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Parts of the video are based in India during the Holi Festival when people throw brightly coloured powder at each other.

 

It shows Chris Martin travelling past ancient sites and through crowded streets in a tuk tuk.

 

But, the filming of Hymn for the Weekend is causing some people to say Coldplay is using India as a backdrop for the wrong reasons.

 

And, what's causing most of a stir is Beyonce in traditional Indian dress.

 

 

Critics say it's "appropriation" or misusing bits of Indian culture, others have an issue with Beyonce dressing up.

 

"Beyonce's cultural appropriation is tasteless" says one.

 

Lara Mendonça @laramendonca_

This new Coldplay + Beyonce video is a festival of cultural appropriation. I can't believe they used the combo kids + slum + Holi festival

 

7:15 PM - 29 Jan 2016

 

Paida Mangondo @thelifeofpaida

I love the new Coldplay and Beyoncé video, but the song is average and Beyoncé's cultural appropriation is tasteless

 

3:27 PM - 29 Jan 2016 · Pretoria, South Africa, South Africa

 

Look @Beyonce and @coldplay are not appreciating my culture. This is appropriation. Stop trying to defend them. It is what it is.

 

10:43 PM - 29 Jan 2016

 

 

But others point out similar Coldplay videos, including Princess of China, which featured Rihanna wearing traditional Chinese dress.

 

Some say this is all nonsense and that it's well known that Coldplay have spent time in India and immersed themselves in the culture.

 

One tweet suggests: "If dressing Indian makes her [beyonce] guilty, what about Indians who dress western?"

 

All this "cultural appropriation" talk. If anything, the vid showcases the beauty of India. No need for all the drama.#Coldplay #Beyonce

 

12:56 AM - 30 Jan 2016

 

#Beyonce guilty of 'cultural appropriation' in the #Coldplayvideo? If dressing Indian makes her guilty what abt Indians who dress Western?

 

7:53 PM - 29 Jan 2016

 

It's raised questions about whether Beyonce, as a black American woman, should be dressing up as a Bollywood star.

 

Others argue that the video shows Coldplay's cultural appreciation of India, not appropriation.

Oh you and your gifs :D

This is the best part [ATTACH=full]3777[/ATTACH]

It's something we'll see when music videos involve other cultures. It's like when people talk about Mexico and some think we're wearing a big hat, a big blanket, drinking tequila and sitting next to a cactus. Stereotypes are all over the world some are relevant and some others shouldn't be taken too seriously. And, if we don't know about it, we shouldn't talk about it.

this is getting stupid.

So what? It's not like people watching the video will say 'hurrdurr India is bad' or something like that. People these days really are too sensitive.

 

Edit: and I googled what 'cultural appropriation' means:

A deeper understanding of cultural appropriation also refers to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.

Edit: and I googled what 'cultural appropriation' means:

A deeper understanding of cultural appropriation also refers to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.

 

British Empire - India.... is probably the logic of the people behind the use of this term

British Empire - India.... is probably the logic of the people behind the use of this term

I would've said "that doesn't make any sense", but in this day and age, I won't be surprised if that's what people actually think.

 

Or it's just the usual term misusing like saying "oh we have western people filming in India. Different culture -> Cultural appropriation!"

this is getting stupid.

of course it is, it's tHE INNURNET :awesome:

British Empire - India.... is probably the logic of the people behind the use of this term

 

By that logic Germans should not wear or "appropriate" any culture in Europe cuz they "oppressed" Europe with war twice and in much more recent times than colonialism! If we used the same "stuck in the past" methodology these people seem to apply to Western Culture and colonialism, we would not "forgive" the germans for at least another 50 years! Thats absurd.

 

All people alive today have nothing to do with what happened 100 or more years ago. We should celebrate when people find ways to be closer by appreciating each other culture, not condemn it. This unfortunately is a part of a larger problem with pc these days where its suddenly running amok and the people behind stirring these controversies might have good intentions but the result is just to pit us against one another, group after group and no good can come out of that.

of course it is, it's tHE INNURNET :awesome:

 

I wish this was a case of the stupid internet, but these ideologies are rampant nowadays in universities, the media, etc. Im starting to think its a new form of totalitarism disguised as "benefitting the minorities". Incidentally I did a long research on this just recently for work and it did not look good to me at all...I was surprised at what I found behind what appeared well-intentioned movements.

I had this google alert about a youtube movie titled : "Coldplay Beyonce Hymn For the Weekend Illuminati Expose" :wtf:

 

"Coldplay and Beyonce's new song Hymn for The Weekend exposed as Illuminati Satanic Agenda. We expose the symbols, signs, and images of Shiva the destroyer as The illuminati continues to wage silent war on the public".

I had this google alert about a youtube movie titled : "Coldplay Beyonce Hymn For the Weekend Illuminati Expose" :wtf:

 

"Coldplay and Beyonce's new song Hymn for The Weekend exposed as Illuminati Satanic Agenda. We expose the symbols, signs, and images of Shiva the destroyer as The illuminati continues to wage silent war on the public".

 

There is a thread for that here actually hehe

There is a thread for that here actually hehe

I have found it :)

I have found it :)

 

Yeah, who would have thought! haha I was looking for a thread about x-files fans here actually and could not find any, but lo and behold there is a thread for Illuminati haha You never know what you find :D

By that logic Germans should not wear or "appropriate" any culture in Europe cuz they "oppressed" Europe with war twice and in much more recent times than colonialism! If we used the same "stuck in the past" methodology these people seem to apply to Western Culture and colonialism, we would not "forgive" the germans for at least another 50 years! Thats absurd.

 

All people alive today have nothing to do with what happened 100 or more years ago. We should celebrate when people find ways to be closer by appreciating each other culture, not condemn it. This unfortunately is a part of a larger problem with pc these days where its suddenly running amok and the people behind stirring these controversies might have good intentions but the result is just to pit us against one another, group after group and no good can come out of that.

 

It's a bit different though. Germany and say, France or something have very, very similar standards of living and even very similar cultures.

Can't say that about Britain and India.

I'm not condoning this backlash (other than the Beyonce cleavage which I personally found a bit tactless, as you probably recall from one of my earlier posts here :)), I'm just trying to understand it.

It's a bit different though. Germany and say, France or something have very, very similar standards of living and even very similar cultures.

Can't say that about Britain and India.

I'm not condoning this backlash (other than the Beyonce cleavage which I personally found a bit tactless, as you probably recall from one of my earlier posts here :)), I'm just trying to understand it.

 

Yes I recall and I disagreed with that analysis hehe But as we are humans we will always tend to see different things even if looking at the same thing! :)

 

If its not about oppression then but about how different the cultures are, then conversely we should accuse everyone else in the world of appropriating "white western culture" when they completely take over our model of life, capitalism and all ? Surely if its not about oppression, then it must go the other way around? But it doesn't. So for example we are blamed for not featuring the right amount of other races in the Oscars, but Bollywood is "allowed" to be all indian. I don't know..Im not seeing any sense in this. I can understand the motivation originally behind these groups for speaking out against oppression of minorities and there was good reason for that! But that was the past.

 

I suspect some people have not gotten over the so-called "white guilt" and so keep perpetuating this self-flagellation in a way...when in fact the true sign of equality and that you truly have recognised that everyone is equal is to stop talking about races and cultures but simply talk of people. I believe we have come a long way and I honestly don't see the need to divide people as they do. On top of that I have noticed that these movements are being taken advantage of to promote a policy of divisiveness which does always tend to benefit "some people on the top". So there´s also that contributing to putting this radicalism, which was always present but in the fringes, to the forefront of the media, education, etc.

So for example we are blamed for not featuring the right amount of other races in the Oscars, but Bollywood is "allowed" to be all indian.

 

Again, standard of living and wealth discrepancy plays a huge factor in expectations, I think. But then again we shouldn't say it's like that in India, it's OK for us. For the record, I can count several undeniably negative things about India too (rape related views and politics, Hindu extremism, persecution of Muslims...).

I think it's very healthy to be aware of one's culture's/society's shortcomings though. Unfortunately it's not only the past. Look at anti-black racsim here in the US for example. Look at our profit(oil)-oriented meddling in the middle east, which over the past decades has contributed in destabilizing the region and ultimately helped the rise of terrorism like ISIS. Look at our support for countries like Saudi-Arabia who abuse human rights every single day - but we support them because we have strategic and financial interests !

Don't wanna get too political here because these things have nothing to do with Coldplay video, though. I am just reflecting generally on cultural tensions.

Again, standard of living and wealth discrepancy plays a huge factor in expectations, I think. But then again we shouldn't say it's like that in India, it's OK for us. For the record, I can count several undeniably negative things about India too (rape related views and politics, Hindu extremism, persecution of Muslims...).

I think it's very healthy to be aware of one's culture's/society's shortcomings though. Unfortunately it's not only the past. Look at anti-black racsim here in the US for example. Look at our profit(oil)-oriented meddling in the middle east, which over the past decades has contributed in destabilizing the region and ultimately helped the rise of terrorism like ISIS. Look at our support for countries like Saudi-Arabia who abuse human rights every single day - but we support them because we have strategic and financial interests !

Don't wanna get too political here because these things have nothing to do with Coldplay video, though. I am just reflecting generally on cultural tensions.

 

Profit and financial interests trampling the interest of the people are not things of the past, fully agree on that. What I deem things of the past is wide-spread racism or any wide-spread discrimination for most minorities (a few have still got a reason to "fight" but I can only think of one or two actually) based solely on people being different.(There will always be some people who discriminate, i don't believe you can completely eradicate this no more than you can completely eradicate crime, but its definitely not wide-spread as the media paint it out to be) And I speak of things of the past for the western countries, not a lot of the rest of world where discrimination is still rampant.

 

The same groups who speak of cultural appropriation have very very little interest in speaking about rape in India or the human rights abuses you mentioned in Saudi Arabia. That tells you a bit about how their intentions are not really about the true benefit of the oppressed groups, but have another agenda altogether...

 

I won't go into any more detail about all the issues you mentioned cuz yeah it would require a voice chat not typing haha Suffice it to say I started out with pretty much the exact point of view you had! Then I was very surprised at what I found when I researched this (very recently) and after struggling with myself a bit I had to concede that the truth was different than I expected. There are people who have at heart the interest of black, homosexuals, women etc and do and have done very positive things, but the agenda behind what´s so vocal in the media now is not from these genuine people but from radical groups who have other interests in mind...

I think the general problem of this controversy is that the people are overthinking about this. It's like they cannot enjoy the video without thinking about the world's problems, and putting blame against the video for reminding them about it. When I watch the video I was only thinking like 'Oh, this takes place in India. Chris, Chris, Beyonce, the band, ooh, nice taxi, damn the shots are great'. I wasn't thinking about 'oh, India is a poor country', or 'does Beyonce even have the right to wear those dresses?'. It might be just me though.

 

And also, every source seems to mostly quote Twitter, not from for example Indian officials or representatives, cause you know things get ugly when even the higher-ups are upset over it. So it quite reeks of cherry-picking for generating buzz.

Yada yada yada

So when I dress up in my Maiden outfit for Oktoberfest or my wear green for Saint Patrick's Day or dress up for whatever holiday I choose to to celebrate and embrace for whatever culture, this is wrong? Imitation is the highest form or flattery. We dress and emulate what we love and adore. How can this be disrespectful?

Yada yada yada

So when I dress up in my Maiden outfit for Oktoberfest or my wear green for Saint Patrick's Day or dress up for whatever holiday I choose to to celebrate and embrace for whatever culture, this is wrong? Imitation is the highest form or flattery. We dress and emulate what we love and adore. How can this be disrespectful?

 

You said it....and its not disrespectful but a tiny group of people have nothing better to do than finding problems everywhere...instead of positivity. I just ignore them and proceed my way.

Yada yada yada

So when I dress up in my Maiden outfit for Oktoberfest or my wear green for Saint Patrick's Day or dress up for whatever holiday I choose to to celebrate and embrace for whatever culture, this is wrong? Imitation is the highest form or flattery. We dress and emulate what we love and adore. How can this be disrespectful?

Similar concept for the "white people can't wear dreads" thing. The people that criticize white people for this sometimes don't realize that some of that may be for a practical purpose and that white people can be born with black hair and need to do this. As for aesthetics... I can see why they get mad but it seems like they aren't entirely seeing the greater scope. A hairstyle shouldn't be blown out of proportion when there are clearly bigger issues at hand. The forest or the trees?

Similar concept for the "white people can't wear dreads" thing. A hairstyle shouldn't be blown out of proportion when there are clearly bigger issues at hand. The forest or the trees?

 

I agree and moreover as long as they keep talking about "white people" this "black people" that it truly proves that the very same people who raise these issues are the ones still struggling with racism...they seem to see it everywhere, even in innocent things people do to actually appreciate each other or like you say for practical purposes.

[MEDIA=tumblr]did=501ba842d6b1ff09adc4c302380970937caff083;id=138353124343;key=rg8lDq4Ou7tREHXq1Rk40g;name=hybridhues[/MEDIA]

Mobile Link: http://hybridhues.tumblr.com/post/138353124343/orientalist-fantasy-coldplays-hymn-for-the

 

 

Found this post in tumblr that I thought gave a pretty sound response. However, the thing that bothers me about this is how British History is biting Coldplay in the ass.

 

And the cultural appropriation thing is one viewpoint people choose to believe. Their own interpretation of it. You choose to be offended. It's what you want to see.

 

In the end, arguing over this becomes pointless overtime

because there is never an exact definition for CA. Infinite arguing.

 

Que sera sera... regardless Coldplay kinda f'd up here. [emoji28]Beyonce too.