Blog #9 3/1/09

For the Bollywood text, I wanted to find something about the style of the movies that they/ that "area" makes, and the opinions of the movies from others. First off, we need to understand what Bollywood really means. The definition off of Wikipedia says, "Bollywood is only a part of the Indian film industry. It is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest in the world. However, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a physical place." I read an online article called "Bollywood/Hollywood" rarely succeeds at mingling styles. In this article, author Jolie Williamson, bashes the Bollywood film industry and how the movies are very predictable, and very disappointing. Also, it talks about how Bollywood films are not very good at mixing styles with American film, but that is what happens most of the time. The author seems to have a very biased view of Bollywood/Hollywood movies where the plots are predictable, with a clash of Westernized Indians and their traditional parents, as can be seen in many movies. Although the vast majority of Americans probably do find these movies not to their liking, I think the author is not true when she says, "American audiences don't appreciate what they view as the old-fashioned notion of musicals- that whole breaking into song thing." I personally disagree with her statement because many Americans actually do enjoy musicals and the, "whole breaking into song thing" since there happen to be many musicals across the Nation, for example, in Broadway. But, one thing I do have to agree on, is the fact that the plot of Bollywood movies are very predictable because they mainly have the same plot line! Just because Bollywood happens to be the largest film industry does not, in my opinion, give it an excuse for the bad acting it has. Even though the movie's are pure fun, the movies really don't require much skill for acting. This might be the point that the Author is trying to say, but, also that she does not like these movies in particular. Moreover, I enjoy Bollwood movies mixed with Hollywood aspects, but to a certain point, as does the Author. 

MLA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x.com