Interracial Relationships in Mississippi Masala Movie Review

Interracial Relationships in Mississippi Masala - Movie Review Example The focus in Mississippi Masala shall be on three key parts of the film- the family’s displacement from Uganda owing to the â€Å"Africa for the Africans† ethnic cleansing movement started by the dictator Idi Amin and their friendship with Okelo, the racism prevalent within historically marginalized groups seen in the stigma against dark skin within the Indian family and the manner in which the relationship between Mina and Demetrius reveals the racism embedded within their respective families. The backdrop is significantly the Mississippi countryside with a long history of slavery and institutionalized racism, the lingering effects of which continue to inform the film’s thematic concerns.The forced immigration of Mina’s family from Uganda is a deliberate backdrop to the romance between Mina and Demetrius. The intolerance that the Indian family faces in the dictatorial regime of Idi Amin quite ironically does not render them (albeit Mina) more egalitarian in their views on race. Despite their close personal ties with the nation of Uganda and their relationship with Okelo, a man who ensures their safe departure amidst much racial profiling and persecution at severe personal risk, their reluctance to accept their daughter’s relationship with an African American man shows the way in which racial intolerance can dwell in vicious cycles. In a somewhat similar episode from the film, the figure of the Indian hotel owner is shown to express a phony notion of unity between people of color when he faces the threat a potential lawsuit from Demetrius and Tyrone. This apparent camaraderie is shattered when meeting Mina and Demetrius in Biloxi and learns of their affair. He defames Demetrious and robs him of much of his business. Demetrius, in turn, files the lawsuit that he has earlier agreed to forego on goodwill further deepening the hostility between the two communities.