Kissing in public

[tony_yeboah]

Apparently....its illegal and you can get arrested for it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6596163.stm

This is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard, since the whole danish cartoon incident.

How can you be arrested for that? its ludicrous isn't it?

[tony_yeboah]

take a look at this quote:

"Public displays of affection are still largely taboo in India, and protestors in Mumbai (Bombay) set fire to effigies of Gere following the incident".

This is why international relations is so poor, extremism.

[Erki]

Since when is kissing an obscenity? Even if they were there and kissed for 24 hours straight, I wouldn't say it's obscene. Some people really need to get lives. :\

[schmenke]

Um, has anyone seen the video of the "three innocent, natural cute pecks on the cheek" by Gere (I'm sure it's on YouTube...)? Gere was practically groping the poor girl who was visibly uncomfortable, even trying to evade the kisses at one point.

Dumb move by Gere who should have been sensitive to the fact that his actions may be offensive to the Indian public :s

We should not take it for granted that what is viewed as completely acceptable behaviour in Western societies would be not considered offensive in other cultures.

[Ian McC]

take a look at this quote:

"Public displays of affection are still largely taboo in India, and protestors in Mumbai (Bombay) set fire to effigies of Gere following the incident".

This is why international relations is so poor, extremism.


Most of us in the West will never get this kind of behaviour, can you imagine the people down your street getting together, cutting out pictures of Richard Gere, getting some matches, going down the street and causing a big fuss and burning things.

Hell I don't know, who am I to judge who is civilised but from my point of view these people should find better things to do.

[Ian McC]

Dumb move by Gere who should have been sensitive to the fact that his actions may be offensive to the Indian public :s

Most people I would say wouldn't consider what a nation thinks and why should they? However in this case two points are important, one is that he is a regular visitor and you would think he would have expected it and, most importantly, she clearly didn't want that kind of attention from him.

[Rollo]

My first thought was this T-Shirt:
http://www.qwantz.com/shirt_feelings.png

... that's silly but.

As a frequent visitor he probably should have been aware of the social customs. Although we may deride the seemingly "backward" attitude of the locals, they're probabaly deriding our "disregard for decency". If this was Victorian England the reaction quite possibly could have been similar.
Though at what point do you cite cultural imperialism? Having said this, tact should be the driving force here.

[Quattroporte]

Since when is kissing an obscenity? Even if they were there and kissed for 24 hours straight, I wouldn't say it's obscene. Some people really need to get lives. :\

If someone had the time to kiss for 24hours straight I would say it would be THEM that doesn't have much of a life!! :s

[Erki]

If someone had the time to kiss for 24hours straight I would say it would be THEM that doesn't have much of a life!! :s

Yep, it makes me feel bad too because I want to be relaxed and enjoy life, not run around, being all busy and stressed out. :)

[Storm]

Its not offensive to most sensible and rational Indians....basically why should we care ?

But there are plenty of morons with nothing else to do , the self appointed moral police and the politicians who work these people...this is what nauseates me sometimes about my country

:(

[Roamy]

it just confirms the state the world is in.. Sad but reality

[tony_yeboah]

it just confirms the state the world is in.. Sad but reality

exactly, its always the minority with the big mouth and stupids ways. there culture needs to take a leaf out of the western cultures book and modernise themselves

[schmenke]

exactly, its always the minority with the big mouth and stupids ways. there culture needs to take a leaf out of the western cultures book and modernise themselves

Minority? :s

Over 1 billion population in India... who's the minority here?

Besides, with comments like that I'd think that "modern" societies could benefit more from other cultures rather than the other way around :mark:

[tony_yeboah]

Minority? :s

Over 1 billion population in India... who's the minority here?

Besides, with comments like that I'd think that "modern" societies could benefit more from other cultures rather than the other way around :mark:

i didnt mean it like that. a typical example of people getting the wrong end of the stick.

I meant that its only a small amount (%) of people in India that are kicking off a fuss.

[schmenke]

i didnt mean it like that. a typical example of people getting the wrong end of the stick.

I meant that its only a small amount (%) of people in India that are kicking off a fuss.

Ah, o.k. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

[tony_yeboah]

Ah, o.k. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

its ok :) perhaps i could have made it clearer first time round :)

[LTalbot]

As many times as Gere has beeen to India, he should have known better. Different countries have different customs. What I fail to understand is why they swore out a warrant for her arrest. It was pretty clear, she was not exactly a willing participant. Now that's backward thinking.

[janvanvurpa]

Its not offensive to most sensible and rational Indians....basically why should we care ?

But there are plenty of morons with nothing else to do , the self appointed moral police and the politicians who work these people...this is what nauseates me sometimes about my country

:(

Same feeling here about my country.
I did see BBC and it certainly looked like she was laughing and smiling during the actual silliness, and they showed a statement from her from later or the next day and she had nothing bad to say.

Seems like some people here need to be outraged and offended about something entirely silly.

"Religion is the opiate of the masses" Freddy Engels
"Revolution is the opiate of the intellectuals" Dorthy Parker
"Outrage is the opiate of the middle class white males" Me