Three hours after the Coldplay music video “Hymn for the Weekend” dropped, I started getting texts from friends asking if I had seen it yet. I knew that is probably had something to do with India, because why else would they want me to watch it? So immediately I hopped on the Internet to see what the big deal was and streamed the four minute and twenty-one second video. And then I played it again and again and again. I went around the house showing everyone in my family because I was overjoyed. The video is phenomenal. It shows the most incredible sides of Indian culture, which makes me incredibly proud and want to scream out "Jai Hind!" every time the camera changes scenes. For the longest time, the only idea that the western world had of India came from the film "Slumdog Millionaire," which only shows poverty in India, but now, there is this unbelievable, brief motion picture that acknowledges that there is so much more depth to the country.
Of course the cultural appropriation issue was going to come up. Chris Martin was completely immersed in the Indian culture and he took you on this touristy journey through Mumbai, India (the same place "Slumdog Millionaire" was filmed) trying to illuminate how sensational the sights and people of India are. He was in no way borrowing Indian culture unethically but instead celebrating it. You see kids playing Holi in the streets and Bharatanatyam dancers on a rooftop and pundits praying in a stone temple. This is really what India is like. Beyoncé’s role is a little trickier to accept because she is in front of a green screen the whole time wearing an exposing variation of a traditional Indian outfit. I can see how this can be considered appropriation but it really is not that bad. Two Indian fashion designers produced the hand-embroidered dress specifically for this video. Although it would have been fantastic to see her interacting with India, it was still tastefully done for the most part. (Far better than the "Lean On" music video by Major Lazor & DJ Snake, just saying).
The song "Hymn for The Weekend" is affable and electric at the same time, and the video is exquisite. Appreciating the culture and using it as inspiration is not a bad thing; in fact, it ends up creating more diversity in the things we see and hear. Not everything should be labeled as cultural appropriation, because otherwise we will end up in an all white world where people are too afraid to experience anything beyond themselves.
