The Anglophiliac Inmates of BB7 & beyond - SHAMEFUL BULLIES! - Page 3

Originally posted by: Marybarton

Hello everyone, I am an American viewer who is new in this forum. I do not watch Big Boss 7, but I recently caught up with a couple of episodes because I was hearing a lot of buzz about a certain supermodel called Asif Azim. I saw him in American Vogue's website a few times and thought he was really remarkable. Later, I found out he was Bangladeshi and joining this reality show, but what I saw made me EMBARRASSED for Indian nationals. Hear me out. I am not blaming all Indians, I am talking about inmates who treated him unjustly and people who thought that was funny.

These so-called celebrities depicted Indians in a very bad light and a very unfair one. Indians should have been outraged. I am not of Indian heritage, but I know wonderful Indian people and they are not the petty sort of prejudiced people who make fun of another person's hardships. After all, Indians in America, Canada or the UK are the last people who will make fun of anyone's accent. They know first hand, HOW MUCH IT HURTS!!!!

I am not here to defend Asif Azim as a person. I don't know him. I am sure, like other humans, he had flaws that showed in the show too. Animals however, are sometimes the best judge of characters. As far as I saw, he was pretty forgiving of these petty "stars" or spawns of nepotism (ahem, Armaan, Tanisha, etc).

His treatment reminded me of how Shipa Shetty was treated in the English Bigg Boss. Unfortunately, because this guy was Bangladeshi, somehow it was okay to entertain a superiority complex against him. It was clear in how people reacted to his advice at his last appearance too. He was considered boring for not being petty like the non-entities there. What saddened me is that I did not see the same outrage from the public who went ra-ra for Shipa. What happened was not scripted. What these inmates were doing to Asif may not be called racism (same race), but it was certainly prejudiced and affected by a national superiority over Bangladesh and Bangladeshi nationals. Let me remind you from a foreigner's perspective, it may be a smaller, poorer, and more politically corrupt country, but it is a great one too. The same BENGALI Tagore who wrote India's National Anthem also penned Bangladesh's National Anthem. Nazrul made his home there. Yunus brought you micro-credit. The very YOUTUBE you are watching Bigg Boss repeats in...is a German-Bangladeshi boy's idea and creation (yes, his alone. The other two helped design it).

It is shameful that parts of the audience supported these kinds of bullying against the successful model (or even just a human) simply because he spoke Bengali and not "good Hindi." I don't speak "good Hindi," but I speak it because I am a polyglot, does that make me stupid compared to the likes of Armaan and Andy? I am pretty sure I could take those two on at the same time. You think you are all that because you speak better Hindi than Asif? Here is my OPEN INVITATION to Armaan, Andy, Guhar, Pritusha and anyone else in Big Boss 7 who bullied Asif, come talk to me about languages. If I don't take you DOWN in 7 languages and 7 subjects, I will relearn all of them. Your families should be ashamed of you.

Getting back to the point. It seems these Bigg Boss inmates, like much of Bollywood, can only treat the RIGHT KIND OF FOREIGNER with respect. If a Katrina Kaif cannot speak Hindi, it is great and she can look forward to a lucrative career in HINDI cinema SPEAKING HINDI with time to learn it on Salman's watch (the host!). A Hollywood flop like Pamela Anderson will be embarrassingly fawned over in Bigg Boss 6. She will be looked at with awe as she struggles with Hindi in Indian Bigg Boss where "knowledge of Hindi is important." But if a Bengali-speaking foreigner cannot speak Hindi well, he is to be made fun of. Let me ask, does this Armaan or what's-his-name, Andy, have the capability of speaking Bengali by going to a Bangladeshi reality show? Some may say Hindi is very important for this show, but then, why would they be angry if Shipa is made fun of in the UK for speaking English with an accent? Fair's fair.

Bollywood is open, but only to Western (often white) foreigners because of the great Anglophiliac complex. Let's face it. Bollywood opens its arms and more for a Katrina, Nargis, another Nargis, and even po*n star Sunny Leone and their language barrier is CUTE because they are "superior kinds" of foreigners. But an international supermodel like Asif can be hated on because he comes from a poorer country like Bangladesh. What a shame because I see Indian stars like Priyanka, Mallika, Freida quite desperate to be accepted in my country, USA (Hollywood). They want to be accepted for their "exotic" ways. Freida went far enough to fake an English accent to be accepted. Kudos to them to having ambition. But their industry is not treating foreigners to Bollywood well, so why should we accept them? Even Katrina can sometimes be made fun of for not speaking Hindi on every off-screen occasion. So does that mean, I can make fun of Bollywood stars (except SRK, really) for their weak grammar in English? No. Because everyone should be treated with RESPECT despite their language barriers. We do not roll around on the floor when we hear an Indian accent even if it sounds unusual to our ears.

I am an outsider. I hope I did not offend, but I had to say what I saw was unjust. Asif Azim is the only celeb I heard of in the Bigg Boss house of non-entities and wannabe celebs. If I can hear of him some 12-14,000 miles away, I would say he was the only one who did not have a fledgling career in that house. He featured in American Vogue. How many in that house did? I wish him a long and happy career. Kudos to India's fashion designers for not being prejudiced and giving him a chance. And if Bollywood is not open to you Asif, try Hollywood. You certainly have the looks for it. And we will probably be kinder.


Mary.

Please respond to this post and spread the awareness against such prejudice.

Originally posted by: naz777

agree to each and every word said here in this post...brilliant one..!!

Originally posted by: ..SalmanGirl..

i agree nobody should be bullied on the basis of cast creed language color or class..Not only in India it happens everywhere even in america.. The host salman was also laughing on the floor and it was a purely in mocking sense ! So he falls in the same category ! Things like this should not be promoted on national television for sure !

Originally posted by: silverbug

And unlike some of the other self loathing indians that are guilt tripping over what happened to Asif and begging for forgiveness on behalf of "all indians" (as if all indians are guilty for the behavior of housemates)

Let me say that I don't particular liking or dislike for Asif. I felt bad for the way he was treated and yes I think he was better than most contestants but I'm not going to bend over my knees and ask for forgiveness. I haven't done anything and I don't owe you anything.

If you think I'm a racist for saying that, then so be it. I care a damn.

Originally posted by: silverbug

Why are people on this forum constantly bashing India and Indians in a subtle way for how Asif was treated in the house ? Bigg boss house mates are not representative of all Indians and you do realize that he has been aided by INDIANS to get to where he is today ?? If Indians were not accepting and welcoming, he wouldn't be living in mumbai with a business that is located in Kolkota and Mumbai.

And as far as the contestants laughing at his accent, let me tell you it happens with everyone. Indians make fun of each others hindi accent all the time. I'm a Bihari, our accent is the butt of all jokes in India. It is not done out of racist intent, but for pure fun.

As far as Indians looking down on people from non anglo countries, why is Veena Malik so successful in India then ?

And yeah, Americans do laugh at the Indian accent, do you even watch your own television ? There are countless videos on youtube with prank calls to Indian restaurants and 711s with retarded parodies of Indian accent. I have been bullied, made fun of my accent and isolated badly at many work places in America. It happens everywhere and I'm pretty sure if I went to Bangladesh and spoke in a broken bangla accent, people would laugh at me too.

Was it justified how they treated Asif ? Hell No !! But stop trying to paint all Indians and Bollywood/TV industry in a negative light.

Originally posted by: Diva-In-Armor

All points fair and square.

Well this is the reason why people take a stand or voice their opinions when something shown on National TV is inappropriate. Things shown on TV at times reflect the society in general especially to an outsider and have an impact on society as well. Such shows aren't only for the purpose of entertainment. It's funny how people come together and raise their voice when it comes to their favorites, but when it comes to those they dislike, "the show becomes all about entertainment" and reaction by few unnecessary or overly dramatic. Such shows are definitely meant to be taken as an entertainment package, but people shouldn't forget that many people in India and around the world watch it and create am impression in general.

As for your last point "We will be kinder", aren't you contradicting your own self here since Bollywood is at least accepting and loving those who do not have a perfect Hindi accent, while for some of the Indian actresses you mentioned have to struggle and fake an accent to be accepted in the West. So I am sorry to say it isn't all "Sunshine and daisy" in the West when it comes to acceptance of foreign accent. Even today on a daily basis you will come across many who will mock Indian accent in the West. And as "silverbug" mentioned, even some of the shows shown on TV have mocking undertone to fully mocking the typical Indian accent.

End of the day, humans are same everywhere. The minute they find someone "different" than the norm, you will see the subtle laughter to down right insult. It is universal, not saying it is right. But it happens everywhere, so I don't agree that some parts of the world are less prejudice than others. What happens in India happens a lot more in the West and I have seen it all from the eyes of being a new immigrant to someone who has lived in the West for many years now. The day, humans will accept others without any prejudice, will be the day, such threads won't be needed. But is it possible ? Going by humans and how we have this inbuilt quality to follow the norm, not too sure.




Exactly, why the heck should a third party have to ask for forgiveness when they haven't done anything wrong. Let the guilty go through the guilt trip than trying to bundle everyone including those who might be some of the least prejudice people. No need for generalization when every individual has responsibility for their own actions.

1. Freida Pinto found success in Hollywood WITH an Indian accent, NOT after she faked an English one. So no, she need not have changed it to be accepted.
2. I never claimed there's no prejudice here but yes, on the face value, we are kinder. Because if the host of the show or inmates behaves in an American or British show happened, you would see the kind of caution UK exercised when Shipa faced racism. The Queen even honored Shipa as an apology. The West has many many faults. I will the first to point them out, but we do not tolerate media racism.
   
3. Salman pulled his eyes back to talk to an indigenous kid once, for example. If one of our Hollywood stars did that, a public apology would not be far behind. It happened with some famous members of a Spanish football team once. They apologized.
   
4. I did mention that Indians are always taunted here for their Indian accent. That's the whole point. The oppressed should not oppress in return. What these inmates are doing is bigger than them because they are representing how a sample of an Indian population can react. I am saying that this is not a good representation because Indian people I know are good and kind.
   
5. I am not the one generalizing here. Otherwise, I wouldn't say in the very first paragraph that this is NOT a generalization. I was making a point against the behaviors these petty actors are putting out. This post is a reprimand against them. As for the Anglophilia complex, you have to admit it goes further than the inmates, but certainly does not represent all Indians.