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A critique on Missisipi Massala
Based on a forbidden love, Mississippi Massala is a film that deals with the reoccurring issue of interracial relationships. The twist in this movie is that the two main characters, Demetrius and Mina, were both minorities- he was African American and she was Indian. Throughout the plot Mina becomes a woman and learns to stand up for what she believes in. Over all I think that it was a good movie considering the plot, the characters and other details.
The plot of the movie was well done. It developed gradually at the beginning like any plot should and slowly worked its way throughout the course of the movie. Most of the events shown were relevant to the plot except for the scenes of Mina’s cousin attempting to consume his marriage with his wife, but I didn’t think that they were completely unnecessary because they brought humor to the movie and that is necessary when topics as serious as interracial relationships are concerned. Other scenes allowed the audience to gain an understanding of Mina’s family and the Indian culture such as the wedding that allowed us to understand the pressures in Indian culture to marry within your culture. The beginning of the plot, Mina’s car accident with Demetrius and her later reaquantaince with him at the dance club were coincidental, but after that these two characters control the development of the relationship. The discovery of her trip with Demetrius, however, was completely a coincidence and one not well liked by Mina. I think that there was a good mix of coincidence and deliberate actions in the movie; this keeps the viewer excited, but also on their toes.
There was a wide spectrum of distinct characters in the movie. The main distinction was that of race and culture. The people lived in the same place, Mississippi, and got along well with each other until their children got, “mixed up, “ with each other. The Indian wedding scene and the dinner at Demetrius’ house were scenes, which provided the opportunity for the audience to get a taste of the different cultures involved. You saw the beautiful traditional clothes that the Indian women wore and you saw the delicious food that the African Americans ate. Her father’s experience in Uganda with his old friend and how he was literally kicked out of his home by the black people there also did not help matters. The music in the movie also reflected the cultures such as that played in the last scene of Uganda that played in the wedding and the Sunday dinner. Later in the movie you also see the common judgment that many within both cultures had about interracial relationships.
Characters were also distinct in opinions and values. Mina, for example really differed from her parents idea about what she should do in her life; her father wanted her to go to college and who could blame him and her mother wanted [next page]