Wes hearts Waris

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Director Wes Anderson did right by Sikhs in his latest film:

I saw The Life Aquatic last night, a hilarious, laid-back Jacques Cousteau parody… The director was very respectful of the handsome, turbaned actor / fashionista Waris Singh Ahluwalia: it was not a token role, the Sikh was a bona fide character. He had an American accent. He had a real name, Vikram Ray (though Ray is a Bengali name, perhaps a play on Satyajit). He was addressed by name several times, he had plenty of lines, he was an integral part of the crew. He even had three glamor shots in the submarine scene at the end, close-ups with light reflecting off his eyes. There was an Asian-American on the crew as well, and assorted Europeans; the casting was like the Star Trek bridge minus the aliens…

On the flip side, the marketing campaign cropped Ahluwalia out. It’s a shot of the submarine scene, where Ahluwalia was seated at far left. On the U.S. poster, the guy in the turban and the black guy are missing.

In this particular case, it’s probably because Ahluwalia… isn’t a recognizable star. However, in many movies (e.g. Sandra Oh in Sideways), minorities don’t figure in the marketing campaigns, even if they have substantial roles… The kinds of people you’ll see [featuring minorities] are producers at the top and the bottom: those who are either already successful enough to take the risk, such as Wes Anderson and his cult of fans, or so indie that they don’t care.

Read the full piece.

5 thoughts on “Wes hearts Waris”

  1. Something similar happened in the marketing of The English Patient. But there, there was also a decision by the filmmakers themselves to reduce the role of Kip from a ‘starring’ role in the novel to a ‘featuring’ role in the film.

    So Naveen Andrews’ absence from the marketing of the film was an extension of a process begun by Anthony Minghella.

    It’s not great that Hollywood does this, but I’m not crying about the phenomenon over-much. Marketing operates on the principle of presenting figures that the average viewer can identify with on the poster or on the TV screen. The turban is — still — likely to be a confusing or even alienating image for many people.

  2. The turban is — still — likely to be a confusing or even alienating image for many people.

    Of course, so was dark skin two decades ago.

  4. where on OITH is waris’s accent? he’s cute as heck, but he lost his accent! And pllleaassse find him a date who can brush her hair on not look an anorexic underdressed freak!!!