Julia Roberts needs 350 bodyguards????

Julia Roberts is filming in a temple in India on her next film and for
most part has been welcomed, but now for the small reason of showing
up with 350 bodyguards in a bulletproof car and for preventing local
people from worshipping at their own temple, she is being cursed.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/julia-roberts-army-of-350-bodyguards-angers-villagers/520548/

What is at play here? Not even Barack Obama needs 350 bodyguards, and
who the heck is going to shoot Julia Roberts? Someone has gone
insane, and it sure isn't the local villagers who are being prevented
from using their temple in the holiest time of their religious
calendar - Navaratri. Either Julia Roberts is using a local security
agency that guaranteed her security in all situations short of a
nuclear strike, and has paid through her pretty nose, or she's really
paranoid. The former would point to an overdone bit of caution
engineering, but the latter shouldn't surprise us one bit.

For all her Oscar winning abilities as an actress, we mustn't forget
she is American, and she is white, and is perhaps easiest to convince
that any place in the world other than her neighbourhood is dangerous
in one way or the other. Three hundred and fifty bodyguards sounds
like somebody went cuckoo, but that is what white American people look
to the rest of the world anyway. Would it also not be easier to put a
bullet in this woman in the USA, with better weapons available and
better getaway facilities? I bet she doesn't use a bullet proof car
there.

American film crews also have a habit of applying their values to the
places they go abroad to film in. They are not above making demands
that are strange and new to the local culture, even in a heavy movie
making culture like India, even while enjoying the comforts like "spot
boys" that you never see on a Hollywood film set. If Julia Roberts'
hair can be insured against the available of Evian water for its daily
wash to a ridiculous dollar figure, chances are, her schedule is of
insane importance to someone who, somewhere in the value chain,
absolutely needs to finish the film on time with no interruptions
whatsoever, and is willing to pay top dollar or bribe rupee to ensure
her safety and the security of the filming location to the nth degree.

What is insulting to me as an Indian, however, is not so much Julia
Roberts' perception of India or lack of it that may have prompted this
ridiculous security cordon, but the fact that India, which flatly
refused to guarantee the security of the Indian Premier League last
year, is willing to bend over backwards to accommodate the needs of a
stupid movie project. The IPL is important to Indians and the
millions of cricket fans following it. It should not have moved to
South Africa for security reasons, the worst of them being that the
government actually went on record saying it was unable to provide
security for the mega event because of elections.

When Ms. Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK supremo, wanted to travel to the USA
with her 30 odd or 40 odd bodyguards, the US government went far
enough to refuse their visas! She is much more of a target than Julia
Roberts can ever be, and that is not a compliment to either woman, but
the incongruence of the values applied stands out in comical
exaggeration. White Americans always believe their lives are more
precious than other people's, and behave accordingly, no matter how
many children of other pedigrees may be adopted by Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie.

At a time when Israel has issued warnings of terrorist attacks in
India, and asked its people and Americans to not go to India,
somewhere, some madness has been let loose to enable this film
production. It is downright stupid to ignore these warnings,
especially if you are an American coming to India after what happened
in Mumbai on September 26th last year, but if you are coming to make a
film in some remote village, wouldn't you want to keep it low profile?

Julia, if you are indeed in charge of this stupid decision to hire 350
bodyguards, shame on you, not for being so scared of your fragile
f***ing existence as a human, but for your ignorance. Any and all
bullsh** you may feed the world in any forum about you caring for the
planet and wanting to help others in any way is nothing but a tardy PR
exercise. You are as fake as anybody else, and you could generously
apologize not to us but to people like Erin Brokovich, who failed to
inspire you to a more courageous existence. If you aren't responsible
for this rubbish, move, lady! Fire the fools who are making you look
so stupid.

By the way, is your car really bulletproof? That's what they said
about the vests used by the Mumbai policemen who got killed by
terrorists' bullets. You better pray before you eat or love! Welcome
to India.

- BSK.