I finally managed to catch an episode of the new series on Z-cafe called 'Outsourced'. Well, it is supposed to be seen from the eyes of an American called Todd, who is sent to India to head a BPO outfit...but somehow there are too many things wrong with it and it comes across as condescending, partially racist and totally culturally ignorant...here are my two-bits on whats not working for me..
- Why is the American shown as the manager - he could probably have been just another employee - this is NOT Air Force One and we dont need Harrison Ford to save us in the outsourcing business too....we can manage very well on our own, thank you very much
- The entire cast is American - well, they may have brown skin but they have obviously never lived in urban India and especially not visited it post 1991 - all the women wear bindis with their office trousers, have wavy 'Indian' hair and talk in a strange accent and all the men wear clothes clearly made in 1960
- The coffee table / dinner discussions between the gora man and the indian babe revolve only around 'arranged marriages' ....come on, get a grip, its a way of life and it works here...its too much of a cliche to put in the script
- At the after-work parties, all the sissy looking Indian men dance together in a corner while the women are missing in action....its upto the 2 goras to add some zing to the party - it would help if the script writers had actually visited India before writing the dialogues...
