Bollywood Satirized
The digital portfolio, Bollywood Satirized, is a critical commentary on
the societal expectations that I experienced as a woman growing up in
India. To create this work, I start with Indian movie posters, a
reflection of the popular culture and the melodrama of Indian
life. The visual and aural presence of cinema in India is the
result of the largest commercial film industry in the world that
produces over eight hundred movies a year and reaches approximately 3.5
billion people. Most of the 2 billion dollar industry is concentrated
in Bombay, (now called Mumbai) which is also called "Bollywood".
Using digital technology to alter the Indian movie posters, I
re-interpret the images to make blatantly satirical commentary and
humorously challenge traditional gender roles and behavior in Indian
society based on my experiences. The final images include myself,
other imagery and text from other sources. As Helen Harrison of
the New York Times wrote "Annu Palakunnathu Matthew's manipulations of
Indian movie posters change commercial stereotypes into indictments of
oppression and violence against women.” Also, Christiane Paul, curator
of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art wrote “Annu
Palakunnathu Matthew’s work focuses on the politics of gender and race.
The posters use the traditional visual language of the movie industry’s
‘dream factory’. Inscribed with text that draws attention to gender and
cultural stereotypes as well as nuclear politics, Matthew’s posters
deconstruct the creation of message and context through visual images.”
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