Allegedlyproblematic
Allegedlyproblematic News
All the problematic movie tropes that play out on the big screen, and why we can't get enough of them
Conquering racism through team sports? Thug lyf movies? Bring it on.
Problematic movie tropes and where to find them: Here's where to get your dose of manchild films and more
It’s that kind of time again y’all! Time to feel self-righteous and fabulous as we point fingers at various items and say, hey! That thing is so mean you guys!
From 'White Saviour' to 'Poor People Who Work Hard and Get Rich', there's no end to these problematic movie tropes
Rightly or wrongly, I would like to continue sharing with you some of my go-to favourites when it comes to problematic movie enjoyment. I am so sorry fam.
A brief and highly subjective rating of the common problematic tropes you'll encounter in pop culture offerings
There are certain kinds of problematic cinema which will make me cringe or say ‘tut-tut’ in a marked manner. But I definitely keep watching, fam.
Revisiting Chinna Tambi: Every problematic trope in the 1991 Prabhu-Khushboo starrer
Chinna Thambi is about a wealthy young woman who falls in love with a poor, simple young man. Is it really though?
Allegedly Problematic: 30 years later, revisiting the Prabhu-Khushbu starrer Chinna Thambi
I don’t know if you have ever experienced the sensation of being part of a community that is collectively falling in one-side-love with something. This is what happened between our town and the movie Chinna Thambi.
As Minnale nears its 20th anniversary, revisiting the good, bad and problematic of Gautham Menon's film
Minnale goes from relatively harmless, goofy rom-com to a story about dudes engaging in rather alarming behaviour.
20 years of Minnale: How does the Madhavan-Reema-Abbas romance hold up in a more woke era?
Minnale, which released on 2 February 2001, seemed to be one of those progressive, liberal movies that were just a hop, skip and jump away from being an outright feminist treatise in English.
Allegedly Problematic: The feminist analysis of Ramarajan's Paattukku Naan Adimai no one asked for
One of my favourite kinds of Tamil cinema is the heavy-handed, predictable and alarmingly dramatic kind with aggressive songs, precise, staccato dishum-dishum sounds and wounds that look like smears of ketchup. Paattukku Naan Adimai was one of those movies.
Revisiting Ramarajan's 1990 film Paattukku Naan Adimai: Of village heroes and small-town favourites
Paattukku Naan Adimai was released in 1990 and stars Khushboo, Rekha and Disco Shanthi, which means there will be an item number. Which is awesome. Which is also probably problematic to say.
Revisiting Singaravelan: Nine thoughts on watching '90s Kamal Haasan-starrer
Singaravelan was released in 1992, a time when in our little corner of the world, the only options for entertainment were the non-AC cinema theatres and hanging out at the railway station. If you were a dude, I mean. If you were not a dude, lol.
Singaravelan: Was Kamal Haasan's 1992 film swashbuckling bucket of family fun, or sexist stalking saga?
Singaravelan was released in 1992, a time when in our little corner of the world, the only options for entertainment were the non-AC cinema theatres and hanging out at the railway station. If you were a dude, I mean. If you were not a dude, lol.
Monisha En Monalisa was labelled among Tamil cinema's lowest points. So I rewatched the film in 2020
I wanted to watch Monisha En Monalisa because I remembered it from my youth and I wanted to assess its problematic-ness in the clarity of adulthood. This proved to be a little tricky because problematics aside, this is a really, really bad movie.
On loving problematic Tamil cinema, and where 1999's Monisha En Monalisa fits on that spectrum
In this column, we'll be assessing the alleged problematic-ness of a movie called Monisha En Monalisa. Those who are familiar with the oeuvre of T Rajendran and remember this one may be saying, oh my God why in the actual everloving heck.
India Syndrome: What you get when you fetishise a country and its culture while subscribing to stereotypes
No one wants to hear that their country and culture, as a whole, is responsible for deranging people when they come for a visit.
Mythical or mystical? Revisiting India Syndrome, which afflicts well-meaning, spirituality-seeking Westerners
India Syndrome is defined as the delusional behaviour which “hits people from developed Western countries who are looking for a cultural space that is pure and exotic, where real values have been preserved”.
The Love Guru: Racism of Mike Myers' 2008 film is just one sparkling gem in its diadem of problematic-ness
We’ve covered some pretty God-awful films in this column and even otherwise, I have watched some really, really bad movies in my lifetime. The Love Guru managed to stand out among all of these as a truly horrific feat of cinematic putrescence. | Kuzhali Manickavel writes
Allegedly Problematic: Mike Myers' 2008 film The Love Guru shows us that white dudes really can do anything
If I were to categorise The Love Guru, I think it would come under ‘white-dude-makes-movie-about-India/Indian-things- without-knowing-anything-about-these-things’. This is an extremely popular genre among white dudes. | Kuzhali Manickavel writes
Basmati Blues: Brie Larson-starrer is particularly befuddling in an era when we are supposed to know better
In this gilded age of internets and computers and the burdensome necessity of being woke, we have in Basmati Blues a movie where the happy Indian villagers proudly live up to the stereotype of being happy Indian villagers and nothing else | Kuzhali Manickavel writes
Basmati Blues: 'Just how did this get made?' and other thoughts, on watching Brie Larson-starrer
'I was, of course, scared to watch Basmati Blues,' writes Kuzhali Manickavel. 'While one sort of knows what to expect from racism from the 1800s or the 1980s, the mind boggles to consider what the new millennium will offer: is this going to be about white people coming to save the Indians except there’s internet? Do the Indians need saving because they are Indians, even though they have cell phones? Is India going to scare the woke white person, like it usually does? Why does India do that anyway? And is it racist for a country to be scary to white people?'