Let's talk oscars. I know, I'm a week late. But I wanted to take some time and sit to think about it. Slumdog Millionaire. Like I said in my previous post, Slumdog just makes me proud to be Indian. But the success of Slumdog makes me cool to be Indian, which is even better. Other things that make me cool to be Indian? M.I.A (who's actually Sri Lankan, but close enough), bhangra, pierced noses, henna tattoos, tandoori chicken...the list goes on. I wonder if we'll see changes in Hollywood relationship with Bollywood, or how either make movies. Will Bollywood start looking like a more serious or viable option for major American studios? Will Bollywood start making more western-friendly movies that are-- gasp-- made in English or--GASP-- made by American directors? The possibilities are endless. 

Crossovers are inevitable, even necessary. I think Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote about how cosmopolitanism is just a jumble of cultures contaminating and re-contaminating one another...that's not a bad thing. contamination has such negative connotations, but it's actually the thing that keeps us connected to one other, despite being different. it keeps us moving, changing. And i think films are beginning to reflect that part of our ever-mutating, globalizing world. 

another great moment of contamination-- the acceptance speech of the precious Kunio Kato: