Mother India v. Fire + Shakespeare comparison - Chris Prowant

            First something I noticed in the film that I wanted to talk about. In Fire the servant I found to be a very interesting character to look at, not because he was extremely creepy and horrible, but because I could relate him to another character in literature. The character was from Shakespeare's play Othello and his name was Iago. A brief understanding of Iago, he was very manipulative and would turn those around him against each other to get what he wanted. He and the servant are very similar because the servant almost talks to the camera like Iago would, they both pretend to be sub servant of those around them, but once everyone leaves they do as they will. The most interesting connection is that near the end of fire the servant whispers doubt in Ashok's ear, which then leads to him finding Radha and Sita, just like in the play Othello when Iago whispers doubts in Othello's ear. I just found this an interesting connection, because it helps us perhaps get a better understand of the servant and what his role is in the film.

            I thought both films, Mother India and Fire, were both different yet amazing looks into India as a country. Because to be honest they were both made by Indian film makers, which shows us that in India, as like America, they have two different view points. In Mother India It takes the stand that women are powerful, but they know their place in the society. It very much Bollywoods it to make it seem amazing or at least good to be a woman in India. And with respect to that film and some of the interviews we saw, some women their do believe in this. However, when looking at Fire we get a completely different view. It shows that women do not like how their being treated and as Sita says in the film they "...have a button marked tradition and whenever its pressed we can't help but act." This I find very interesting because it shows that perhaps these women, maybe all of them, feel this way, but since they were raised this way it made them become subordinate to men. Hopefully this film and others after it will help India give women more rights, so they can be treated equally.