The race issue smouldering in every aspect of American life suddenly burst open at the Oscar presentation ceremony. As several millions of TV viewers from all over the world watched, they came to know that behind the prestigious Oscars lay the story of decades of prejudice, racial hatred and colour discrimination. The expose is certain to affect future events in movie making, movie watching and movie appreciation, and all over the fact that Oscar had a colour problem.
After nearly 80 years, Americans learnt that their beloved ‘Oscar’ did have a colour problem and the issue could not any longer be hidden from public view. While appreciating and enjoying this movable feast from Hollywood, we enjoyed (on screen) delightful stories, popular and the passionate, teary and the tumult, miracle and the maudlin, bravery and the boldness to question time-honoured religious beliefs. Nothing was impossible for the movie makers and some of them came to believe that what God had achieved in the past, they could repeat in gorgeous mythologicals, dishing out miracles straight from God himself. Nothing was above Man’s ingenuity and these included Star Wars and portrayal of never-ending miracles. Pressing buttons in the studio made the sun, moon and stars appear and disappear. Giant sized humans and monsters appeared and disappeared. Realism appeared and vanished at frightening levels.
All this made little difference to humans and animals which came on the screen hugely distorted, ready to kill and swallow us. The weak-kneed among us screamed in fear at the Draculas and Frankensteins. Yet there were some essential differences, the monsters were mostly white but in many important roles the Black Americans, exploited to the hilt, seldom successful in romancing the Whites. Till recently we saw few romantic pairings of white and Black actors and those who dared were killed or lynched. This was the prevailing trend of the Hollywood movies even during the 1960’s, in films like the 1960’s Best Movie ‘Guess who is Coming To Dinner’ with ‘liberal Spencer Tracy unable to come to terms marrying off his pretty daughter to a highly successful black doctor. Racism refused to leave Hollywood however brilliant and hugely talented the cast and technical staff was (‘Guess, who is coming to Dinner’, ‘Sayonara’). White was white, black was black and the two were seldom allowed to meet and marry.
That was Hollywood. Next on the list was Bollywood that made the largest number of films in the world, where astrologers outnumbered brides, grooms, in-laws and outlaws, matchmakers and thousands of doing this and that during weddings, many of which continued for five days. In a society driven by caste, religious and linguistic differences, it was an ordeal to finalise weddings which were further handicapped with differences in dowry demands and disputes. Despite such insurmountable problems, weddings went on merrily and had a major role in our economy. We now have multicultural, multiracial, seasonal (Monsoon Wedding) and other varieties of weddings. In new-rich India, cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai spend millions (After all, a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion!). Thank god for that!
