Mira Nair's Sympathy Films

In my artistic practice I am particularly inspired by how aspects of social and cultural ideology affects the viewers. I believe the way the viewer is shaped by these factors is important in creating a piece of sympathetic artwork. Because the most powerful type of artwork is work  that is able to inspire sympathy in viewers and allow for the exchange of social and cultural information. It is in this type of exchange that a sense of unity in the community of humanity is established and maintained.  

            A sense of community is important in exorcising intolerance. This is not only important in traditional artwork such as painting, sculpting, or printmaking but is even more influential in popular-media mediums such as film. Films are relatively easy to obtain and do not require a lot of previous knowledge to watch. This makes them a powerful medium in contemporary society to relay sympathetic information.  

            I was fascinated by this inspirational sympathetic energy in relation to the films directed by Mira Nair.  Mira Nair’s films embody a substantial amount of diversity because they encompass the two largest cultural disparities: gender and race. I observed this trend in her films by noting the focus on feminism and Indian culture.  Nair puts a significant amount of emphasis around these two social and cultural factors. Giving Nair’s film a major sense of sympathetic energy.

            With an all female set of protagonist and emphasis on the fleeting fragility of a man’s love; a film such as “Hysterical Blindness” is an example of Nair’s film that focuses on the plight of woman and their empowerment. Similar to “Hysterical Blindness” is the short film “How Can It Be” featured in the motion picture “8.” The short film focuses attentions on the struggle of Indian woman. Nair portrays woman at a critical point in her life in which she must make a seemingly selfish decision. The Indian woman divorces her husband and leaves her son behind to be with the man she loves. The emotional friction created when woman leaves her husband and must explain to her son why she is leaving creates an emotional backlash that allows viewers a unique opportunity to be apart of the plight of a woman.

            The opportunity to experience the struggle of a woman is essential in facing misogyny in a community. Nair’s films provide a circumstance that favors woman to understand their complicated relationships regarding intimacy and infatuation. The ideas of intimacy and infatuation usually relating to the relationship of a male and female that ultimately has the capability to inspire insight within the audience.

            It is from this capability to produce insight that Nair’s films draw their authority. Nair is an Indian woman providing insight to others about woman and sometimes focusing specifically on woman in Indian culture. Allowing the viewer to be apart of a unique social and cultural niche that faces oppression in many places. Nair’s work allows viewers to acknowledge these issues woman are facing, and acknowledging the problem is the first step to changing it.