Beyoncé And Coldplay Are Being Accused Of Appropriating And Exoticising Indian Culture In Their New Music Video
The clip for ‘Hymn for the Weekend’ is producing quite a bit of backlash.
If the simple fact of Beyoncé featuring in a Coldplay song wasn’t already strange enough, now she’s coming under fire for pretending to be Indian. Coldplay’s video for their new single ‘Hymn for the Weekend’ dropped over the weekend, and while many fans are predictably going bonkers for it, it’s also being criticised for fetishising and appropriating Indian culture.
The clip was filmed in India, and if it didn’t include Beyoncé and Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin, it would look like a tourism ad for the country. All of the better-known traditional Indian visuals are there, but there’s also a white guy swaying and singing in front of an ancient temple. It’s cheesy, but fairly predictable these days. Then there’s the more complicated aspect: Beyoncé plays a Bollywood actress, dressed head-to-toe in traditional Desi adornment, while Martin watches her latest production from a local cinema.
As the clip’s primarily a Coldplay creation, the backlash appears to be hitting them the hardest. The main criticism is that Coldplay’s exclusive use of stereotypical visuals — Holi festival, slums and poverty, Bollywood — is exoticising and fetishising the culture. People are particularly upset with how the band use slum kids and holy men as “props” while likely reaping huge profits from it.
Just gonna throw this out there, if Beyoncé&Coldplay are PROFITING from a culture that isn't there's and gaining praise, it's appropriation
— cazafortuna (@caramelputa) January 29, 2016
Coldplay makes music for affluent whites who travel arnd the world to shower poor black & brown kids in their performative tears x
— A Siamese Punk (@ASiamesePunk) January 29, 2016
So upset by @coldplay using my culture as a prop for their music video. India isn't just street kids and exotic women. #HymnForTheWeekend
— Atiya Hasan, MD (@AtiyaHasan05) January 29, 2016
No thanks for the bundle of stereotypes @coldplay. No wonder then that #India will be known as the country of snake charmers & sadhus.
— Sneha Menon Desai (@MissusDesai) January 29, 2016
@coldplay don't exoticize us. You've been to the clubs and everything.Why do you want to make it seem like all we do is dance in the streets
— yung biryani (@BiryaniZiall) January 29, 2016
Wanna depict #India, understand its rich & diverse culture first! Going with ago old stereotypes is not done! #HymnForTheWeekend #Coldplay
— Amena (@Fashionopolis) January 29, 2016
i dont even know what to say about this coldplay video except can white rock bands please stop filming holi videos in india, thank you.
— ahmed ali akbar (@radbrowndads) January 29, 2016
The other thing people aren’t happy about is Beyoncé being decked out in Desi dress. Like Iggy Azalea and Selena Gomez before her, she’s being accused of cultural appropriation — and many people are wondering why Martin didn’t just give the role to an Indian woman. Real Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor also features in the clip — and is ultimately very supportive of the concept — but is only given a brief appearance.
If it had been a Desi artist, she'd have been invited to invest and appreciate our culture.
— Keith (@holmeslaufeyson) January 29, 2016
Is Beyonce gorgeous in the vid? Yes. Is it cultural appropriation? Yeah. It could've been done without the exotica and mysticism. #HFTW
— David (@Dreams_on_Paper) January 29, 2016
why didn't they choose another desi woman instead of beyoncé
— imad (@NORTHAFRICANS) January 29, 2016
I've managed to make Beyonce's parts in the new Colplay song 10000x better.. https://t.co/uZ1uweqryJ
— José Covaco (@HoeZaay) January 30, 2016
There’s also the way less complicated issue of the video just being completely hackneyed. But we are talking about Coldplay; they’re kind of the music industry’s equivalent of a Hollywood romcom.
it's crazy how literally all the india music videos hit all the same beats. holi paint, bollywood, poverty, spirituality. come onnnnnnnnn
— ahmed ali akbar (@radbrowndads) January 29, 2016
Holi,slum kids,gods,exotic local woman throwing flowers in air for no reason-#Coldplay breaks all grounds & paths in representation of India
— Fatima Tassadiq (@fatimatassadiq) January 30, 2016
They don’t not have a point.