Beyonce in the Hymn for the Weekend Video by Coldplay
Many people living in the west as well as in India have criticized Coldplay’s latest music-video hit single featuring Beyoncé Knowles titled “Hymn For The Weekend”, saying it trivializes India’s traditional culture & religion Hinduism. Much of the criticism is around well-known singer Beyonce being guilty of cultural appropriation. The video also sparked a local debate in India on how the West likes to trivialize Hindu culture into a few typical general stereotypes: kids painted as Gods and sadhus (Hindu holy monks) walking around as well as kids throwing colours on the streets (a tradition during the Hindu festival Holi). However, all this criticism did not deter some to applaud the overall video for highlighting India’s strong connection with Hindu-based spirituality. In all honesty, we agree that the overall video leans more on the side of ‘Cultural Appreciation‘ vs ‘Cultural Appropriation’, but cannot deny the fact that Beyonce’s role as containing direct elements of ‘Cultural Appropriation’.
By definition (sourced from Wikipedia), Cultural appropriation is the [adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture. Cultural appropriation is seen by some as controversial, notably when elements of a global or national minority culture (in this case Indians & Hindus) are used by members of the cultural majority (in this case Western culture); this is seen as wrongfully oppressing the minority culture or stripping it of its group identity and rights. Often, the original meaning of these cultural elements is lost or distorted, which means that these uses may be viewed as disrespectful by members of the originating culture, or even as a form of desecration. Cultural elements which may have deep meaning to the original culture can be reduced to “exotic” fashion by those from the dominant culture. When this is done, the imitator, “who does not experience that oppression is able to ‘play,’ temporarily, an ‘exotic’ other, without experiencing any of the daily discrimination faced by other cultures.”]
Coldplay’s video may highlight general stereotypes of Indians and Hindu culture, but does so in a beautifully way. From spiritual shots of temples and Hindu symbols to traditional Hindu dance styles, it really can be interpreted as an appreciation of what India and Hindu spirituality has to offer in all its various forms to many places in the World currently filled with violence & war.
As for Beyonce’s role, it was awkward and sometimes felt disrespectful. Most of the frustration came around Beyonce’s poor and effortless attempt at learning the ancient Hindu dance style Bharatnatyam. During her camera-time mimicking a Bollywood actress (not sure why they couldn’t have an Indian play for this role in the 1st place, but thats a later argument) she twirls her wrists and hands like its some exotic ritual and actual steps of an traditional Indian dance form. On the contrary, to anyone that watched Bharatnatyam dance performances, it looks like a mockery vs. authentic amateur attempt. To give an analogy, it’s like a Celebrity such as Beyonce putting traditional Native headfeathers on and just hopping around in a circle. This would be borderline racism and obvious cultural appropriation; hence why the comedic attempt at Beyonce’s Bharatnatyam (or whatever Indian dance style the choreographer thought) was disturbing. Another problem was Beyonce’s dress – it was a weird attempt to mimick a traditional Indian Hindu sari but fell-short of looking like a Islamic Burqa mixed with a robotic android. Let us not forget the reality of when thousands of Indians, Hindus or other cultural groups wear their native attire as it’s not uncommon for them to face racism. For example, one of the most extreme hate-groups in America during the 80’s was called the ‘dot-busters’. Members of the ‘dot-busters’ group would randomly beat up Hindus, while targeting Hindu women wearing red-dots (known as bindis)…and we all know it’s cool (now) when celebrities like Selena Gomez or Beyonce wear such things.
Now comes the part of why did Beyonce even play the role of an Indian Bollywood actress WHEN there was already one of Bollywood’s most popular actresses in the video – Sonam Kapoor. Many Indians were aware of the upcoming Coldplay video and were excited to see Sonam Kapoor be highlighted, but were disappointed to see the widely-known star to be in the video for a total of 3 seconds. The question remains why the producers went to such a large effort to source the Bollywood actress only to deny her a presence. The racism against Indians (as well as other cultures) by the producers choosing Beyonce’s role in the video can be summed up in famous Indo-American comedian Aziz Ansari’s latest comments around his experience in Hollywood: “When they cast these shows, they’re like, ‘We already have our minority guy or our minority girl.’ There would never be two Indian people in one show. With Asian people, there can be one, but there can’t be two. Black people, there can be two, but there can’t be three because then it becomes a black show. Gay people, there can be two; women, there can be two; but Asian people, Indian people, there can be one but there can’t be two.”
Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that Hindus understood that the purpose of Coldplay-Beyoncé in this case apparently was not to denigrate Hinduism, but casual flirting sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols. Hinduism is the World’s oldest and third largest religion with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought. Rajan Zed noted that inappropriate usage of Hindu symbols/concepts for mercantile greed or commercial/other agendas was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Moreover, it might unnecessarily perpetuate caricaturing and stereotyping of Hinduism. Zed further said that Hindus were for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it were disturbing for the followers.
You can watch the Coldplay & Beyonce video here:
By Sachin Kumar
Anyone alleging that Beyonce is culturally appropriating Indian culture doesn’t understand what cultural appropriation actually means. Yes, western culture is dominant culture, but the dominant group in western civilizations are white people. Black people account for such a small percentage of the American population. Yeah, she holds a lot of influence because of who she is, but she’s also a black woman. Black people aren’t in a position to oppress anyone because we’re oppressed. Not only is she black, she’s also a woman. The only power she yields comes from her fame and wealth, but neither put her in a position to oppress anyone. In a country where black people are still fighting for equality you can’t make that argument about a black person. You can however, criticize her role in this video.
Doesnt matter about their skin colour, white or black, this is a matter of cultural appropriation against a uber minority community in USA and UK (Hindus are less than 1%) of population. The role of Beyonce is guilty, so she is just as guilty as the producers for assisting the slow genocide of sacred cultures that millions of hindus hold special.
Lets go one step further and ignore the minority vs. majority theme, and all be supportive against discrimination of any culture with the outcome (no matter if intent or accidental) to slow erode a cultural practice’s value.
You missed the whole point where the person before you was speaking about oppression. Your FEELINGS and what is the truth need to be separated. The truth is, as the other commenter suggested is that she cannot oppress because she is oppressed.
The slow genocide of the sacred culture that Hindus hold dear does not fall on her shoulders…
J Tellum, Oppressed or not, racism and bigotry is racism and bigotry.
Beyonce is priviledged in many ways, forget her skin color for a moment…she is RICH, that counts for something when majority of Hindus around the world are Poor due to centuries of being colonized and ruled by Islamic Moghuls and Western Cultures. Also, let’s not forget that the slow genocide of underprivileged and poor cultures FALLS directly on RICH nations and Rich society.
Beyonce has a social responsibility to help protect the integrity of foreign and minority cultures that are so easily misrepresented. Forget white vs. black for a moment, and she represents the WEST. Hindu culture can be represented by White, Black, Brown and Yellow skinned people. It’s when a Non-Hindu that has ruled Hindus for centuries and in a world where 198 of 200 countries Hindus are minorities.
Again, I need to emphasize that cultural appropriation goes beyond the US and its white vs black politics. No doubt Blacks have a struggle, but lets not forget this SPECIFIC case is less about SKIN COLOR and more about CULTURE.
The gangs and violence Hindus face by Gangs, whether they are black, latin, white or whatever aren’t targeting Hindus for skin color but more their culture since it is seen as the ‘OTHER’.