Comments on: American Made

By: lavanya

lavanya — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:26:23 +0000

I saw American Made yesterday afternoon on PBS. I thought Bernard White’s accent was totally off, but on IMDB it says he was born in Sri Lanka. So obviously he must have some desi connection. And I thought the most convincing performance of all the actors was the younger brother — he even outshone Kal Penn.

By: eastindianguy

eastindianguy — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 23:41:25 +0000

It was interesting to read some of the comments written about the so-called “ABCD”s experiencing an identity crisis. I’m a 1st generation Indian who has been in the US for a little over a year. First of all, I find the acronym ABCD to be kinda derogatory and I would personally never use it to refer to anybody. Secondly, saying that Indians born and raised here “impersonate Americans” is a ridiculous thing to say. Being born in this country means you are an American, whether you are white, black, brown or yellow. Ironically, despite being a first generation Indian, most of my friends are American (white, black, asian etc) , and I find them a lot easier to get along with than some 1st generation Indians that I have met (or “FOB”s as they’re sometimes called). I ESPECIALLY HATE THE JUDGEMENTAL STARE THAT A “FOB” GIVES YOU WHEN HE/SHE SEES ANOTHER INDIAN JUST BECAUSE YOU LOOK LIKE YOU ARE FROM THE SAME PART OF THE WORLD AS THEY ARE, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER THEY KNOW YOU OR NOT AND WHERE YOU ARE, EVEN IF YOU ARE AT A PUBLIC PLACE.

By: DJ Drrrty Poonjabi

DJ Drrrty Poonjabi — Wed, 10 May 2006 10:57:39 +0000

This aired tonight on Bay Area PBS stations and I feel lucky that I was able to catch it. I agree with Taz that the movie have the tendency to lapse momentarily into the cliche, but overall I found it honest, engaging, and deeply stirring. Watching the proud and optimistic Sikh patriarch reduced to peeling the "God Bless America" sticker off of his Jeep's bumper and holding it up to passing motorists in a desperate attempt to flag for help is both evocative and heartbreaking, a reminder of the obstacles Sikhs face on a daily basis in America.

On a related note, Stanford will be hosting a Sikh Film Festival this summer. (American Made will be shown.)From the website.

The first Bay Area Spinning Wheel Film Festival will take place at the Cubberly Auditorium, School of Education, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA on Saturday June 3rd 2006 bringing together filmmakers from across the globe to discuss their work and screen their films that touched on the Sikh experience.

Sadly, none of Waris Ahluwalia's Wes Anderson vehicles are included.

PS According to IMDB, Bernard White appeared in a few episodes of Days of Our Lives and one episode of Knight Rider. As exciting as the idea of a desi fighting crime along with the unstoppable Hasselhoff is, I suspect the actor may have been a different Bernard White. Any desi hipsters out there that have seen the episode in question?

By: Cheap Ass Desi

Cheap Ass Desi — Mon, 08 May 2006 22:50:05 +0000

Arnold Layne–

Thank goodness for Desis like you

By: Aronld Layne

Aronld Layne — Mon, 08 May 2006 21:29:42 +0000

I am not sure how people like SJain get the right of commenting on other peopleÂ’s sensibilities and putting each and one of a whole generation of people of Indian origin in one bucket, it is ignorant at best. I am myself a first generation Indian (before an ABCD a term I clearly despise as this a figment of someoneÂ’s futile imagination to term a whole generation or class of people confused assertion is cast on me) and no one irks me more than people like SJ who have nothing better to do than dis other people to hide their own prejudices. He or she clearly doesnÂ’t have an iota of common sense to realize that everyone who looks like me doesnÂ’t necessarily think like me. It is people like him or her who generalize and trivialize everyone elseÂ’s experience and upbringing.

By: Kush Tandon

Kush Tandon — Sun, 07 May 2006 18:12:12 +0000

Kush, really interesting comment

Thanks.

By: someone else

someone else — Sun, 07 May 2006 17:52:05 +0000

My point is, it’s a complex issue, & there are a lot of factors that are not being considered in the thread. Go read a book.

I agree

This is a good one: Wages of Whiteness by David Roediger. You can also try some of these.

Kush, really interesting comment.

By: Brown hole Sun

Brown hole Sun — Sun, 07 May 2006 10:23:45 +0000

I LOVE BEING BROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: CAD

CAD — Sat, 06 May 2006 21:54:42 +0000

Correction in above post:

There comes a point (usually, with age) where we are confident of who we are: “Desi- American”.

“confident” is the wrong word. I mean, there comes a point when we are confidently settled in our multiple identities

Now that I think about it, perhaps the fact that I corrected my previous statement may bery bell indicate that maybe I really am ‘confused”

By: Cheap Ass Amreekan Desi (CAD)

Cheap Ass Amreekan Desi (CAD) — Sat, 06 May 2006 21:47:27 +0000

Gaurav–

I guess it will be very difficult, if not impossible for me to think in terms of Americans of Indian (or greater Indian Sub Continent ) descent.

If you are a Desi living in the Desh, this is completely understandable and natural. Sometimes, though, (and I am not addressing you), I think first generation Desis who come here and meet us ABD’s (note the exclusion of the “C”)do not know what to make of us 2-gers (I suspect that our friend S. Jain is a 1-ger). Example: one 1-ger asked me: “Do you like mithai?” I replied, “Yes, I LOVE barfi, shikand, gugra, ladoos.. everything except jelebi. I hate jelebi” She responded, “that’s so interesting because Americans don’t really like Indian sweets”. Deep down inside, I was secretly protesting “Hey!! I grew up eating Desi food! No McDonald’s for us! Even when mummy was claiming to make ‘spaghetti’ just to mix things up a bit, the spaghetti sauce was spiked with tons of masala. Anyway, I’m Gujarati, yaar, and sweetness is in my blood ”. A stupid point of contention, I know (especially when one thinks of eating Desi food as indicative of being “Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi,etc”. A problematic concept). At the other end of the spectrum, another 1-ger friend of mine stated passionately that we ABD’s should acknowledge that we come from the Desh, that we should not turn our backs on “who we are”. Huh.

This does not mean that we ABD’s do not experience identity difficulties. We are constantly negotiating our plural identities, but this should NOT be synonymous with being “confused”. There comes a point (usually, with age) where we are confident of who we are: “Desi- American”.

Kush: I’m glad you weren’t pulling a Kaavya.