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Some Hindu Groups Urge Massive Boycott Of “Love Guru” – Do They Have A Point?
I’ve made it no secret that I think the new Mike Myers film “The Love Guru” looks absolutely abysmal. I mean $3 hooker ugly. I mean on the level of “Meet the Spartans” bad. And that hurts like hell for me to say because I am a HUGE Myers fan… but let’s call a spade a spade… this thing looks beyond horrible. I may even actually skip seeing this thing… which would be the first time I ever do that for a Myers movie. Anyway…
Over the past month or so my inbox has been getting hammered with press releases from a Hindu group denouncing the movie, calling for a massive boycott, trying to pressure other websites from endorsing or advertising it (one of the websites they targeted was the spiritual website beliefnet), demanding the film be re-edited before release in the states… there has even been an attempt at legal action.
The main emphasis of these press release emails has been that “The Love Guru” hurts Hindus and offends them. These types of things are not uncommon (for example: Italian groups protested “The Sopranos” for how it portrayed Italian Americans).
Now let me say this right up front. I completely respect and endorse any person, or persons right to express opposition to anything if they feel they or their group’s image are unfairly attacked. Therefore, is janitors across the nation feel a certain movie portrays all sanitation workers as dirty drug addicted rapists, then they have every right to express their opinion by protesting or organizing a boycott. I get it. I don’t always agree… but I understand and support their right to do so.
But what about something like “The Love Guru”? Does this film look like it’s going to make sweeping negative claims about Hinduism and Hindus in general that are offensive and hurtful? Well… if the movie does that, then I can understand the point of all these press release emails I’ve been getting. But as someone who hasn’t seen the movie yet (nor have the people sending out those emails) I do have to make one observation:
My question is this – Does the Love Guru:
1) Tell the story of how Hindus are all dumb.
or…
2) Tell the story of one dumb Hindu?
There is a universe of difference between the two above options. If the answer is #1 (which doesn’t appear likely according to the trailers and footage I’ve seen), then yes… these Hindu groups have every right to be miffed and upset. HOWEVER…
If the answer is #2 (which seems the most likely and logical answer) then I don’t see how there is anything to complain about. Was Austin Powers a flagrant insult to all British people in the world and created solely with the express purpose to offend and hurt those from the United Kingdom…. or was he just a single individual who became a representation of hyper exaggerated British mannerisms for the purposes of spoof and fun… not an embodiment of a literal commentary of British culture in general?
If we all followed this groups example… then American groups should be calling for a boycott of the upcoming “Get Smart”, since in it, and American Agent is portrayed as a bit of a bumbling klutz. Should all Americans really be offended and hurt by this portrayal of an American… OR… should Americans just take the character and an exaggerated caricature spoofing and poking some fun at some hyperbolic American mannerisms for the purpose of humor? Obviously the answer is the latter.
But that’s just my opinion. What do you think? In a situation like this, do those who are trying to pressure and boycott “The Love Guru” have a valid beef? Do you believe this movie will attack the Hindu population? Or is this being blown way out of proportion?
Wait a second… for totally different reasons maybe we all SHOULD be joining in with this group… heavens knows I don’t want it hitting theater. :P
honestly, i don’t really need more reasons to boycott this movie. justin timberlake, jessica alba and mike myers are enough.
Haha! My inbox has been getting a hammering too.
I enjoy being kept up to date with things I don’t participially care about :)
I do have to make one observation:
http://yourfreemoviedownloads.com
BFD, this film will be a fart in the breeze.
This looks like Myers worst film in years.
Timberlake and Alba are the worst supporting actors in the “biz”.
Hindus don’t have to watch it if they don’t want to…
Did white people boycott White Chicks?
And I get the feeling that this will bomb, anyway. Not only does it look like butt, but the hottest name in the movie(Alba) probably won’t be able to make the rounds whoring for the movie if she’s really far along in her pregnancy. Mike Myers proved at the MTV Awards just how outdated he is. Not one of his jokes was even remotely funny, and reaching into the bag of tricks to pull out friggin’ Wayne’s World was a desperation tactic. He’s old news.
You can have a story about a single character that is still offensive even if that one character is the only one who is being made fun of. I personally think that the “Love Guru” looks too stupid for people to get offended, but I could understand why someone would be offended.
What’s the point of asking if white people boycotted White Chicks?
White Chicks portrayed white people in a negative light, didn’t it? I was wondering if white people were offended by it.
At the end of the day, it’s just a movie.
i think most of america inadvertently boycotted white chicks. but of course, for completely different reasons.
if i remember correctly, there was a similar dust-up around the depiction of hindus in temple of doom. that was sadly not the most offensive part that movie though. kate capshaw took the cake on that one.
i think usually, if you have another positive hindu (or of the offended group) in the movie, then it’s okay. but if let’s say get smart portrayed every american as stupid, then yeah americans should be offended. it may be just a movie kristina, but some actually help fuel the ignorance of stereotypes.
People have the right to boycott whatever they want to boycott. Power to them if they stand against something which is both racist and egregiously unfunny.
I can’t wait to see this fail at the box office. I’m still baffled on how Meyers thought it would be a good idea to get Alba and Timberlake as co-stars.
Oh and if some Hindus are offended it is their right, but honestly, there is always someone who is offended by something. I think a lot of the times people are too uptight …as it’s been said…it’s a comedy movie, it’s not to be taken seriously.
You can’t please everyone.
I would like to add the following points, since it “always” seems to be applied to a certain group I am generally associated with, especially on Sunday mornings:
*Did the protesters see the film or a rough cut of the film/read the script?
*Do they know that after the point is made, the more they carry on about it then such a film (which otherwise may not even be worth the fuss) gets free publicity?
—–
As pointed out, Mike Myers is hit and miss, and the rest of the cast- specifically a bad actress named Jessica- isn’t enough to bring out anyone in the theatre. In fact, me personally…? With all that crap promoting the MTV movie awards (which doubled as a plug for Love Guru) and during it, I’d much rather see Wayne’s World 3 than Guru.
I just wish one of these minority groups would urge a boycott because the movie is clearly a pile of crap out to siphon dollars from Joe and Betty Lunchbox in exchange for two hours of substandard entertainment, overpriced popcorn covered in butter flavored fossil fuel saturated in Trans fat and washed down with carcinogenic, water downed fountain soda that tastes much like malted battery acid.
I think the only reason they don’t is they’d have trouble fitting all that on a protest sign.
Hmm….I think I’m in the mood for a movie tonight.
From what I understand, the main character (Myers) is not actually a Hindu, he has his own vaguely Eastern-Indian spiritual…uh…thing going on that is not based in any one religion. Originally they were going to call him “The Love Swami” but they changed it when someone made a fuss about “swami” being a religious term. Can’t remember where I read this, it may have been EW.
I’m still not going to see it, but they’re getting upset about nothing. They should, instead, be protesting why Myers never made the “Dieter” movie.
The love guru, didn’t they make this film allready with that major acting talent “Jonny Mystic”.
Heather gramm was also in it. It came out about 5 years ago.
Seriously,,
I think they overreacting. Sure they being made fun of by Mike Meyers
but no more so than others groups had been made fun of.
Nobody takes him seroursly. Not even himself. Look at all the
bad films he made. The only reason i would see it is for
Jessica Alba. On a scale of 1-10 she is a 11. :)
Hindu dont need to boycott this movie it will bomb. Why boycott did a spider boycott Spier-Man 3 did my Car boycott Transformers no so just shut the fuck up. On a Mike Myers note his movies just suck in the past six years his only good movies are 54, Mystery, Alaska, Wayne’s World 1 and 2,Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery ,and So I Married an Axe Murderer.
@MAC
‘Hindus don’t have to watch it if they don’t want to’ if something changes a person perception about a cultute (yes films do have that effect) then it doesnt matter if they watch it or not. If they released a film gloryfing the KKK would you tell black people just to avoid it.
@Yamo
eh Cars and spiders dont have cognative thought. I think you need to learn more about the world fella
@YAMO
Most of those movies are older than six years.
@KANTHAN
Well I think there is a difference between “glorifying” a subject versus “poking fun” at a subject. In your example of “glorifying the KKK”, many, many more factions other than the black community would be offended. And yes, to that extremely large population that would be offended by a pro-KKK film, I would say “Just don’t watch it.”
As close to hindu group since i live close to that country I would say, their reason is because it has to do with religion !!!
This is bound to become the worst of Mike Myers.
Aint touching this one.
From the trailers, pics, and media out there on this movie, it looks as though Mike Myers took great caution to not make this an offense movie toward Hindus. It doesn’t look to be the primary thing you think when you see clips of this movie, its about how goofy and silly Myers can be.
Deepak Chopra, a well known Hindu spiritual adviser and writer, recently came out and defended this movie, “Listen, it’s kind of a satire. It’s a lampoon.”
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1811275,00.html
Its exactly like he calls it, a satire and comedy. I’m excited for it and I think its gonna be one of the funniest movies of the summer.
As I understand it, the word “Guru” in contemporary India simply means “teacher.” Not too sure how offensive that is….
No one is going to see this movie in any significant numbers anyway, so there is not much point in the boycott, imo. I think it looks awful and is going to be a major flop.
ah Kristina….the constant hater …haha some things will never change hahaha..btw i just watched all 3 austin powers and u know what i still love em…..i think im gonna watch so i married a axe murderer just to prove how much myers is cool with me =)
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I think there is always a point to be made about any one topic. Yes, Hindus and avoid the film but it doesn’t necessaily mean that it still won’t affect them. I haven’t seen the movie and probably won’t go because it looks really dumb. However, if it does have negative connotations about hindus then all hindus have the right to be outraged. anytime anything or anyone is being representing unfairly or poorly it matters unfortunately we live in a society that just doesn’t give a shit enough to consider these things. They think its funny and thats all they care about. They are making money why should they care.
The trouble with boycotts is that they end up helping the movie by giving it more publicity. Maybe more than a movie like this deserves. Do they have a point? Sure, but so does every other group that gets made fun of. And “Love Guru” sounds more like they are doing a parody on modern gurus, like maybe Rajneesh, than the Hindu religion in general.
I am a Hindu but frankly agree with some other people who stated that there will always be something offensive. The whole idea is to move towards a ‘tolerant world’, within reasonable limits ofcourse.
Doesn’t matter what Deepak Chopra says. He doesn’t represent all Indians and/or Hindus. Besides, he has sold out Hinduism, only caring to be famous and materialistic.
I’m also tired of this reasoning that just as long as there is some Indian person in the movie then the movie has been approved by that person, thus approved by all Indians and the movie can not be considered racist. A lot of actors of different religions and cultures from the beginning of the media age have taken roles they may not have agreed with because they wanted a part or needed the money.
I just hate the cringing feeling I get instantly at the hint of a blatantly racist movie. It’s like watching Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or watching Birth of a Nation, or watching The Good Earth. It’s just not right and even if you don’t understand or you aren’t the culture portrayed, you should at least try to listen to the people who have a problem with it because they are forcefully going through something you luckily don’t have to deal with.
All Indians are NOT Hindus so waht are you talking about?
Most of the above commnents display an obvious lack of awareness of basic, sacred Hindu concepts and symbolism…which points to the reason why some Hindus are opposed to many of the religious references from “The Love Guru”. Beyond the lampoons of Hinduism, Ashram life and Hindu philosophy, many feel the film may reinforce already widely held “negative and exotic stereotypes” of their community.
For those who feel the religious references are from an “unnamed, vaguely Eastern-Indian spiritual philosophy”, not based in any one religion: We all know when you show a person with a sari and a mark on their forehead that it will be associated with Hinduism. Besides these obvious physical references (and Myers’ costumes of sacred saffron robes, marigold malas/leis), the terms used in the film (like “guru”, “karma” and “ashram”) are signature Hindu concepts clearly pointing to Hinduism. So, which other religion are they talking about?
Above all, the antics of Guru Pitka (Mike Myers) of ‘The Love Guru’ are a mockery of the esteemed institution of a guru, who is a highly revered spiritual teacher or master or preceptor in Hinduism and who helps remove the ignorance of the seeker and who leads one from darkness to light. The guru-sishya (teacher-disciple) relationship lies at the heart of traditional Hinduism. The Guru is often allied with the divine; and bestows spiritual knowledge totally free from selfish objectives.
On the other hand, the guru in ‘The Love Guru’ instigates a bar fight, repeatedly narrates penis jokes, mocks yoga (one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy), wears female jewelry, mocks the concept of third eye, makes disciples drink tea passed through his nose, orders alligator soup, induces elephant copulation in front of the crowd, introduces himself as “His Holiness”, lives in a lavish ashram staffed with scantily clad maids, and whose goal in life seems to appear on Oprah.
When did Hindu gurus become available “for hire”? When and who started rating them? When did shishyas (disciples) start to joining ashrams for the sole purpose to make girls like them? Which Hindu ashram organises fights of disciples with mops soaked in their guru’s urine? Which guru urinates in the midst of disciples?
Not only does the role perpetuate ingnorance of a culture that many North Americans are not familiar with, this is pure and blatant ridiculing of sacred concepts. Perhaps a massive boycott of the film is excessive, but given the costumes and overall concept of the film, Paramount would have done well to issue a disclaimer in the opening sequence that the characters and events are not based on veritable Hindu spiritual masters.