{"id":4304,"date":"2009-02-19T15:52:01","date_gmt":"2009-02-19T10:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indiauncut.com\/?p=3283"},"modified":"2009-02-19T15:52:01","modified_gmt":"2009-02-19T10:22:01","slug":"operation-flood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/operation-flood\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Flood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s an SMS I’ve received a few times in the last couple of days:<\/p>\n

\n

Help Operation Flood! This Friday Oscar nominated gay film Milk<\/i> is releasing (with NO cuts) in Mumbai & Pune. Only if it does OK here will it get national release. Please pack theatres with friends & family to help Milk<\/i> send a strong signal for tolerance and gay rights. Please forward this to friends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I was planning to watch the film anyway this weekend, and I hope it does get a national release. But I wonder why the author of the message chose to call Milk<\/i> a “gay film.” I would have thought there should be no such thing as a “gay film”, just as there’s nothing called a “straight film” or a “left-hander’s film” (if a film stars left-handers). I loved Brokeback Mountain<\/i> because it was such a beautifully told love story, and the fact that its protagonists were gay is just detail. Equally, I enjoyed My Brother Nikhil<\/i>, which, to its credit, unlike most other Indian films, showed its gay characters and their relationships as something utterly normal, requiring no explanation. I don’t think either of these films deserved to be slotted into a “gay film” pigeonhole, as if they are about gay people alone, and there is something there that the rest of us don’t get. If Milk<\/i> is a well-made film, which by all accounts it is, I’m sure I’ll feel enough empathy with Harvey Milk, and enjoy the movie—I don’t need to be gay for that.<\/p>\n

Anyway, when I saw the first of these SMSs, I thought of starting another chain SMS that began with the words, “Help Operation Barber.” But I’m too old for such frivolity now, so there it goes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s an SMS I’ve received a few times in the last couple of days:<\/p>\n

\n

Help Operation Flood! This Friday Oscar nominated gay film Milk<\/i> is releasing (with NO cuts) in Mumbai & Pune. Only if it does OK here will it get national release. Please pack theatres with friends & family to help Milk<\/i> send a strong signal for tolerance and gay rights. Please forward this to friends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I was planning to watch the film anyway this weekend, and I hope it does get a national release. But I wonder why the author of the message chose to call Milk<\/i> a “gay film.” I would have thought there should be no such thing as a “gay film”, just as there’s nothing called a “straight film” or a “left-hander’s film” (if a film stars left-handers). I loved Brokeback Mountain<\/i> because it was such a beautifully told love story, and the fact that its protagonists were gay is just detail. Equally, I enjoyed My Brother Nikhil<\/i>, which, to its credit, unlike most other Indian films, showed its gay characters and their relationships as something utterly normal, requiring no explanation. I don’t think either of these films deserved to be slotted into a “gay film” pigeonhole, as if they are about gay people alone, and there is something there that the rest of us don’t get. If Milk<\/i> is a well-made film, which by all accounts it is, I’m sure I’ll feel enough empathy with Harvey Milk, and enjoy the movie—I don’t need to be gay for that.<\/p>\n

Anyway, when I saw the first of these SMSs, I thought of starting another chain SMS that began with the words, “Help Operation Barber.” But I’m too old for such frivolity now, so there it goes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,23],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nOperation Flood - India Uncut<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/operation-flood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Operation Flood - India Uncut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here’s an SMS I’ve received a few times in the last couple of days: Help Operation Flood! 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I don’t think either of these films deserved to be slotted into a “gay film” pigeonhole, as if they are about gay people alone, and there is something there that the rest of us don’t get. If Milk is a well-made film, which by all accounts it is, I’m sure I’ll feel enough empathy with Harvey Milk, and enjoy the movie—I don’t need to be gay for that. 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