

Paper, Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song

Psychoanalysis in Film

Prof Matt Bell

Realization of The Ego and Salvation in Sweetback

In 1971, American films with a black director were a rare sight indeed, and the voice of the black community was not fully articulated in popular culture. Melvin Van Peebles changed all that by writing, producing, scoring directing and starring in his own independent film, Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song. Sweetback provides a hero of religious proportions for black audiences, albeit a militant one, that is on a journey to realizing his own identity, his ego, and liberating the collective ego of Black America.

Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss song is primarily a movie about the black community banding together to facilitate Sweetback's freedom. The idea of a collective identity in the film is apparent at the very beginning, when the credits read “Starring: The Black Community”. Togetherness is represented in many ways in sweet Sweepback’s Badasssss song, one of which being the sense of duality

The importance of having an “other” in the world of Sweetback is apparent in characters presented in groups of two. There are three sets of two cops that are after Sweetback, the two young black people with afros, and the two black police officers at the end of the film. For Sweetback, the dual relationship exists concretely between himself and Mumu. But Mumu represents a larger entity, the black community. His ties with an entire race of people are represented in his political beliefs, as he is a Black Panthers member and associates himself with social progress. Mumu is a micro chasm of all the people that Sweetback intends to save. Although on the surface, Sweetback is trying to save himself, his destructive actions and salvation from the punishment of those actions set an example for other black people, and tells them that that liberation can be achieved if you take it yourself.

Because of his loner vigilante status, Sweetback is at first resistant to the idea of an “other”. When he rescues Mumu by beating the cops with their own handcuffs, he brusquely helps Mumu up, who says. “Thanks man, now where are we goin?” Sweetback replies “Where you get that we shit?”, and begins his journey to find a safe place to hide. He does not recognize himself in Mumu, and does not yet recognize his role is to help save his people, represented in a young Black Panther's member. Since the mirror stage is realization of the ego, and Sweetback has not realized himself yet, we may view Sweetback as primarily driven by the id. He is primarily driven by sex, violence, and survival. His actions do not indicate any preconceived reason, and generally lack common sense.

Sweetback is generally not shown as a whole. That is, the camera does a good job of indicating to the viewer that Sweetback has a fragmented body. He has not yet reached the stage where he can fully recognize himself. During a running montage, the animated silhouette of his legs, filled in with white, is superimposed on scenes of Sweetback running. The actual footage shows Sweetback from a distance, where the viewer cannot see his features, or he is abstracted in different ways. Running behind bushes, popping just his head out from behind walls, and achieving angles with the camera that cut off most of the body are ways that this effect was achieved. Also, throughout the film, Sweetback goes from being in focus to out of focus, either by moving out of the focus point himself, or the camera adjusting their focal lens. His tan vest and pants even blend in with the plant life in the background.

Two times we see Sweetback looking at his reflection, and both times he does not truly see himself. They are both in puddles of water, once after he beats two cops with handcuffs. It is dark out and the water is moving, so the viewer can barely see Sweepback’s features. The second time he is in the dessert and his face is covered in sand.

In addition to the visual cues that Sweetback is not fully realized, we get audio cues as well. Or rather, the absence of them. For the first third of the movie, Sweetback says nothing. His ideas, emotions, feelings ate nearly nonexistent to the viewer vocally. But, when we first hear Sweepback’s voice, it is a powerful moment. A woman he visits asks him about his handcuffs: “What do you want me to do, take em off? Beg.” Sweetback responds strongly with one word, “No”. “You too proud to beg?” she says, to which Sweetback responds, “No but you wouldn’t take em off if I did”. This conversation is short but is one of the first times we see more of who Sweetback is, both to himself and to other people. He represents strength, and although he is not below begging, he realizes that this will not get him respect, and will not get him to where he wants to be. His rapport with women helps him progress, which in turn helps him get out of jams throughout the film. And the fact that his first word in the film, “no”, is an indication of the nature of Sweepback’s ego, which is one of resistance. When he is getting what he wants, the id is manifest, but when something goes wrong, the ego steps in to take charge and make decisions. When we hear Sweetback talk, we are hearing the ego, except when he’s talking to himself.

Toward the end of the film, after he saves Mu-Mu, we hear a strange singsong monologue that occurs in Sweepback’s head, and indicates that Sweetback once again views himself as fragmented, as he has lost the whole. He shouts, internally, come one legs! Come on knees! Come on feet! He is talking to his body as if the pieces are not part of a whole, and since his stress levels are high, one can argue that he has regressed and no longer has an idea of the self.

Sweepback’s ambiguous identity is given some background when we get an abstracted, repetitive interrogation of Sweepback’s mother at the end of the film, who reveals that his real name is Leroy. His absent minded foster mother indicates that Sweetback received mothering elsewhere, at the brothel, where he was fed heavily and introduced to sex. Receiving food and sex from mother figures satisfies Sweepback’s id, and sets the precedent for his desires in the future.

Despite Sweetback being id driven unable to fully see himself, he is seen as desirable, perhaps an ideal state. Perhaps because the black community is lacking a voice or identity in this movie, at least in relation to the white world they live in, they are already lacking an ego. If that is the case, then Sweetback represents someone that is driven by pleasure and desires, and through those desires he eventually sets progress in motion. Although he is driven by primal urges, he fulfills those urges well.

Sweepback’s sexual prowess is apparent throughout the film. One of the more important scenes occurs at the beginning of the film, during the sex show. The male character in the pantomime dons a beard and a hat, but reveals herself as a woman when she takes off her shirt. This gender bending indicates the ambiguity of black identity, that they are performing whatever social role is dictated by the white community, and whatever will pay the rent. But this cross-dressing woman prays to become something else, and through the magic of seedy underground theater, turns into Sweetback, a symbol of a more stable, endowed entity. Consider it a fulfillment of the desires manifest in penis envy, or a reversal of the castration complex.

The idea of the black community lacking a voice, and that they have not realized their full identity is represented by the opening shot in the film. It is a group of women, looking forward. White noise washes over the image of the women whispering to each other, but the sound seems too loud for the women to hear what the other is saying. One woman even has glasses, and has the mannerisms of someone who is blinded. These women do not appear to have an identity or purpose, and the viewer has no idea what they are doing on the screen, either. Perhaps a loss of ego facilitates the scene where Sweetback loses his virginity to a prostitute, as the woman is viewed as id driven, that is, amoral and pleasure seeking. This scene is set to gospel music, which is a stark contrast to the actions represented on film, but ultimately feeds into the religious themes of the movie. If Sweetback is a religious figure, then this is his baptism. Indeed, before Sweetback enters the room, the woman is pouring water into a basin. And the lyrics of the gospel song give the instruction, “wade in the water”. As further proof, this is the scene where Sweetback is christened, and given the name by which he is called for the remainder of the film. There are many indications that Sweetback is a somewhat unconventional Christ figure, bent on saving his people.

The references are more apparent toward the second half of the film, starting where Sweetback happens upon a black funeral. Before this scene, beetle gets his ears shot off, and the camera cuts to a woman crying, “oh Jesus”, then immediately cuts to Sweetback running. It is as if the woman is introducing the image of Sweetback, and giving him the identity of a deity. As Sweetback enters the church, he is backlit from the front, leaving only his outline. The camera angle changes and he is shown from the back, and is once again backlit. This gives the viewer the impression that Sweetback is only a shadow, and indicates that his identity remains to be realized. But as he moves closer, the preacher cries, “we know he’s here!” Once he sees Sweetback, the preacher instructs the mourners, “let us pray”, then strides over to talk to Sweetback, perhaps in a direct conversation with the one who will save him. And indeed, the preacher recognizes that Sweetback will save people. “Mumu, and those other kids you saved”, he says, “They’re laying down the real religion”. Once again, gospel music plays in the background.

And the indications that Sweetback is a black Christ continue. When asking for money, Sweetback gets a response, “what does a dead man need bread for?” Bread was a staple at the last supper, and a response to the man’s question would perhaps be that the bread is essential and inseparable to him, because it is Sweepback’s body. And his body is indeed shown to have healing qualities, when he heals the wound in his side, a mark of the crucifixion, with his own urine. The last supper is referenced again when someone tells Sweetback, “buy yourself a last supper, you’re a dead man”. Soon after, Sweetback goes on trial, when he happens upon a group of bikers. “They gotta pay man!” someone shouts, to which someone else says “Hey, this is a democracy!” The idea of an angry mob of people putting a man on trial, and unjustly at that, mirrors the trial that Jesus got before his crucifixion.

The moment of salvation coincides with the moment where Sweetback realizes his ego, his identity, and makes a moral decision. He takes up his spot on the motorcycle, which would drive him to freedom, in exchange for Mumu to be saved. In this way, he accepts death so that another person may live freely, which mirrors the desired effect of the passion of Christ. But most importantly, Sweetback can see himself in Mu-Mu, and can see the future of the black community in his actions. He even tells the motorcycle driver, “He’s the future, man”. The recognition of Mu-Mu as a more complete mirrored image of Sweetback is visually indicated through an emotional handshake, one that is indicative of the black community at that.

The effect of Sweepback’s survival is not completely seen in the film, but we get a couple images that indicate the future. A police officer questions a black singer outside a club, and it is the white man’s turn to be silent. The woman shouts manically, and repeats phrases like, “I’m clean! Don’t lean on me! I ain't in the trade, I ain’t in the street”. Although on the surface she is talking about heroin and prostitution, her cleanliness can refer to Sweepback’s washing away of the sin of oppression, and the fact that she isn’t in the trade or the street can be seen as an affirmation of black liberation. She is not being sold and she is not on the street, she has a purpose and is fully immersed in society. When the police officer leaves, she takes off her blonde wig, revealing her natural black hair, and begins to laugh. The second scene of black people exerting their dominance is the scene of a black shoe shiner performing the job his rag would usually perform with his rear end. Although the patron and the shoe shiner are both laughing, it is apparent who has the upper hand.

Sweet Sweetback may disappear from the country, but he is not dead. Instead, he is an ominous presence for any white person who tries to keep the black man down, as indicated by the closing words that flash on the screen, “A bad assss nigger is coming back to collect some dues…”. Like an omnipresent entity that knows when you’ve been bad, Sweetback restores the balance of equality for black people, saving them and restoring their identity, by threatening to return for retributions that are more violent than white authority figures likely anticipated.