Cultural Etiquette: Selena Gomez's Faux Pas

Culture is always a sensitive topic. For certain people culture is something to be protected, to take pride in, and to protect fiercely. For others culture is just a word, and not really an important construct in their lives. But for those who feel strongly about their culture or about protecting the sanctity of other cultures, this sensitive topic can spur a big reaction. Recently one such disturbance occurred in reaction to the newest Selena Gomez video and performance.

I will make the assumption that because of the snippets of what sounds like Indian music in the background of this Disney star’s newest single "Come and Get It" she (and whoever manages her) decided to create an India-inspired music video and MTV Movie Awards performance. During the performance Gomez wore a bindi, an Indian religious and cultural body decoration, while singing what could be considered another ubiquitously trashy, but semi-catchy, pop song. The officials at the Universal Society of Hinduism have called for Gomez to come out with an apology, calling the performance "insensitive." The music video for the song also featured some "Indian-ish" dancing. It also features some men, who I assume are supposed to be where the Indian back-ground singing is from, playing the drums in the various camera angles of Selena dancing. Though I agree that this is a poor and somewhat disrespectful imitation of a beautiful culture, I don’t believe that it warrants such a disdainful reaction.

The music video is fairly tasteless, cutting between shots of her swirling a blue dress in a field of flowers, stroking an unidentified man’s face, and dancing against a mirror. However, I don’t see the great harm in it. Selena and her producers have butchered the Indian culture so much for this video that if I hadn’t been looking for it, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed that it was meant to have a theme inspired by another culture. I don’t see the significance in becoming upset at someone that has so misrepresented a culture that it bears almost no resemblance to the culture they were trying to portray. The fact that she wore a bindi while performing a meaningless pop song at the MTV Movie Awards is a bit more of a gray area. I understand how her dance was an insensitive way to treat a religious symbol, but I believe that it was an act more of ignorance than of disrespect.

However, I also believe this issue transcends Selena Gomez and the frivolous and ultimately meaningless music videos she creates. Gomez and her producers borrowed from another culture just to add a new twist to what would otherwise be a repetitive song. To them these dances, drummers, and traditional clothing weren’t really symbolic of anything, but rather were just props to be used for their own purposes. The question, however, remains: is it okay to borrow from a culture that is not your own for something so meaningless?

Though many would disagree, I say it’s fine. Even though this portrayal of culture was misguided, it did not appear to be malicious or really harmful. It wasn’t, in my opinion, meant to mock, so why should it be such a big deal? Culture isn’t something that can be withheld from other people; it has to be shared with different types of people so that ignorance like that of Selena Gomez can be dispelled. Telling another person they can’t use symbols of a culture that are not their own may seem like protecting something that is sacred but it is also hoarding something that should be open for everyone to experience. The ability to adopt and practice cultures different from the one you were born in is what makes environments like Exeter so successful in cultivating well-rounded people. Even though there can be misinterpretation and misrepresentation, the stupidity and mistakes of one person who happens to be in the public eye should not reflect badly on anyone who has adopted the practices of culture that is not theirs by birth. Even Selena Gomez herself doesn’t deserve to be attacked for this careless mistake. In a world where the lines of individual cultures are becoming increasingly blurred, it is hard to tell what is socially acceptable to adopt or what will anger people.