This page is designed as a support page for the
XENITES AGAINST CENSORSHIP
MAILING LIST
This XAC Information Index is a collection of selected posts to the XAC list.
It is presented to provide a point of reference for persons seeking information about the movement to combat censorship of Xena Warrior Princess.
At present there are emails from the 6 April 1999 through 29 April 1999.
Complied by JacQuest
26 Apr 1999
From: "Dan Ma" <dan@xenamedia.com>
The Hindu advisor for The Way", Dr. Ravi Palat, has answered YOUR questions
on the controversy on this episode. The facts and the motives behind the
furore will be cleared up as the professor reveals his side in this
exclusive interview at XenaMedia.Com:
http://www.xenamedia.com
Cheers!
Dan
dan@xenamedia.com
XenaMedia.Com - The Xena Online News & Media Resource
www.XenaMedia.com
16 Apr 1999
From: i e <stand-in@juno.com>
Guys, I know you're going to like this, just note the
copyright notice if you post on your website. This was
submitted to the New Zealand Herald, but never made
it to publication when the you know what hit the fan
about 'The Way.' The Hindu factions withdrew their
complaint about the lesbian issue, but Dr. Palant's
article still rings true.
This copyright notice can also be used with the article
title changed, of course, for the 'Violence against
Christians in India' article which WAS published in the
New Zealand Herald.
Dr. Palat would like to know the addresses of those of
you putting his articles on their websites, so let me
know.
=======================================
Furore over Xena
by Dr. Ravi Arvind Palat
Protests by some Hindu groups against an episode in the
Xena television series bears an unmistakable resemblance
to protests in India last year against Ms. Deepa Mehta’s film,
Fire. That widely-acclaimed film which screened here during
last winter’s International Film Festival portrayed two
sisters-in-law, Radha and Sita, finding solace in each other’s
arms. Claiming that lesbianism is an affront to Hindu sensibilities,
members of Shiv Sena - the same group that dug up the pitch
at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in an unsuccessful attempt to
prevent an India-Pakistan cricket test match - burnt down two
theatres screening the film in New Delhi and Mumbai (formerly
Bombay).
Now, the New Zealand School of Meditation, the Wellington
Indian Association and the World Vaishnava Association allege
that the episode, The Way, suggests that Lord Krishna blesses
Xena’s lesbian relationship. Notably, none of the protesting
Hindu groups in this country have seen the episode.
Late last week, when protests first surfaced in advance to the
episode being shown on North American TV, the producers of
Xena sent me a video of the episode. Comparisons with Fire
are surely unjust. While Fire was a powerful indictment of
patriarchal society, The Way is mindless televison. But it did
not contain even the slightest hint of sexual relationships of any
kind, let alone a lesbian one.
But what if it had? In the wake of the ire over Fire, the Indian
journalist, Mukund Padmanabhan, wrote in The Hindu
newspaper "A civilisation which has produced Khajuraho and the
Kamasutra and nurtured competing schools of philosophical
thought cannot be so easily shocked by a Sapphic suggestion,
a blasphemous thought or a politically deviant idea."
Hinduism’s vitality stems from it not being a doctrinaire religion.
By their protests, these self-appointed defenders of the faith
are themselves undermining the very factors that make Hinduism
unique. Unlike Christianity, Islam, or Judaism, Hinduism has no
monotheistic God and hence no sacred book of revelations.
While there are priests aplenty, there is no overarching
ecclesiastical organisation. The history of Hinduism is therefore
not pockmarked by theological debates on orthodoxy and heresy
or by burning the losers on crosses.
Unlike other religious, Hinduism does not have a linear history
with sects branching off from an original organisational system as
in emergence of Protestant churches from Catholicism. It is more
akin to a mosaic of distinct beliefs, deities, values, and cults which
juxtapose or distance themselves from others as the eminent
historian Professor Romila Thapar has demonstrated. There was
no scope for inquisition, since dissidents simply founded a new
sect.
The heterogeneity of India, with a population larger than Europe
and Russia combined, and home to 16 major languages and over
22,000 dialects, has always precluded the creation of a single,
homogenous Hindu community. Popular observances have
always been accorded priority over lifeless texts.
When new deities could be created, like Santoshi Ma in the
1980s, and linked genealogically to existing ones, allegations that
the producers of Xena fictionalised Lord Krishna rings hollow. The
Ramnami sect in central India removes passages considered
offensive to their caste from the Ramayana. At the other end of
the social spectrum, usurping rulers and landlords routinely
manipulated Hindu epics for purposes of political legitimation.
Every year, the film industry churns out hundreds of movies on a
religious theme, each of which is a fictionalization since there are
no texts that do not have variants according to caste and sect.
The very notion of an unchanging religious text is foreign to
Hinduism.
The flexibility of the theological framework has meant that Hinduism
offers a greater scope to the privatization of religion than any other
faith. Religion is almost a private matter, and even theism is no
requirement. Renunciation was the most common form and was
often used as a cover for private forms of worship and to the
making of a counter-culture.
If homosexuality is not a prominent theme in this counter-culture, it
is counter-intuitive to presume that Indians, all 960 million of them,
are uniquely different from the rest of humanity. Gays and lesbians
are found in every cultural group and religious affiliation. To say
that lesbianism is contrary to the Vedas is sillier than fundamentalist
Christian ministers quoting the scripture at the Hero Parade
precisely because religious texts do not have the same function in
Hinduism as they have in other religions.
By insisting that lesbianism is deviant behavior, the self-appointed
guardians of the Hindu faith are subverting the very meaning of being
Hindu.
Hindu bigotry is an oxymoron precisely because it is the vitality and
the exuberance of popular manifestations of religious belief rather
than adherence to doctrinaire religious notions that accounts for
Hinduism’s vibrancy. India is possibly the only large area conquered
by Muslims rulers where the overwhelming majority of the population
did not accept the religion of their overlords.
The narrow construction of Hinduism by the fundamentalists robs it
of its distinctive features and makes it more like the Semitic religions.
The fundamentalists are a greater threat to the religion than the
makers of Xena. The real abomination is the caste system and the
violence done to women, not supposed portrayals of lesbianism!
Copyright of the article 'Furore over Xena' belongs
to Dr. Ravi Arvind Palat. This article may be freely
posted on non-commercial sites with the copyright
notice."
From: i e <stand-in@juno.com>
Professor Palat said the following regarding the many
requests to post his article "Violence against
Christians in India" on your websites...
"For copyright reasons, please put a note saying that
the copyright rests with me but that it may be freely
posted on non-commercial sites with the copyright notice.
Please also send me the web address of the site."
Ravi Palat
From: "Silea Lawless" <sileakicksbutt@hotmail.com>
Hi Guys- listen, I've been thinking. We've been writing letters,
emails etc. to Channel Ten protesting the censorship, all of which
will probably have little effect, as Studios USA is the big boss.
However, perhaps, in order to give our argument some weight, as
someone suggested earlier (sorry, can't remember who :-) that we
should get the support of Hindu's who have seen or have heard about
this episode and don't have a problem with it. Undoubtably, Hindu's
in Australia would have been informed of the Hindu protest,
especially if they belong to Organisations. Why don't we start
writing to these Hindu organisations in Aus and see what they think?
After all, if we write to Ten and Studios USA, showing them that
(hopefully) the tide has turned in favour of the episode here in Aus,
it'll give our letters more weight. I know that the main problem we
have is that we haven't seen "The Way" yet, but it's worth a shot.
What do you think?
Silea
Return to the top
14 Apr 1999
From: i e <stand-in@juno.com>
Professor Ravi Palat, who served as technical advisor
on the Xena: Warrior Princess episode, 'The Way',
generously sent the following, which I share with you.
This will also be shared with Ken Solomon, President
of Network Television as Studios USA and all the major
news stations and tv news programs.
Please note the mention of at least two factions below,
the BJP and VHP who were among the most vocal protestors,
claiming they represented over 1 billion Hindus
worldwide to Universal Studios, when in reality they
are part of a minority of fundamentalists some of whom back
in India, are involved in acts of terrorism, mayhem, rape and
murder, endorsed by their own leaders.
The Hindu factions that protested the episode of 'The Way'
are merely representative extensions of their aggressive and
inflammatory counterpart organizations in their homeland,
where much social, political and religious turbulence exists,
undoubtedly, much of it caused by them. That these Hindu
factions are a minority here in numbers is something to be
grateful for as numbers seems to give rise to their boldness
and acts of violence.
With the censorship of 'The Way' it appears they can now
boast that they've forced a major Hollywood entertainment
corporation into doing their bidding.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Violence against Christians in India
Ravi Arvind Palat
The burning alive of an Australian missionary, Mr. Graham Stewart
Staines, and his two young sons, 9-year old Philip and 7-year old
Timothy, as they were sleeping in their station wagon last Friday in
the eastern state of Orissa is merely the latest incident in a recent
spate of attacks against Christians in India. According to police
records, the number of reported attacks on Christians rose from 7
in 1996 to 24 in 1997 and 86 last year. Unofficial estimates put the
number as high as 120 for 1998. There had only been 38
registered cases of violence against the community in the previous
thirty-two years between 1964 and 1996.
Last year, according to the New Delhi-based United Christian Forum
for Human Rights, five nuns were raped, nine killed and 25 physically
abused. Sixteen priests and pastors were killed and 11 churches of
chapels destroyed.
Since last Christmas, when a church in Dangs district in southern
Gujarat was torched by militants of the Hindu Awakening Front,
some 40 cases of violent intimidation have been reported, including
the burning of at least 6 churches and 2 mission schools. The Steins
are the first known casualties in this latest round of attacks.
Why have India’s 27 million Christians, who had thus far been
bystanders in often violent clashes between its dominant Hindu
majority and the sizable Muslim minority, suddenly become victims
themselves?
The proximate cause of the spurt of violence against Christians in
India is the emergence of Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born,
Roman Catholic widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, as
the undisputed leader of the opposition Congress Party. By raising
anti-Christian slogans, the Hindu fundamentalists seek to draw
attention to her Christian identity and foreign orgins. The thumping
defeats suffered by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in
three state elections last November at her hands merely added
fuel to their fire.
The BJP’s control of the national government, and of some state
governments, have also emboldened the Hindu fundamentalists.
Last July, soon after Ms. Gandhi took over the helm of the
Congress Party, the BJP Chief Minister of Delhi, threatened to lock
up churches on the spurious claim that the serving of sacramental
wine violated prohibitions on the consumption of alcohol in places
of worship!
In September, when armed militants ransacked the chapel of a
convent in Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh in central India, and
raped four nuns, a senior BJP leader,Mr. B. L. Sharma justified the
attack as an understandable response to "proselytisation."
When the church was burnt last Christmas, Mr. Keshubhai Patel,
the BJP chief minister of Gujarat dismissed it by saying that the
church was a mere hut.
There is no evidence to support claims that foreign missionaries
are weaning Hindus away from their traditions. Despite claims
of large numbers of forced conversions, the proportion of Christians
in the total Indian population dropped marginally from 2.5 per
cent in 1981 to 2.4 per cent in 1991. In Gujarat where the recent
wave of violence is concentrated, Christians account for less than
1 per cent of the population.
While there are a few foreigners still involved in evangelical
activities in India today, most of the missionaries are Indians.
Christianity has been the country for at least 2,000 years and can
hardly be characterised as a foreign religion.
In a globalising epoch, the notion that cultures are self-enclosed
boxes is unsustainable. Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his
autobiography that the Bible and the Koran are as much a part of
his culture as the Bhagavad-Gita, meaning that to be an educated
person in the twentieth century implies being aware of cultural
heritages other than one’s own.
Rather than a simple religious conflict as the mainstream Western
media, the Hindu fundamentalists, and the Indian government itself
presents the violence against Christians, there is much more than
meets the eye.
First, the attacks have been concentrated along the belt of
aboriginal tribespeople stretching across the middle of India, from
Bihar’s Chhota Nagpur plateau in the east to Gujarat in the west.
Mr. Steins had been working with aboriginal peoples in Orissa at
the southeastern end of this belt since 1965.
In Dangs district of Gujarat, at the epicenter of the current wave
of violence, the two major tribes are the Bhils and the Koknas. In
late pre-colonial times, the Bhils were hunter-gatherers who
received tribute from the Koknas who were agriculturists. Colonial
conquest uprooted these relationships as the British took away the
forests from the Bhils but left the agriculturists undisturbed as long
as they paid taxes.
Like other peoples who had their land taken away from them, the
Bhils led five unsuccessful revolts against colonial rule and felt
betrayed by the Koknas. After independence, the Koknas improved
their lot marginally as they sought opportunities through India’s
affirmative action policies to avail themselves of education and
government loans.
After the abolition of private contractors, Koknas also took control
of the forest cooperations. They also looked down upon the beef-
eating Bhils. In turn, the Bhils converted to Christianity to escape the
shackles of the caste-system and most of the converts in Dangs are
Bhils though more Koknas attend Church-run schools.
The numbers of Christians are so small though, that they do not form
a separate community and marital relations between Christians and
non-Christians are common. This also means that to the Bhils and
the Koknas, conversion does not mean renouncing their own culture
or tradition. The village headman of Galkund, the only Christian to
hold local office in Dangs, whose house was attacked last Christmas
had even been elected on a BJP ticket.
The incessant attacks on the Christians has had the effect then of
sharpening the boundaries of religion and ethnicity just as had
happened earlier in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Where people had once
lived cheek-by-jowl with members of different ethnic communities
and religious affiliations in amity, now there is the fear that your
neighbour might burn down your house and even kill you tomorrow.
By drawing the boundaries ever-sharper, the Hindu fundamentalists
pose a far greater threat to aboriginal culture and traditions than
Christian missionaries ever did. When the missionaries sometimes
asked converts not to contribute to village festivals since that would
be tantamount to supporting idol worship, they were often met with
a cold shoulder since village festivals were an essential part of local
culture. But when fundamentalists seek to draw a boundary
between "us" and the "Christians" they lay a template that forces a
uniform Hindu identity on the aboriginal people. Remember, many
Bhils are beef-eaters and that practice is anathema to orthodox
Hindus.
Drawing boundaries between Hindus and Christians also of course
erases other boundaries, most notably the boundary between the
poorer aboriginals and the money lenders and traders who are
invariably Hindus. It is no accident that the latter have
enthusiastically supported the fundamentalists.
It is this that lies behind the President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
("World Hindu Council"), Mr. Ashok Singhal’s tirade against Professor
Amartya Sen, this year’s Nobel laureate in economics. Prof. Sen’s
unobjectionable statement that education and illiteracy are major
causes of poverty was taken by Mr. Singhal to be a Christian
conspiracy to open more missionary-run educational institutions. Of
course, greater literacy and education among the aborignals would
mean a greater awareness of their exploitation at the hands of caste
Hindu traders and moneylenders.
It is true that foreign missionaries, like the American Protestant
missionaries, John and Florence Pittenger, who had gone to the
capital of the Dangs in 1904, had a head-start in setting up schools,
hospitals, and churches in remote and inaccessible areas. And
while their dedication and money helped them gain some
conversions, they had major successes only in the northeastern states
of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland where Hinduism had
only a tentative hold to begin with.
In most places, while people availed of their services, few converted
to Christianity. In contrast, the militant Hindu reconversion movements
while setting up schools also bring their deities and displace local
gods. They teach that aboriginal customs, rituals, and values are
"backward."
Along with the resurgence of violence, the militant Hindu reconversion
programme also has a sophisticated side. Some new Hindu
missionaries in the aboriginal belt have sought to accommodate the
indigenous people’s culture and do not preach vegetarianism. Others
seek to do away with caste differentiation and a former scion of a
petty royal family even personally washes the feet of aboriginals
who reconvert to Hinduism. Nevertheless, the consequence of
strengthening the divide between Hindu and non-Hindu is to submerge
the exploitative webs woven by Hindu moneylenders and traders to
entrap the aboriginal peoples while robbing them of their distinct
identity. The propagation of a unitary Hindu culture by the
fundamentalists is a greater threat to the culture of aboriginal peoples
than the activities of Christian missionaries.
12 Apr 1999
From: i e <stand-in@juno.com>
"I found (the controversy) strange, because there
are hundreds of movies made every year which
portray Hindu deities as fictional characters."
-- Professor Ravi Palat,
Auckland University, NZ
Technical Advisor in 'The Way'
Professor Ravi Palat, whose expertise in the Hindu
religion and lore was consulted in the Xena: Warrior
Princess episode, 'The Way' has written to me
agreeing to help us in our efforts to clear up the
confusion regarding this matter! Furthermore, he
said he would be more than happy to give interviews
explaining the fact that there are indeed hundreds of
films depicting characters from Hindu religion in
fictional contexts.
THIS is what I'm talking about guys. FACTS, FACTS,
FACTS, by expert witnesses and Dr. Palat's list of
credits are longer than your arm.
I'll keep you updated, but I've got information Professor
Palat is sending me to digest, and other phone calls and
letters to write and fax.
Stand-in
From: "Catherine M. Wilson" <cmwilson@wildestdreams.org>
http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9904/ET11-3569.html
This is from the Vaishnava News Organization.
It's in the "Letters from Readers."
A snippet:
Please offer my apology to Xena as I feel the silent majority does not
agree with the vocal minority. Hopefully she will not feel discouraged
to
consult with Vaishnavas for future programs to portray stories of
Krishna worldwide. I feel people of the world are intelligent enough to
do their research to see the good for the story portrayed and the
exposure to the story was in itself a positive experience.
It reminds me of a bumper sticker I once saw," Please GOD protect
me from your followers!"
Xenites Against Censorship Homepage at:
http://www.xenamedia.com/xac/
10 Apr 1999
From: i e <stand-in@juno.com>
I called the offices of Little India in hopes of talking
to Editor/Publisher, Achal Mehra. In case you haven't
read Mr. Mehra's piece, 'Spectacle Without Actors,'
I would strongly suggest you do so for it is written
with insight and clarity. I believe Mr. Mehra is a
Doctorate of Hindu Studies at a university in Pennsylvania.
I'm not sure, but I think I recall reading something to
that effect somewhere.
In any case here's some info about Little India, the online
publication:
Little India
Publisher/Editor Achal Mehra
1800 Oak Lane
Reading, PA 19604
PH: 610-396-0366
FAX: 610-396-0367
The article and link to the Little India Website...
http://www.littleindia.com/india/mar99/editoria.htm
In, Dr. Mehra's article, 'Spectacle Without Actors' he
mentions the recent outrage of Indian Hindus in
America against 'Xena the Warrior, who has
teamed up with Krishna in another dumb TV
adventure.' Don't let Mehra's characterization of
Xena as a 'dumb TV adventure' fool you. This man
can be a friend of great value, for if you read his
entire article he seems to say that the Hindu faction
that approached Renaissance Pictures was of the
same ilk as the Hindu chavinists who are regarded
as bigots and extremists in their OWN country, India
and the only reason they SEEM to carry such
weight in this country is that the majority of the
younger generation of American Hindus are apathetic
politically and religiously.
Such a view presented by an academic of Dr. Mehra's
standing of his own race's problems with acculturization,
religious, social and political turmoils gives us all an
insight into the causes responsible for the censorship of
'The Way.' And, Knowledge is Power.
If we can get statements and FACTS from an authority such
as Dr. Mehra showing that the Indian Hindu groups and
individuals who protested 'The Way' are connected to this
extremist movement mentioned by Dr. Mehra and that they
are NOT representative of the majority of Indian Hindus but
only a sham front for a small but belligerent and vocal
faction, then we have a case to present to the people
at Studios USA. It would give Rob Tapert a REASON to
issue the following:
"We the Producers of Xena: Warrior Princess, have
decided to reinstate into syndication the episode, 'The
Way' in light of new evidence revealing that the
original reasons for its removal were made falsely by
a group that misrepresented themselves to us."
And, THAT, my friends, is my objective.
Indeed, if we can conclusively show that Renaissance
Pictures and Studios USA were hoodwinked and bullied into
backing down and giving into the demands of a mob, then
there would be no choice for TPTB but to publicly reinstate
the episode to save face and thwart bad publicity. In fact,
they'd have to do it with indignation and pride!
Stand-in
From: "D W" <darkworrior@chickmail.com>
You know, the more I read Rob Tapert's
letter, the more I can actually picture him gritting his teeth while putting pen to paper. The dirty deed - destroy your own love project, and apologize profusely on your palms and knees to be forgiven for having created it.
This following article was also found at
the website I mentioned earlier, with the "Spectacle Without Actors" story, written by the editor and publisher of Little India, Achal Mehra. Although Achal Mehra seems to know the real deal, he, too, must concede and print drivel, as long as it keeps everybody happy and distracted.
About the editor (also from the website):
"The editor, Achal Mehra, Ph.D., is associate professor of communications at Albright College and editor of Little India, a monthly feature magazine targeted at the Asian Indian community in the United States. Dr. Mehra has authored or edited four previous books, including Free Flow Information (Greenwood Press), Press Systems in Asean, (AMIC, Singapore) Newspaper Management in the New Multimedia Age (AMIC, Singapore and UNESCO) and Communication Development and Human Rights (Institute for Social Studies, The Netherlands and AMIC, Singapore). He also edited Indians on the Net and Little India Business Directory 1998, which are also available from amazon.com"
Both articles, "Cannibal Warrior" and
"Spectacle" are at
http://www.littleindia.com under the link "Current Issue".
And, am I mistaken, or is that *the* Ravi Shankar, who is listed as a contributing
editor?
The overall message of the following
article may be construed as racist and mysogynist. Please be warned.
- - -
Xena: Cannibal Warrior
By Shekhar Deshpande
What could be so right about Xena that
feminists appreciate so much?
There has been a buzz lately about the
recent episodes of Xena in partnership
with Krishna. The buzz is not all that
unique, but it is likely that some of us
will get worked up over it. If we do, it
is legitimate. It is quite an exercise
seeing how popular culture appropriates
India in its representations. The real
question is: why do we need to wait for
this or another episode of Xena to see
how the appropriation of India is either
offensive or amusingly irritating for
thinking souls?
Xena, the Warrior Princess, is a show
that is a masterstroke (forgive us for
the male terminology but the point is not
entirely misplaced) of marketing that
combines sex and xenophobic view of
primitives, picking those things that
irritate the natives of all lands not
populated with White peoples. The show is
set in mythical times, over which the
West has had a very tenuous hold. Those
times always belonged to the primitive.
Oh, well then, Xena offers an inventory
of images, motifs, signs, icons and
symbols that is a true postmodern hybrid
from all cultures exotic.
There are women who wear a bindi (and now
Mehndi) popping up from cultures that
also have weapons found with the Vikings,
and then they have accents that are
uniquely from California or Florida. The
pure white skin gives no clue to clear
this up either. The same woman would be
an expert in some form of martial arts,
would scream in mono-lingual terms and,
don't forget, wear bear flesh as costume.
This last attribute is a stroke of genius
not lost in Hollywood. But it beats
Baywatch in its rush to consider women
with big breasts and skimpy costumes to
be gifted in skills related to acting and
all else.
It is not hard to figure out that Xena is
tailor-made for the male libido that does
not usually concern itself with critical
notions of colonialism or orientalism.
The exhibition of flesh is justifiable in
the sense that mythical characters in
these warm climates must have included
women with major bosoms and shiny white
skins. The plot offers an opportunity for
Xena and her vicious rivals, her pupils,
apprentices and the cadre in general, to
muscle around for an hour.
What is surprising about the xenophobic
Xena is that, apparently, it has a
sustained appeal for women, feminists and
lesbians alike. As readers of this column
are no doubt aware, I have great
appreciation for the political forms that
feminist expressions have brought about
in the last 20 years or so in film,
television and popular culture.
But the Xena phenomenon beats the
expectations of even the most ardent
political feminists. One hears how women
prepare shrines of Xena at their
workplace. The special magazine that
celebrates Xena to its fans always touts
the amazing take-charge capability of
Xena in adverse situations. Then, the
other day, at a gay and lesbian bookstore
in Philadelphia, there was a prominent
display of Xena and her family of icons.
What could be so right about Xena that
the political constituencies that one
would like to align oneself with are
appreciating so much?
The issue is deeper than simply saying
that popular culture offers all kinds of
things to all kinds of people. One would
think that politically conscious and
responsible people would be more
judicious in matters like this. Xena has
this can-do attitude in a matriarchal
world to sort out problems (including
those with men), and she also offers a
strong role model in assertiveness and
bold decision making. In a culture where
individual attributes, atomized away from
their contexts, are more valued than the
narratives where they work, what we do is
look at isolated virtues and ignore how
these virtues end up.
Thus, Xena's assertiveness ends up
beating a whole lot of undesirable
characters that have no resemblance to
any real life characters. To what end
does she use this power? To beat up on
mythic enemies which are mere creations
of the shared hallucinations! The most
alarming thing about Xena, therefore, is
that she has an appeal among women and
feminists who worship the virtues they
like to see while cannibalizing the world
cultures, making a mockery of juxtaposed
symbols and images that might mean
something to some people around the
world.
In such a world, Krishna appears in the
latest episodes in one of his new, hybrid
incarnations. He looks more like an
exotic god who has been travelling around
the world rather than one who emerged in
native imagination. What matters here is
that those who worship the show believe
that Xena is such a forceful and
entertaining role model that her cultural
appropriations are to be overlooked.
All of this makes sense, though, because
for feminists and the rest of us, this is
a fantasy, another in line of many; a
fantasy of the Western white culture that
packages exoticness, wrapping it up in
single selective attributes. Who really
cares if we cannibalize the world in the
name of this entertainment?
Little India is hosted and maintained by
ASANet.
- - -
DW
8 Apr 1999
From: Cleanthes <snelson@dockingbay.com>
Mrigendra das is a BIG FAN of XWP. Here's Mrigendra das's reaction to
`The Way` as reported on VNN:
"Only if someone thought that Krishna and Hanuman are dead could he or she
deny that Krishna can still fulfill the plaintive cry of his devotee. Even
though I am known to have a cold heart, I had tears in my eyes hearing Xena
pray to Krishna to save her friends, as I was thinking how Srila Prabhupada
must be so pleased to see that even "karmis" are producing quality
Television shows in which Krishna is glorified as "The Supreme Personality
of Godhood" [sic] and as "not like the other gods for He is in everyone's
heart." It would be good to send letters of thanks to Renaissance Pictures
and Universal Studios, for this one show did more positive "preaching" in
one hour than I think preachers have done in the past few years. -
Mrigendra das, Los Angeles, California"
The VNN site is NOT a fundamentalist place, but appears open to all
claiming Hindu views. Those Hindus who think as Mrigendra das does should
be applauded, not reported!
Cleanthes
Wilde: "I live in terror of not being misunderstood. Don't degrade me into
the position of giving you useful information."
From: "Arthur Chappell" <arthurchappell@clara.net>
The postings so far fail to spell out the obviou sfact that this is not a
mainstream Hindu group weare up against but a cult; a very specific one; as
The World Vaishanava Association is nothing more than a splinter group/front
for The International society For Krishna Consciousness, (ISKCON) popularly
known as The Hare Krishna Movement. Currently the cult is divided into two
feuding camps, it has been since the death of its founder, Prabupadha (they
refer to it as his departure,) and the vnn is one division of that schism.
They may be telling the world to ban the episode, The Way, but they are
copying and selling copies of it among their own follwers; possibly to show
them why it misrepresents their spiritual idol, Kryshna. There is a hint of
hypocrasy in that surely. Here is the mentionof it on their site.
March 3, 1999 VNN3225 See Related VNN Stories
http://www.vnn.org/news/xena.html
Xena - Krishna Video
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
BY MRIGENDRA DAS
USA, Mar 3 (VNN) - I have received several requests for copies of the video
that I made off of the TV of the Xena show that aired last Saturday with
Krishna featured, known as "The Way".
I will send copies of the good, but not great, quality tape for U.S.
addresses for $10, which includes the shipping.
Thank you and Hare Krishna!
Best wishes,
Mrigendra das
Harvey Mechanic, Attorney at Law
3755 Watseka Ave. #201
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Voice/Fax (310) 815-8936
Why not sign a few messages in their guest book (you may have to
subscribe which
means they may know who you are too). You could also contact ex-Kryhnas and
ex-cult members ites; there is a good one at www.trancenet/org/krishna/ I
am an ex-member of a cultmyself. My experiences in TheDivine light Mission
are displayed at http://www.arthurchappell.clara.net/xenacles.htm
I should at this stage advise Xena fans not to challenge ISKCON VNN
members directly; they are extremely hostile to fierce criticism by
outsiders. If you wish to learn more aboutthem consult ex members and
ex-cultists in general. Most hindues do not appreciate ISKCON
Do keep in mind that this kind of issue can get dangerous. Seek
advise if you want to do anything more than post your views on the issue.
There are ex-member contacts who can help out, and cult-monitoring bodies
who can help to make such an act of censorship against Xena backfoire onthe
protagonists responsible. I hope people will use this kind of approach in
conjunction with leter writings, mailings to studio/distribution people, etc
and positive uses of the media. Rennaisance are in a quandarty that proves
that you don't have to be in a cult to be harmed or affected by one.
Cults are characterised by the following hallmarks - keep
this in mind. THE HALLMARKS OF A CULT
These were drafted by the American Cult Awareness Network, which has since
collapsed, but has now
been reopened by the Church Of Scientology, who use it to counter the very
purpose they claim to serve.
A cult need not show all twelve symptoms, but should show a significant
number of them to qualify as a
destructive cult.
1/ Cults are often characterised by a leader who claims divinity or a
special mission delegated to him/her
by a supreme power. 2/. The leader or founder (usually living) demands
absolute, unquestioning
obedience and is the sole judge of a member's faith and commitment. 3/.
Members are preoccupied with
fund-raising, recruitment and attending seminars. 4/. Meaningful
communication with family, home and
former friends may be sharply curtailed, and the cult becomes the convert's
new family. 5/. Indoctrinated
members put goals of the cult ahead of individual concerns, interests,
educational plans, career and health.
6/. Many cults systematically employ sophisticated techniques designed to
affect ego-destruction, thought
reform and dependence on the cult. 7/. Established members are often
guarded, vague, deceptive or
secretive about beliefs, goals, demands and activities until the recruit is
'hooked'. 8/. The cult may
maintain members in a heightened state of suggestibility through lack of
sleep, engineered diet, intense
spiritual exercises, repetitive indoctrination, and controlled group
experiences. 9/. Converts may display
symptoms of extreme tension, stress, fear, guilt, lack of humour, regression
in communication skills and
critical judgement. 10/. Cults often encourage exclusivity and isolation.
Some may use the excuse that all
outside the cult is evil or satanic. 11/. The cult may be found to be
exploiting its members' finances. 12/.
Some groups exploit members through unpaid employment and poor working
conditions.
Sorry for such a long mailing. I hope some good will come of
all this for us and for our friends at Rennaisance.
I thought you all might be interested in this return post I received from Francis, who is evidently the editor@vina.com. VINA is one of the Hindu organizations I cc'd. a copy of the letter I sent to my local affiliate. My letter is available for reading on the Nutbread Home Page <http://www.nutbread.com>
From Editor@VINA.com:
Hello, thanks for your letter. After reading about the organizations
involved with the Xena protest, it seems that it is not one small
group but over 100 international organizations upset which is about
100 billion Hindus (one out of 5 people on this earth is hindu).
thanks. Francis
Becky Calvert
Commander in Chief
SSPA/NBB
<