“Slumdog” Associations with Bobby Jindal Uncalled For

I never thought that I’d have sympathy for Governor Bobby Jindal. His worldview is completely obnoxious, and he panders to the worst instincts of the Republican base in a desperate bid to win approval.

But some of the reaction in the aftermath of his pitiful response speech to President Obama on Tuesday night made me uncomfortable due to the free-association between Jindal and other things Indian.

Certainly, the coincidence of “Slumdog Millionaire” sweeping the Oscars two nights before Jindal’s speech was extremely tempting. And Jindal himself prominently referred to his Indian immigrant background.

Some of the commentary on Jindal’s speech was unsettling, however. “In a feeble spoof, one satirical magazine on Monday joked about how ‘Louisiana Governor Slumdog Millionaire Bobby Jindal’ will confront Obama in a Bollywood Battle,” reported the Times of India. A number of callers to Stephanie Miller’s show on Air America the morning after the speech said that it could have been better if there were Bollywood dancers performing in the background, a sentiment shared by Miller’s sidekick. Helen Thomas supposedly made a “Slumdog” joke about Jindal.

And comparisons between Jindal and the movie abound on the web. In a satirical piece, Jon Swift had a weird-looking photo of Dev Patel, the “Slumdog” star, peering out under a headline reading “Bobby Jindal: America's Slumdog Millionaire.” In a response, a reader of the blog stated, “I applaud Gov. Jindal's efforts to make Louisiana into a replica of the slums of the country where his ancestors came from. Look what a roaring success India is! Why shouldn't New Orleans be as prosperous as Mumbai? The weather's just as bad, and although I've never been to the Black Hole of Calcutta (yes, I know it's politically correct to call it Kalicut now) I reckon it must smell a lot like Bourbon Street.” That’s totally uncalled for.

To stretch things even more, another free-association that people engaged in was between Jindal and Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan. A caller to Stephanie Miller’s show suggested that Shyamalan, known for his spooky thrillers, cast Jindal in his next movie. One blog has an entry, “M. Night Shyamalan plans scary new movie, ‘The New Confederacy,’ starring Bobby Jindal.” Another has a reader commenting, “Did M. Night Shyamalan direct that entrance? Because I see dead people.” Fine, Jindal’s entry and performance were so flat so as to be almost zombie-like. But the only thing that Jindal and Shyamalan have in common is that they are Indian-American males. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius delivered the response to the State of the Union speech last year, and I highly doubt that there were many people free-associating her with Sofia Coppola or Kimberly Peirce.

Jindal’s speech was pathetic. It was completely hollow, and wasn’t helped by Jindal’s awful delivery style. It was a disastrous coming out moment on the national stage for Jindal. It’s OK to lampoon him. But let’s skip all the comments related to his Indian background. They are repugnant.