Perceived "Indianness" in Western Media
-
Said insists that the Orient is not merely imaginative because, even though the West's understanding of the Orient is imagined and exoticized, it is shaped by material culture and has real-world effects. The Orient is not simply a product of the West and European colonialism's fantasy of what it should be; it is a place with its own culture, ideas, languages, history, peoples, and political ideals (Said 2). While these orientalist conceptions of the East do have negative effects on people of color, these stereotypes can also be used to their advantage. In Chapter 2 of Bengali Harlem, Bald describes how, during the Jim Crow era, some darker-skinned Black people posed as "Hindu" or "East Indian," which was a recurring and prominent theme (Bald 50). By wearing a robe and turban and speaking with a different accent, Black people, by creating a persona as "Hindu" or "Indian," had the opportunity to move more freely throughout the South (Bald 50). Although these traits of an "Indian" person stemmed from actual Indian and Hindu culture, they were adapted to fit what white Americans perceived Indians and Hindus to be. Therefore, when a white person interacted with a Black person acting as an Indian, their preconceived notions associated with "India" and "the East" were validated (Bald 51).
Regarding this idea of perceived "Indianness," the video clips used in Swet Shop Boys' "Batalvi" are predominantly of women in Bollywood movies. While this is how women dress in formal or religious situations, I think the images shown are meant to portray how Western media views the average Indian woman. By using clips of women in colorful fabrics and lots of jewelry—clothing normally worn in formal or religious contexts—the Swet Shop Boys are, in some ways, reclaiming the Western perspective of South Asian women and culture, using it as part of their art within the newer South Asian diaspora in (North) America.