The disgusting editorial in a US magazine about the Priyanka-Nick wedding reeks of racist bias
It is shameful that a New York-based magazine for women’s rights would run a sexist and racist article about our own Priyanka Chopra, implying she married American singing star Nick Jonas “fraudulently” and was a “scam artist” faking a marriage to make money out of the couple branding. Though the magazine, The Cut, has pulled out the article following massive outrage and criticism, it clearly shows that when it comes to an India story, the Western press still tries to squeeze it through its lens, speculation and innuendos to suit an archetype rather than accord it the treatment it deserves. And it is surprising that the Western media persists with this bias despite the many success stories from India in mainland America, even when the likes of Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai helm two of the biggest corporations like Microsoft and Google. But perhaps Priyanka’s South Asian assertion in Hollywood had challenged the exotic stereotypes that other senior Indian actors had subscribed to and enacted quietly for so long. She wanted to be mainstream and even though a huge Bollywood star in her own right, had no inhibition in starting out in Hollywood as a newbie in a TV series but as an all-American character. The show, while giving ABC diversity points, also made Priyanka a star, one who could be banked upon to sell franchise films like Baywatch, where she again played an American character instead of a predictable Indian one. Then there were the brand endorsements and PR galas which the former Miss World was trained enough to handle. Today she is a prolific speaker, a Unicef ambassador, a global icon, a film producer and a smart tech investor, roles she has assiduously crafted on her terms with her South Asian identity intact. She did what nobody from Bollywood did, own Hollywood than feed on handouts and change the narrative, one that has now compelled Apu in the cartoon hit The Simpsons to be taken off rather than being depicted as a “curry nerd.” It is this itch that found expression in The Cut, which put together assumptions without even attempting to back them up with evidence. Certainly, such a piece would not be written if Nick Jonas had married a fellow Caucasian. But him donning Sabyasachi as the groom and she wearing a custom-made Ralph Lauren disrupted the train of prevalent thought, that Bollywood-Hollywood could be equalised and a cross-cultural wedding would be top draw.
As for branded weddings — the writer calling it a smart plug for Tiffany’s, Amazon and Google — may we remind that the idea of selling wedding ceremonies and pictures germinated in Hollywood. So much so that even personal events of a star are now commodified. Priyanka and Nick are only using the same template. As for her choice of Nick as a partner, truth be told. She has enough brand worth to sustain herself irrespective of him, she could have found a better Hollywood “target” as is being alleged and Nick is no lamb to the slaughter, having had a slew of relationships with older women before Priyanka. Besides, he may be a singer of some following but can we deny that he benefitted from this alliance as much given Priyanka’s huge fan base, enhancing his chances of monetising hits and appearances? The celebrity economy runs for what it is but to single out Priyanka is not only unfair but an uneducated rant at best.
