Sunday, May 3, 2015

Reflections on English Vinglish


Bianca Quintanilla
May 3, 2015
More than a Ladoo Maker
     While watching English Vinglish, I was struck by the shots of Shashi’s elegant, feminine hands molding each ladoo. The shots of Shashi’s hands serve as a placeholder for Shashi’s self- esteem. The interactions surrounding the first shot of Shashi molding ladoos portray her hurt feelings resulting from her family’s jabs at her inferior English. The interactions surrounding the last shot of her cooking ladoos, however, marks the growth of her self-esteem as she learns English. Thus, English Vinglish suggests that increasing one’s sense of self-worth can come from mastering a skill, such as speaking another language, that is not gendered and valuable for anyone to possess.
     At the beginning of the movie, Shashi makes ladoos, and the early placement of this scene establishes the significance of this particular dish. In this shot, the camera zooms in on her elegant hands packing the ladoo into a perfect sphere.  The sunlight, gently-rising steam, and bright colors create a beautiful shot that portray Shashi, by American standards at least, as the perfect housewife. Shashi’s pretty sari and delicious-looking ladoos prompt an American audience to interpret Shashi as a conservative, stay-at-home mother.
    After the ladoo-cooking scene, Shashi eats breakfast with her family, and these interactions show how her family does not respect her. Even though Shashi clearly has a talent for cooking, she does not speak English well, of which her husband and daughter constantly remind her. Although Satshi, praises his wife’s cooking, he suggests that that she has value as a female, not as a human being, when he exclaims, “You were born to make ladoos!”
 consequently diminishing her self-worth. As Shashi tell her Laurent, her admirer, “ When a woman cooks, it is her duty, when a man cooks, it is art.” Thus, she acknowledges that her cooking, as a female activity, is of comparatively less value than a man’s skill or talent.
     In her last cooking scene, Shashi makes ladoos for her sister’s wedding. The shot portrays her commitment to her family as well as her increased self-esteem. Just as the first scene, beginning the camera zooms in on her hands carefully packing the ladoo together. This image links the beginning and end of the movie, showing the pride she takes in her cooking. However, this shot differs from the first in that her face and form are shown more often. The increased emphasis on her entire form shows her growth in confidence and self-esteem that occurs as she learns English.
    Furthermore, the manifestation of Shashi’s increased self-confidence occurs at the wedding, the occasion for which she makes a large batch of ladoos. Shashi is asked to make a celebratory speech, but Satshi, evidently static character, interjects, apologizes for his wife’s poor English and prepares to deliver the speech himself. Shashi however, takes the opportunity to speak, and does so, haltingly but intelligibly. When she finishes, her English classmates celebrate her achievement, and she proceeds to serve ladoos to the guests.

      In summary, the shot of Shashi’s hands making ladoos at the beginning of the film shifts to an increased emphasis on her entire person when she cooks ladoos for the wedding at the end of the movie. The surrounding interactions also document her  shift from submissiveness to assertiveness that occurs as she learns English. Because Shashi gained confidence from speaking English, not cooking, the film suggests that exclusively female talents, however useful, such as cooking dinner for one’s family, is inferior to a skill that is also valuable for men, speaking English in this case.

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