Skit spurs meeting on stereotypes

When Mask and Wig performed a brief, 30-second spoof on South Asian stereotypes during Spring Fling last year, not everyone laughed. Five members of the South Asia Society accused the comedy troupe of inaccurate and hurtful stereotyping. After their anger had cooled, Society President Raj Mehta said, he and several other Society members met with Mask and Wig leaders to discuss the incident. Last Thursday, that discussion was used as the foundation for a program on South Asian stereotypes, including a re-enactment of the spoof by Mask and Wig members. The South Asian Society-coordinated meeting, entitled a "Media Stereotypes Forum," was held in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. About 60 people attended the event, which was organized and mediated by Mika Rao, vice president of the Society outreach committee. After previewing the forum and introducing the topic, Rao ran a 25-minute video of various television and movie clips that exemplified South Asian stereotyping. The video included parts of The Love Boat, Mississippi Masala, The Simpsons, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, A.M. Philadelphia and L.A. Law. After the video, four members of Mask and Wig performed the brief, controversial skit from last year's Spring Fling. The spoof focused on a South Asian in a Wawa, and his own version of the Grease song "Sandy," converted into "Sandeep." Various props, such as a primitive version of a turban, were used to enforce the South Asian stereotype. However, most of the students said they found Mask and Wig's performance "funny" and "understandable," rather than offensive. The majority of those present were not angry at Mask and Wig for using the spoof. Most came to the consensus that the only danger in such stereotyping is that uneducated people will see South Asians in a negative, untrue light. In the end, both sides of the discussion agreed that the only way to solve the problems that arose last spring is to educate the public on South Asian lifestyles and to be careful to avoid offensive material.