Mel Brooks did it first.
Posted on 06/18/2010 10:14:37 AM PDT by James C. Bennett
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Protests by India's small Jewish community have prompted a leading actor to pull out of a film on the last days of Adolf Hitler , a rare subject for a movie in the Bollywood film industry.
Anupam Kher, who was supposed to play the role of Hitler, told Reuters he had decided to withdraw from the film after an outpouring of messages on social networking sites and protests.
"Considering the ill-will that the project is generating among my fans, I wish to withdraw from it as I respect their sentiments," Kher said in a statement released to Reuters.
"Dear Friend Hitler" aims to give audiences a glimpse into Hitler's "insecurities, his charisma, his paranoia and his sheer genius," according to a statement on the film which will go on floors next month.
"I have never been moved by commercial considerations, but I have always respected social opinions," Kher said.
"Whoever is making this film is doing so with ignorant, if not more sinister motives ... they are hurting the feelings of a community that has suffered a great deal," Jonathan Solomon, the chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, told Reuters.
In 2006, a small restaurant in Mumbai was forced to change its name from "Hitler's Cross" to "Cross Cafe" after strong protests.
A year later, the Jewish community staged strong protests, again in Mumbai against a home furnishing maker that named its new line of bedspreads "NAZI" and used the swastika in its promotional brochure.
"Those who are protesting against the film have got it wrong," said Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, the director.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
A Bollywood version of the Hitler story? They don’t have any films that aren’t big, lavish musicals.
This is going to make that Springtime for Hitler bit from The Producers seem dignified by comparison.
A Bollywood film about the last days of Hitler? Will it be a musical?
Perhaps if they hired Mel Brooks to make it, there wouldn’t be any brouhaha.
To the Brits credit, they knew when to leave and left quietly, and not lingering long after they were unwanted (like the French in Vietnam or Algeria or the Dutch in Indonesia).
Didn’t 2,000,000 deaths soon occur?
As Churchill predicted, since both religions hate each other so...
The point here is that Asians have an embeded psyche to follow authoritarian figures and hence it comes as no surprise with Bollywood’s fascination of Hitler as a positive role model for discipline and leadership. The term “coolie” is one that has been historically used to reference Chinese and Indian labor precisely because of a willingness to unquestioningly take orders from their “masters” no matter how menial or degrading the work is.
The Irish Catholics were famous for indentured servitude in America. They were also accompanied by German, Scot and even English indentured labourers. See: http://www.reference.com/browse/Goodwives'%26 America An indenture was a legal contract enforced by the courts. One indenture reads as follows: This INDENTURE Witnesseth that James Best a Laborer doth Voluntarily put himself Servant to Captain Stephen JonesMaster of the Snow Sally to serve the said Stephen Jones andhis Assigns, for and during the full Space, Time and Term of three Years from the first Day of the said James’s arrival in Philadelphia in AMERICA, during which Time or Term the said Master or his Assigns shall and will find and supply the said James with sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparel, Lodging and all other necessaries befitting such a Servant, and at the end and expiration of said Term, the said James to be made Free, and receive according to the Custom of the Country. Provided nevertheless, and these Presents are on this Condition, that if the said James shall pay the said Stephen Jones or his Assigns 15 Pounds British in twenty one Days after his arrival he shall be Free, and the above Indenture and every Clause therein, absolutely Void and of no Effect. In Witness whereof the said Parties have hereunto interchangeably put their Hands and Seals the 6th Day of July in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Three in the Presence of the Right Worshipful Mayor of the City of London. (signatures) When the ship arrived, the captain would often advertise in a newspaper that indentured servants (redemptioners) were for sale: Enquire of the Captain on board the vessel, off Walnut-street wharff, or of MEASE and CALDWELL. When a buyer was found, the sale would be recorded at the city court. The Philadelphia Mayor’s Court Indenture Book , page 742,for September 18, 1773 has the following entry: James Best. Who was under Indenture of Redemption to Captain Stephen Jones now cancelled in consideration of £ 15, paid for his Passage from London bound a servant to David Rittenhouse of the City of Philadelphia & assigns three years to be found all necessaries. The law provided for punishments for runaway indentured servants. In 1638, for example, several lashes were the punishment forrunning away. In the following year, the punishment was extended to hanging the runaway. By 1641 the law was changed such that death would be the punishment unless the servant requested that his or her service be extended after the expiration of the contract.The service could be extended up to twice the time absent, not to exceed seven years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Besides, the Janissaries were European Christian soldier-slaves at the service of Ottoman Muslims. ‘Kapikullary’ translates as ‘door servants’.
Just imported, on board the Snow Sally, Captain Stephen Jones, Master, from England, A number of healthy, stout English and Welsh Servants and Redemptioners, and a few Palatines[Germans], amongst whom are the following tradesmen, viz. blacksmiths, watch-makers, coppersmiths, taylors, shoemakers, ship-carpenters and caulkers, weavers, cabinet-makers, ship-joiners, nailers, engravers, copperplate printers, plasterers, bricklayers, sawyers and painters. Also schoolmasters, clerks and book-keepers, farmers and labourers, and some lively smartboys, fit for various other employments, whose times are to be disposed of.
Not at all. Even an article not too long ago in the Los Angeles Times referred to Indians as “techno-coolies” and it’s well known that Indians and Chinese can not only can be kicked around with impunity but as the central point of this thread shows they appear to take easily to the boot of authoritarianism and hence the respect for the models of discipline reflected in Hitler. This is not about definitional exercises but rather one of popular perception.
See below
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/feb/24/local/me-patt24
Hmm, you’ve got a point there.
Thank you. I do think however that the popular perception is changing. Asians are now moving into the boardroom [Pepsi; Citigroup etc] and its about time. BTW, I speak as an Asian, just calling the shots as I see them.
You’re welcome, and yes, you are right.
I think as long as there is a labour-wage differential, it will persist. It’ll take time, but state-owned industrialisation isn’t going to solve anything.
We’ll have to wait and see.
Mel Brooks did it first.
It is really odd how Hitler is viewed in Asia...a few years back there was some restaurant chain in Taiwan running TV ads featuring him.
Putting aside the fact that Ghandi was a self-deluding ignoramus, this shows the utter ignorance of most Indians. Hitler hated Indians in Europe and reached out to those in India to weaken the British. This is no different than the overtures Hitler made to the Irish, even though he disdained Celts. He also looked to the find the pure Aryans among the Brahman. The only ethnic group Hitler chose to exterminate, other than Jews, were the Roma/Gypsies. Well Roma are not, as commonly believed, Middle Eastern or Egyptian. They are the an Indian diaspora, and carry a genetic mutation otherwise seen in the Jatt people of India. They speak an Indo-European language closely related to others in India. One of the most prevalent theories for the diaspora is that they were dislocated by the Muslim invasions of India.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146142.php
Yes, much of what you said is right, but I think it would be safe to assume that there are a lot more NAZI sympathisers in the US and in Europe, than there are in India.
Nehru was anything but authoritarian-because if he were, India would have fragmented before 1965. About your wider point, well it has more to do with the fact most post-WW2 leaders of newly independent states literally crafted their states in their own images. Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and even India belong to that category. The first leaders of these countries continue to be deified. The only exception would have been Pakistan since Jinnah died almost immediately after its birth.
You are generalisng too much on the ‘coolie’ bit. The average Indian or Chinese has no social security net to speak of other than his family unlike the American or Western European who has a series of welfare benefits. So he is far more likely to be slavish in his work. Again this is a generalisation on my part given tha Indian and other similar groups including Chinese or South Africans have also increased labour activism against multinationals they are working for.
That wasn’t the same as the post-colonial wars in Algeria and Vietnam. If you were ruled by Mozzies, you would want to go to war too...
that’s quite wrong. Asians like the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and Thais may have this, but not Indians.
well, Hitler is viewed differently from Polish, English, German, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese eyes. Similarly, Mao, Tojo etc. It depends on how close you are to the action and how affected your nation was and how history was taught to you
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