ˈstɛrɪə(ʊ)tʌɪp,ˈstɪərɪə(ʊ)-/
noun
- 1.
- a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
A stereotype is a social construction, and a harmful one at that. It seeks to build an image of a thing/person/community based on a (wrongly) held ideal typical that can seriously hurt the actual existence of that thing/person/community. The society we occupy is deeply imbued with stereotypes every step of the way. We build some, we destroy some. A part of this narrative are the stereotypes that exist around the representation of the Indian community in Hollywood and mainstream media.
First off, representation itself is a big deal to the brown person, what with predominantly white actors/characters reigning the screens. When this (miniscule) amount of representation is also widely inaccurate, there’s bound to be a few angry Indians, right? An Indian can either be a doctor or a criminal in your verse. They’ll either be that annoying overachiever in your class, or a really poor kid on the streets. Balance within Indian representation is a concept yet to be grasped upon.
Coming to the horribly unfunny portrayal of India as a country in Hollywood; we don’t live amongst potters and snake charmers. India is not just a land of cows, Holi, women (constantly) in traditional attire, masala shops in smelly flea markets and pandits everywhere. This isn’t actually India, but it’s what Hollywood considers as India.
The Indian accent is also something that’s been twisted and turned and stereotyped to the extent that it’s gross, typecast and incorrect. We don’t all sound like ‘Appu’ from Simpsons. Our cities don’t look like what you saw in the ‘Hymn For The Weekend’ music video by Coldplay or like the setting you saw in the ‘Lean On’ music video. We don’t dance like that at our weddings and our weddings do not look like that. Raj in Big Bang Theory may have been an adorable character but it was a horrid stereotype that the Indian guy has got to be the most socially awkward one amongst a group of scientists. It’s time Indian people were shown in a more favourable light in your narratives, Hollywood. Under-representation and misrepresentation are huge issues with Indians in Hollywood.
The modern Indian looks nothing like what you so wrongly assume them to be. The modern Indian doesn’t have an accent like the ones you show on television or in the movies. They also pursue careers other than being doctors, engineers or cab drivers. They do not reek of curry and they also don’t break into a Bollywood number at the drop of a hat. Also, what’s with the extremely underwhelming personality of that one Indian friend? Not all Indians are sex deprived nerds who stutter to talk to anyone and everyone.
Let’s not even begin to talk about the amount of cultural appropriation Hollywood does of Indian culture. Every (or most) sitcom series ought to have at least one episode where they all dress up in traditional Indian attire and dance around to some beats. Remember when the Netflix series Fuller House blatantly appropriated Indian culture? There was a cow in the episode. Because all Indians just keep cows in their backyards. This narrative and harmful stereotype completely ignores the fact that India has multiple metropolis cities to it’s credit with fully industrialized societies existing alongside villages.
If you think all Indians are like Raj from The Big Bang Theory, think again. Indians are more than just a stereotype.
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