Natalie Portman–along with beau Devendra Banhart–star in his music video “Carmensita,” heavily inspired from Mahabharata and Ramayana, classic Indian Epics–some of the oldest in the world. I think they did a good job with the art direction and some of the captions are pretty funny, but I’m not sure if I love it or if I’m highly offended by it. I try to not to be too sensitive about these things, but if someone made this video about Christians, Muslims, or Jews, people would be throwing a fit and be up in arms about it. But since it depicts Indian Hindu history and folklore, we’re all supposed to find it entertaining and funny. I actually like the song and I enjoy the colors and corny acting in the video, but I’m not sure if I’m totally comfortable with the subject matter. More than anything else, I’m worried about how people who don’t know anything about Indian/Hindu culture might interpret it. I’m sure Devendra had good intentions making the video–he was named after an Indian mystic whom his parents followed, so he must be genuinely interested in Indian culture (Plus, he’s a total hippie. Don’t hippies love everyone?).

Living in a country riddled with pockets of cultural ignorance makes me slightly worried…if Obama is accused of partaking in “terrorist fist jabs” for merely giving his wife a friendly pound, what will the people think of this video? Hinduism is pretty hard for the Western mind to comprehend (many still think we worship a pantheon of mythological beings with 6 heads and 10 arms, eat insects a la Indiana Jones, worship idols, think cows are sacred, etc.). The weirdest part of the whole thing is Natalie Portman (a.k.a. Natalie Hershlag) is one of the most P.C. actresses out there, so this does seem a bit out of character for her.

Am I being overly concerned here? Or is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? See the video for yourself.

P.S. One extra thing I must point out:

• Is Devendra aware that his pubes are showing throughout the entire video?

I guess I must accept the fact that Bollywood is all the rage right now, PC or not. If you’re interested in the REAL Mahabharata (keep in mind these were made in the early 80s), check out the video below.

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