Indiana Jones

I understand representation but I care more about the story. That's just my childhood. I went to the movies so infrequently when I was kid that I didn't really think 'will I see myself' because I knew the answer. NO! I still went to FARGO and loved it. I still saw all the Indiana Jones movies, James Bond, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy stuff, while reading Shakespeare in school. White-white-wiggedly white...with a dash of pepper in February. Was my mind colonized to not expect to see myself? Perhaps but if representation was the most important thing then I would have watched Tyler Perry movies. My whole family just would have consumed all those black church plays sold on bootleg tapes at the Opa Locka Flea Market back in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Now, ideally we would get both representation and great content: Different World, Living Singles, Cosby Show, Roseanne, Roc, etc. But there's a slew of really really atrocious content, and SOME (not all) of that content is organized by identity groups. And I just don't want to pretend like I'm enjoying myself because of a construct of self or someone pretending to be 'Mother Africa' woke. If I had to choose between bad black and a 'better' James Bond films, I would pick 007 each time. Conversely if I had to choose between Motown and Blink 182, I'm picking Four Tops and The Temptations...but not b/c it's Black. I just like it better. The black part is a bonus. The same with hip hop, rap. I'm not thinking 'there's a black person on the mic' any more than I am annoyed by Eminem's voice due to his melanin. I don't like Eminem b/c he's annoying AF to me.

A few yrs ago, Rajiv Joseph gave a talk on watching "Indiana Jones" as an Indian-American and how grossly offensive it was...and also entertaining. I remember watching "Temple of Doom" and cringing at some of the parts. Even as a kid I knew 'oh this is all the way off into white cuckoo land with some of this Indian cannibal stuff and 'the helper' Chinese kid.' I was able to parse that out while rooting for Dr Jones. I did leave having a 'funny and unsettled feeling' underneath the pleasure of action. I think Joseph was getting at the need for better movies but also that a lot of us were sophisticated viewers...even as kids. Did I really think that India was accurately represented in "Indiana Jones?" Of course not.  We are sophisticated viewers.