IMDB correpondences

I started surfing IMDB in my 3rd year when a junior told me aobut the site. After that almost all english movise I have watched only after having a look at rating and storyline of the movie on IMDB.
Sometimes i also take part in its forums where I must say really good discussions take place. For me forums of particular interest are forum on those indian films which are viewd widley in west and help in forming to a lrge extent perception of india among westerners. In one such forum on movie "water" I was lambasting director deepa mehta for making money out of ills of indian society and the I got a very balanced repy from one gentleman which i think every nationalist or every person who thinks that whole world is after his religion should read :)

Interesting that you should condemn someone for making a film about an oppressive tradition, particularly that you should condemn them for damaging the reputation of a people who continue the custom to some degree today, yet you fail to condemn the oppression itself. The argument that airing your culture's dirty laundry is unacceptable because outsiders will see it has been used by groups pushing hurtful policies throughout the world, it's not unique to India. If you're concerned about bigots, you ought to be informed that nothing positive shown to a bigot will change their mind, some bigots may point to this film and yammer about how Indians oppress widows, but anyone with a mind of their own will know them for what they are: bigots. This film did not have the budget of Seven Years in Tibet and could not afford to build massive sets, filming was pushed out of India, and viewings were refused in India. I suppose she should have included a lesbian sex scene to overcome these challenges?

Regardless your criticisms, much of the world was unaware of the abuses this film brought to light. As much as you might cringe from outsiders criticizing your culture, you seem to have no problem pointing fingers at others such as Islam. Perhaps we all need peer review.

Lastly, your age of philanthropy is a pipe dream mirrored by Luddites and religious zealots throughout the world, the song is always the same: before outsiders brought their influence here, we were a better people. There's no evidence to support this claim. In reality, the people of the past were like the people of today, neither more moral nor less. Like us, they strove to make ends meet. It's precisely that understanding that historical films give us, not their technical mastery of an era. When we see a film that portrays the suffering of others, part of us is supposed to realize that we are like them, both like the oppressed and the oppressor. We're not better, we're not worse, we're entirely capable of perpetuating the same system. When we try to silence discussion of the subject, or we make petty criticisms when our or our kins' efforts to thwart them have failed, we're taking the first step down a long path toward active participation in that behavior again.

Stop worrying about the reputation of your men, every people on earth have skeletons in their closets. If your men and women committed these acts, try to understand why. Don't whine at everyone else to stick their head in the sand because the messenger has imperfect grammar.