Protests against Richard Gere kissing Shilpa at a public event
At ‘Seena Taan Ke’, an AIDS awareness function organised in Delhi on Sunday to bring about AIDS awarenewss among truckdrivers, dizzy looking Hollywood actor Richard Gere, to make it clear that HIV can’t be passed on through a kiss, kissed first Shilpa Shetty’s hand, then hugged her, kissed her cheek, and finally bent over the surprised actress to give her a big kiss, Hollywood-style.While Shetty laughed it off with a poised ‘yeh thoda zyaada ho gaya’ (’this was a bit much’) to the truckdrivers, fans of the actress have expressed their ire over Hollywood actor kissing her at public event.
“It is vulgar. These things may happen in foreign countries, but not in India. He should apologise to Shilpa and the rest of the country as well,†said one of the fans.
4 Responses to “Protests against Richard Gere kissing Shilpa at a public event”
For a society that has been deeply damaged by colonialism can one think of a more offensive image of a white guy grabbing a daughter of India and forcing himself upon her? It is so symbolic. It is right in line with the image of the white colonist forcing himself upon a country and just taking whatever he wants.
Richard Gere should pay the ultimate price for this.
What bothers me however is those who would blame Shilpa Shetty for this.
Too often women victims of rape in India are blamed for what happened like they wanted the rape to happen or it was their fault the rape happened even when the truth might be that the rapists brutalized them and they couldn’t stop the rape from happening.
While of course Richard Gere didn’t actually rape Shilpa Shetty, I still see this whole “Blame the Woman Victim” dynamic in place. From what I saw from the video Shilpa Shetty did nothing to cause Richard Gere to act the way he did, and was in fact as shocked as everyone else was that he would act in such a disgraceful manner.
We need to defend this daughter of India, not blame her for this white man’s assault upon her.Despite what people may thibk about this issue I think this is a classic case of a mountain made out of a molehill. I also think that Mr. Gere would have to apologise for his misconduct. But i think burning pictures of her is a bit over-rated. There are a lot more worse things that have happened.
Not that I’m pointing fingers, but some actresses have done an on-screen lip-lock kiss, but have the public burnt pictures of them? NO!
Just because it was in front a camera and a movie does not make it any less real or decent. If those two were being condemned for a harmless kiss on the cheek, then I think we should condemn all the other actors/actresses who have kissed or something similar.
Just because he is white i think that it is wrong to judge him otherwise. I think his work to support our people should be considered before people make brash desicions.
Shilpa Shetty had kicked off a controversy a few months ago when Hollywood star Richard Gere kissed her in public at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi.The incident triggered protests, and some people filed cases against her in various courts of the country. Where most of the complainants backed out, a court in Alwar district of Rajasthan issued a ‘look-out notice’ for Shilpa at various airports. The notice said that the actress shouldn’t be allowed to leave the country till the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty case was over. Shilpa appealed to the Supreme Court against this order which ruled out this judgement giving her permission to travel abroad
Richard Gere should pay the ultimate price for this.
What bothers me however is those who would blame Shilpa Shetty for this.
Too often women victims of rape in India are blamed for what happened like they wanted the rape to happen or it was their fault the rape happened even when the truth might be that the rapists brutalized them and they couldn’t stop the rape from happening.
While of course Richard Gere didn’t actually rape Shilpa Shetty, I still see this whole “Blame the Woman Victim” dynamic in place. From what I saw from the video Shilpa Shetty did nothing to cause Richard Gere to act the way he did, and was in fact as shocked as everyone else was that he would act in such a disgraceful manner.
Not that I’m pointing fingers, but some actresses have done an on-screen lip-lock kiss, but have the public burnt pictures of them? NO!
Just because it was in front a camera and a movie does not make it any less real or decent. If those two were being condemned for a harmless kiss on the cheek, then I think we should condemn all the other actors/actresses who have kissed or something similar.
Just because he is white i think that it is wrong to judge him otherwise. I think his work to support our people should be considered before people make brash desicions.
Shilpa Shetty had kicked off a controversy a few months ago when Hollywood star Richard Gere kissed her in public at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi.The incident triggered protests, and some people filed cases against her in various courts of the country. Where most of the complainants backed out, a court in Alwar district of Rajasthan issued a ‘look-out notice’ for Shilpa at various airports. The notice said that the actress shouldn’t be allowed to leave the country till the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty case was over. Shilpa appealed to the Supreme Court against this order which ruled out this judgement giving her permission to travel abroad
