Middle-class Pakistani cultural life is what I've seen, what I know - they're not all screaming faceless mullahs. It's disturbing that in American films, the character on the other side is not even named.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the misrepresentation of Pakistani culture in American films, emphasizing diversity beyond stereotypes.
Mira Nair's quote critiques the portrayal of Pakistanis in American cinema, suggesting that the nuanced and rich cultural life of the middle-class is often overlooked and replaced with a monolithic representation of 'faceless mullahs'. She points out that this simplistic view is not only inaccurate but also disturbing, as it negates the individuality and complexity of the characters that could be represented, thereby exemplifying a deeper issue of cultural misunderstanding in media.
In practice
In a discussion on cultural representation in media.
It gave me a lot of pleasure and pride that 90 percent of the crew for 'Monsoon Wedding,' and most of my film, are women. We get the work done, you know, much lesser play of ego... And I really believe in harmony, I believe in working in a spirit of egolessness and that the film is bigger than all of us.
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