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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Tag Archives | the politics of sex

My $0.02: An Inconvenient Hope (and some Bollywood)

By on 02 October 2010

Wonk the Vote here with my Saturday reads, rants, and recommendations.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dYb-g8MZt4&w=300&showinfo=0]
Mohd. Rafi Sahab, English recording,
“Although we hail from different lands…”

I’m actually starting this roundup on Friday night while getting my Bollywood fix–if that kind of thing bores the daylights out of you, by all means, skip down to the newsy part of this post. I have Rafi playing in the background as I type, and I just can’t pass up a chance to frontpage a bit on filmi stuff. If you haven’t scrolled past already, here’s the Times of India’s Nikhat Kazmi on the blockbuster that is breaking a lot of box office records right now:

“For anybody who wants to know what is the on-screen definition of Bollywood, Dabangg is truly text book fare. It’s loud, crazy, zany, exaggerated, larger-than-life, almost nonsensical, totally make-believe, comic book like, complete kitsch, generously peppered with the mandatory desi tadka (garnishing) of songs and dances that keep popping out of nowhere and is literally oozing with star charisma. Most importantly, it’s not meant to make sense. It’s only meant to entertain. And entertain, it does in overdoses. No, this isn’t meant for people who are looking for different cinema. Nor is it meant for the viewer who likes movies to appeal to his head. Yet, for those who celebrate and serenade the `silliness’ of mainstream masala movie lore and swear by its popcorn quotient, Dabangg is the greatest getaway of the season.”

That’s basically spot-on, except that I enjoyed Dabaang (literally “Fearless”) even though I’m a cinephile lover of all that is heady, slow, and cerebral in Indian parallel cinema (which, in my personal experience, most people don’t even realize exists when they bash Hindi films). I grew up on masala films, though, and love it for the good dumb fun it can be when it’s done fearlessly. Indian cinema so often gets a bad rap, and I mostly brought the topic up just so that I could sneak in my abridged list of my recommends from the last decade or so (some are arthouse indies, others are actual Bollywood fare believe it or not):

  1. Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat (2004), my all-time favorite; adaptation of O’Henri’s “Gift of the Magi.”
  2. Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor (“the Thread,” 2006), women-centric and another all-time fav of mine.
  3. Aparna Sen’s 15 Park Avenue (2005), my favorite movie on the mystery of madness.
  4. Chandra Prakash Dwivedi’s Pinjar (“the Skeleton” or “the cage,” 2003), based on the 1970s novel of the same name, set against the backdrop of Hindu-Muslim tensions during Partition time. A look at gender-based violence in areas of social unrest. The conclusion is difficult, but the movie prokes thought and discussion.
  5. Deepa Mehta’s Water (2005) as well as Mehta’s Heaven on Earth (2008), these are technically Canadian, because Mehta is too controversial for the misogynist asshats in India who protest her.
  6. Ram Gopal Verma’s Kaun (“Who,” 1999), my favorite Indian suspense thriller.
  7. Prakash Jha’s Gangaajal (“holy waters of Ganga,” 2003), the plight and uprising of ordinary people. Loosely based on the 1980 Bhagalpur blindings.
  8. Ek Alag Mausam (“A different season,” 2003): groundbreaker, broke the silence on HIV/AIDS in Indian movies.
  9. Subhash Ghai’s Yuvvraaj (2008), one of my guilty pleasures. Shameless ripoff of Rain Man but with its own whimsy up the wazoo.
    10. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-OAIAGzrFc&w=300&showinfo=0]
  10. I could really go on forever, but I’ll wrap up with a movie I saw just the other week — Anusha Rizvi’s Peepli Live (2010) dark comedy on farmer suicides in the fictional village of Peepli satirizing the media and political reactions; India’s submission to the 2011 Oscars.

Ok, now onto the news. I’ve already done my lil’ miss politically independent rant for the week (see: “Thing One and Thing Two…”), so this is just going to be a rundown of headlines with quick blurbs from me.

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TM-DC PODCAST: An Interview with Martha Coakley

By on 11 November 2009

extensive update below

TM-DC podcast

Listen now!

“To pretend that now the House has passed this bill is real progress – it’s at the expense of women’s access to reproductive rights,” Ms. Coakley said in an interview on WTKK-FM, a Boston radio station. She is currently the frontrunner in the race. – Candidates in Mass. Senate Race Spar Over Stupak Measure

The above quote is similar to what Martha Coakley said in the interview we did last night. She made it clear that if she’d been in the House she simply could not have voted for the bill, because of the Stupak amendment. Coakley also said that she wasn’t going to criticize anyone else for their vote, but that’s just how she saw it.

Martha Coakley stands in direct contrast to Nancy Pelosi and many others, who thought forwarding a bad health care bill was better than getting it right in the first place. You simply cannot eviscerate women’s civil rights, hoping you can change it later. You might get the chance, but what if you simply embolden those on the right? As a Democrat, you’ve changed everything and for what?

That evidently doesn’t phase Alan Khazei, the founder of the non-profit City Year, and Steven Pagiluca, Boston Celtics co-owner, Coakley’s challengers, both of whom would have supported the House bill.

Mr. Capuano, her opponent, in the Times article says he thinks that Coakley’s stance on Stupak is “manna from heaven” for his campaign. Capuano thinks that it’s “realism” to cave to the idea of Stupak, which is devastating to women’s health care. But wait! Now that he’s seen the shock waves from Stupak passing as part of the House bill, he’s flip flopped.

This is what I’m talking about when it comes to Martha Coakley. It doesn’t take a finger in the wind for her to decide what is right.

The late Sen. Ted Kennedy would be proud to have Martha Coakley, the current attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, take up where he left off, especially on health care. Ms. Coakley is sharp, frank and well qualified, reminding me of another female, whom I don’t dare mention for fear of what might ensue. The election is Dec. 8th. So if you know someone in Massachusetts, send out the word.

I wrote about many of the terrific women who have recently stood up against Stupak over at Huffington Post today. …and I’m not talking about Sen. Claire McCaskill, who had to see which way the wind was blowing before she came out strongly against Stupak.

Martha and I had a great conversation. An important one, because it’s clear after what we are experiencing, first with the House, but now the Senate with people like Ben Nelson, we all need to make sure that when strong, pro civil rights women run for office that we’re behind them. That goes for feminist men as well. Ones that also won’t invite the religious hierarchy into the process and let them write, or at the very least, okay legislation, especially when women’s civil rights are at stake.

There was also another conversation going on today on a similar subject. This one over at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., where women’s groups let Administration officials know that they weren’t happy about where things stood after Speaker Pelosi invited the Catholic Bishops in to make sure the Stupak amendment got an up or down vote. Via Jake Tapper:

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and Domestic Policy Council director Melody Barnes, health care reform czar Nancy-ann DeParle and other White House officials met with a dozen officials from liberal women’s and abortion right’s groups this afternoon where they had a “frank exchange,” in the words of one attendee. …

“Frank exchange.” I bet.

 
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