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The Big [Censored] Theory

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1444 points feross | 8 comments | 29 Aug 22 17:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.387s | source | bottom
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sudhirj ◴[29 Aug 22 18:52 UTC] No.32641992[source]▶
We have this kind of censorship in India as well, even the in weirdly innocous places. In James Bond movies, and I think Gone Girl as well, scenes were by zooming into character's faces or just straight cuts.

This is probably the only reason I maintain a US iTunes accounts (used to have to buy gift cards from sketchy sites online to keep this going, but I recently discovered that my Indian Amex card works fine with a US address).

Also trivia for those who are wondering how cuts are made, at least for cinema content: all video and audio assets are usually sent to theatres in full, but there's an XML file called the CPL (composition playlist) that specifies which file is played from which to which frame / timestamp in what sequence. Pure cuts or audio censorship can be handled by just adding an entry to skip the relevant frames or timestamp, or by specifying a censor beep as the audio track for a particular time range.

https://cinepedia.com/packaging/composition/

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ginger2016 ◴[29 Aug 22 21:36 UTC] No.32643886[source]▶
Given the racist protrayal of Indian American Raj Kuthrapalli, I am of the opinion Indians are magnanimous in allowing this show to be aired there.
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clouddrover ◴[29 Aug 22 21:49 UTC] No.32643998[source]▶
What in particular is racist about it?
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ginger2016 ◴[29 Aug 22 21:55 UTC] No.32644064[source]▶
If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education.

It is affirming the stereotype Indian males lack confidence with women. Raj can’t speak with women without the use of alcohol, the show constantly mocks his accent, worshipping of cows etc.

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1. clouddrover ◴[29 Aug 22 22:02 UTC] No.32644125[source]▶
> If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education.

Weak.

> It is affirming the stereotype Indian males

Is your claim that there are no Indian males who lack confidence with women? Or that there are no nerdy, geeky men who lack confidence with women?

What's an example of the show mocking his accent? You do understand that's his normal speaking voice, I hope. Kunal Nayyar (the actor) grew up in India.

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2. ginger2016 ◴[29 Aug 22 22:19 UTC] No.32644301[source]▶
Where Kunal Nayar grew is insignificant. Most of the soldiers who fought for British India were Indians themselves but that doesn’t mean the occupation of India was right. In the case of Indian soldiers it was in their personal monetary interest to fight for the British. You are trying to make a similar argument, the role advances Kunal Nayar’s career and I am sure he is in it because it helps him, doesn’t mean the show gets a pass.

I am not sure whether you are Indian or not, but if you fail to see why many Indians consider this portrayal problematic then we really need more anti-racism training in this country.

Yes, I am sure there are Indian men who lack confidence with women, but given India is 1.5 billion strong, I am sure men who are confident outnumber Raj Kuthrapalli types.

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3. clouddrover ◴[29 Aug 22 22:26 UTC] No.32644364[source]▶
> Where Kunal Nayar grew is insignificant.

Not when it comes to his accent. It's wholly unsurprising that someone who grew up in India speaks English with an Indian accent. That isn't "mocking" his accent. That's just what his accent is.

> I am not sure whether you are Indian or not, but if you fail to see

Weak. If you can't demonstrate where this supposed racism is in the show then I'd suggest you need to start considering the very real possibility that it's not there.

> Yes, I am sure there are Indian men who lack confidence with women

Well, there's some small progress.

The only ignorance and bigotry that's been exposed here would appear to be your own. Work on that.

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4. astrange ◴[29 Aug 22 22:59 UTC] No.32644629{3}[source]▶
Having a TV actor speak in their natural accent might be mocking them, if it's normal to have them fake a different one.

eg David Tennant uses his Scottish accent for jokes in a show where he normally sounds English

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5. smsm42 ◴[30 Aug 22 00:06 UTC] No.32645132[source]▶
You really have no idea what the point of comedy is, do you? Just in case, it's not to provide you with statistically accurate portrayal of the population of India (or any other place, for that matter). It's creating ridiculously exaggerated portrayals of common problems and depicting them in comedically outlandish way. It's not a documentary about the virility or Indian males, most of whom I am confident are utter studs. It's supposed to be grossly a-typical, that's the whole point. That's like complaining clowns are offensive because nobody in real life has a red nose like that. That's the whole point of the thing!
6. ricktdotorg ◴[30 Aug 22 00:14 UTC] No.32645188{4}[source]▶
> David Tennant uses his Scottish accent for jokes in a show where he normally sounds English

may i ask that you clarify this point?

tennant made a personal choice NOT to use his native/normal scottish accent for Dr. Who. he discusses this with Jodie Whittaker (also someone with quite a strong native accent) in an episode of his podcast, he TL;dr said it didn't feel quite right for him to use his native accent for the role [1].

whenever tennant does TV "as himself" (for example the voiceovers he has done for various shows or charity events like comic relief etc) he uses his own/native accent, is he doing this for laughs/jokes? surely he is doing them with a scottish accent because that is actually his literal normal voice?

[1] https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jodie-whittaker/id1450...

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7. astrange ◴[30 Aug 22 00:42 UTC] No.32645380{5}[source]▶
I was thinking of this scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOW1Wjb_oEI

Though I have to admit the reason I think of him when it comes to doing accents is his American accent that's supposed to be NorCal but sounds like it's everywhere else at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gp9K-rMdxg

8. clouddrover ◴[30 Aug 22 13:08 UTC] No.32649908{4}[source]▶
> Having a TV actor speak in their natural accent might be mocking them

It isn't. You might as well say that because Matt Smith's sonic screwdriver was bigger than David Tennant's that's mocking David (but it, too, isn't):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcxm-EStpd4