Hot terror in the skies

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Yesterday I went on-line to check out all the hype behind the new movie that opens tomorrow, Snakes on a Plane. Not many reviews to go by so I don’t know how good it actually is. While watching the trailer however my sepia radar started howling as the following face splashed onto my computer screen. Who was that cute desi girl and how come I’ve never sat next to her on a plane?

Apple should totally make her a spokeswoman. She “speaks to me” at least.

Turns out that the name of her character in the movie is “Ipod girl.” The actress who plays her is Canada’s own Agam Darshi (born Agamdeep Darshi in Birmingham, UK):

She was born Agamdeep Darshi in Birmingham, England, but her family soon moved to Canada. At the age of 14 she moved to Calgary and began to pursue her dream of acting, a passion that, as a small child, would manifest itself as impromptu plays at any family gathering. She studied theatre at the University of Calgary as well the visual fine arts, earning a BFA in art and theatre in 2002. This passion for being on the other side of the camera has lead to several photographic shows and art publications. Besides acting on both stage and screen, Darshi has also written numerous plays and has recently work on several film scripts, producing two of her projects as independent films.

She is also an avid traveler and has backpacked through Europe and across Australia. [Link]

The Snakes on a Plane (SOAP) blog has an interview with her. Despite the fact that she is obviously going to be awesome in the film, she sounds like she’d rather put a bit of distance between it and her:

SoaB: From your resume, Snakes on a Plane appears to be your first major/feature film. How did you get involved with it?

AD: SOAP is a big budget film and I basically auditioned for the part like everyone else!

SoaB: How do you feel having a film as unique as Snakes on a Plane as your first major credit?

AD: Well it’s nice to have it on my resume, but to be honest, it’s not something I’m overtly proud of. I’ve worked on a bunch of other great roles and great shows. Like Supernatural, Tru-Calling, Final Destination 3, L-Word, Dead Zone etc… It’s great working on big budget films like this one, but sometimes it’s the smaller films that feel so much more important and interesting, because there is more heart involved. [Link]

Apparently there is already a t-shirt industry that has sprouted up to celebrate her character:

I’ve been looking for a co-pilot for a LONG time.

Really, that’s all I had planned to say about that. A cute South Asian girl is very Sepia-worthy in my opinion and after a rough week of activism I needed something to take the edge off. However, the ever sagacious Amardeep reminded me that we owe it to our readers to provide more than just fluff and eye candy. He said:

You might also mention that some of the snakes on the plane (i.e., the cobra) are mainly found in India.

Though actually some of the poisonous snakes they’re using also come from other places. There are even some American snakes!

Multicultural snakes on the multicultural plane.

Yes, once again Americans are going to see a movie where South Asian terrorists try to bring down an airplane. I guess until more of us stand up for ourselves desis will continue to get type-casted into such rolls. You think I am being oversensitive? Check it:

The most deadly serpent aboard fictional Pacific Air Flight 121 is the monocled cobra. Like many venomous snakes, the cobra’s poison affects its victim’s central nervous system. But monocled cobra venom is so powerful that the victim’s immune system goes into hyperdrive and actually begins to break down organs and muscles. Death is almost instantaneous. [Link]

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p>And where is this terrorist from? You guessed it:

Found from northeastern India, across Myanmar and Indochina to southern China, and Malaysia and the Philippines. [Link]

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p>If you still think I am being paranoid then how do you explain this?

Milk snakes are native to North America and normally grow up to 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) long…

Although they pose no threat to humans, milk snakes are often killed because people think they are dangerous–most likely one of the reasons the species landed a starring role in Snakes on a Plane. [Link]

<

p>Right. So the Indian snake is the most deadly terrorist on this fictional flight while the American milk snake (milk being a euphemism for “white”), “pose[s] no threat to humans.”

My peoples, this system is f*cked up! Please write your Congressman.

37 thoughts on “Hot terror in the skies”

  1. Yes, once again Americans are going to see a movie where South Asian terrorists try to bring down an airplane . Brilliant Abhi.

  4. Enough with the gratuitous snake pr0n already (shudder)! more pics of the ipod girl instead!!

  8. Agamdeep = Sikhs on a Plane.

    The word play is getting out of control here. In a good way.

    Multicultural snakes on the multicultural plane.

    Amardeep Jackson, is it?

  9. reminds me, does anybody remember those old airindia jokes? swiss guy sees the swiss alps, says ah, we’re on top of switzerland french guy sees eiffel tower, says ah, we’re on top of france indian guy puts his hand out the window, loses his watch, says ah, we’re in india!

    stupid joke, probably remembered wrong, but desi memories…

  15. Fourteen puntastic comments without the “m” word? I think I’m going to stop reading this Sepia so-called Mutiny.

    (Especially since the sages themselves made the link).

  16. Wwhy don’t we rename this site Macaca Mutiny? At the minimum it will keep the issue alive.

  19. but to be honest, itÂ’s not something IÂ’m overtly proud of. IÂ’ve worked on a bunch of other great roles and great shows. Like Supernatural, Tru-Calling, Final Destination 3, L-Word, Dead Zone etcÂ… ItÂ’s great working on big budget films like this one, but sometimes itÂ’s the smaller films that feel so much more important and interesting, because there is more heart involved.

    With (refreshing) honesty like that, I’m not sure how welcome she’s going to be in Hollywood. The spectacle of Ralph Fiennes trying to be civil about “Maid in Manhattan” still haunts me.

  22. Razib and Siddhartha,

    Remember, both snakes and planes are phallic symbols. As Lacan might have it, “snakes” are the wild slithering phallus of the Unconscious, while planes are phallic on the angular, metallic register of the “Symbolic.” The film (one mustn’t refer to it as a “movie”) thematizes the rebellion of the resisting subaltern “Real” (which represents the death-drive) over the tyrannical, inscribed authority of the industrial-aviational Master. Samuel Jackson is portrayed as the heroic man (the phallogocentric “actor,” whose agency is albeit always scripted), who ostensibly represents the forces of the Airplane against the Snakes, but my suspicion is that the film will reveal that his true sympathies lie with the underground, resisting Snakes. Agamdeep Darshi, as “Ipod Girl” is between the two; her the holy feminine/maternal/musical energies pacify the wild terror of the Snakes that are colonized by the hetero-patriarchial gaze, which ethno-objectifies her as a “desi hottie.”

  24. Papamm Shantam..Papamm Shantam……

    J I H A D and F A T W A on all Mutineers for desecrating Lingams..a.k.a”phalluses”….Jai Mata Di!

  27. “The path of the righteous Macaca is beset on all sides By the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil Senators Blessed is the Macaca who, in the name of charity and good will, Shepherds the weak Macacas through the valley of darkness, For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost kutti-macacas And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger Those who attempt to poison and destroy my brother macacen. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”

  28. Agamdeep was born in the UK and raised in Canada; I’ve actually met a good many desis (mostly Punjabis) who fit that description. Can anyone from either country confirm, has there been a significant migration of desis from the UK to Canada?

  29. Alot make that migration Amitabh- UK –> Canada, UK —> US. Perhaps for less dreary weather, bigger homes, more employment/business opportunities, etc. Rarely have I heard the opposite migration of going to the UK.

  31. Amitabh wrote Can anyone from either country confirm, has there been a significant migration of desis from the UK to Canada?

    As and ye shall receive. 42K british-born immigrated to Canada in the 1990s. Of which, 6K were not white (15% of all British born arrivals — quite high). 1700 Sikhs, 800 Hindus, 1300 Muslims. The trend of about 15% of British-born arrivals being non-white was stable through the 90s, and so looks to continue.

    In total in Canada, there are only 5K British born Sikhs, 2K British born hindus, and 3K British born Muslims.

  32. <

    blockquote>Can anyone from either country confirm, has there been a significant migration of desis from the UK to Canada?

    <

    blockquote> well.. judging by all the hirjee virjee junta in the GTA – there’s a fair number of gujus on these shores from the africa via the IngLAand. khemcho to you – from your motabhai.

  33. but…but, in amerika you get more kala 🙁

    Yah, I know. I studied in England and the macaca’s were beauuuutiful.

  34. Good shit, Dingchak.

    My significant other and I just went to watch SOAP in San Deigo and boy, was it some accha tatti (good shit)! The audience around us was cool and despite not taking itself seriously, the movie was a lot better and more serious than most of the bura tatti from Bollywood. I need to stop posting comments on SM because, you know, time is tissue.

  36. it is a perjorative word used to describe those who are black or darker skinned. in pakistan we use kala azar to describe a parasitic disease. seems razib is just another racist or colourist macaca

  37. This beautiful asian on ipod & reading something seem so sweet with her jeans & barefoot. What happen to her I didn’t see the end movie.