What? Bollywood? How Do You Even Spell That?
This week “So You Think You Can Dance” trotted out its latest ill-conceived Bollywood number. This time it featured all-star Kathryn McCormick and current contestant Jose “Full Deck” Ruiz (who uttered the title questions when his dance assignment was revealed). I wasn’t sure if Jose’s breakdancing background would make this piece easier or more difficult to pick up, but you can judge the results for yourself:
The dancing itself is passable, but nothing great (at least with Jose). What really bothered me were the ridiculous costumes and motif and the judges’ reactions.
Let’s start with those costumes. As my friend Sandhya exclaimed over email during the show, “SERIOUSLY, GENIE IN A BOTTLE???!!!?!???” The portrayal of South Asians as genies in a bottle, along with the stupid “I Dream of Jeannie“/Aladdin costumes, were enough to ruin whatever positives might come from a mainstream show featuring an aspect of desi culture. If this truly is “the Indian-American decade,” some people desperately need to catch up and ditch those age-old stereotypes.
Then there were the judges. Ah, the judges. So often encouraging and constructive in their critiques, but just as often awkwardly inarticulate. In this case, they were just dumb. They ripped Billy for his unconvincing krumping, Alex for his not-smoldering-enough Fosse, and Kent and Ashley for not emoting enough–even though they all neared technical perfection–but gave a pass to Jose for his technically incompetent Bollywood dance because he was “having fun.” It might have been the most blatant double standard I’ve ever seen on reality TV, and I’ve watched every season of “Top Chef.”
If they really want to be able to judge technique, why not tackle a classical South Asian dance form like Bharatanatyam or Kathak–or even Bhangra, which many people don’t realize is quite challenging when done correctly?
