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WORLD August 19, 1999 VNN4535 Comment on this story Hindus All Ears Over 'Eyes' Offense IN THE NEWS USA, Aug 19 (VNN) — from The Independent (London) August 17, 1999, Tuesday SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 4 LENGTH: 676 words HEADLINE: COMMENT: PANDORA TOM CRUISE and Nicole Kidman could find themselves embroiled in a Satanic Verses-style row. During the orgy scene towards the end of the Stanley Kubrick movie Eyes Wide Shut, as bodies show skin before getting down and dirty, audiences hear words from the Bhagavadgita, the sacred Hindu poem. The British-based World Council of Hindus says "the matter is under investigation". But the American-based Hindu Anti-Defamation Coalition has taken a tougher stance, protesting at the highest level to the new hierarchy at Warner Bros. The coalition has juice; it's already tasted victory by pressuring Sony to remove a Krishna motif from an Aerosmith album, and then successfully persuading Universal to pull an episode of Xena, Warrior Princess in which the same Hindu goddess was portrayed entangled with Lucy Lawless during her sapphic adventures. The context? Some sections of the generally peaceful community are keen to be seen to match up to Muslim cultural muscle to prove they're not easy targets for pop-culture predators. Copyright 1999 Newspaper Publishing PLC Copyright 1999 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. The New York Post August 16, 1999, Monday SECTION: All Editions; Pg. 008 LENGTH: 219 words HEADLINE: HINDUS ALL EARS OVER 'EYES' OFFENSE "EYES Wide Shut" with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman not only bored and disappointed millions of Americans of all faiths, it offended millions of Hindus worldwide. The movie's orgy scene is punctuated with chants and readings which Hindus with ears wide open recognize as a holy verse, or shloka, from their sacred epic poem, the Bhagavad Gita. Since the movie was released, Hindus in the U.S. and elsewhere have been using the Internet to complain about the use of the shloka in a scene of orgiastic hedonism. Now the U.S. Hindu Anti-Defamation Coalition is demanding an explanation from Warner execs. "If it's a reasonable explanation, we won't do anything more, " said organization official Ajay Shah. "But if it is not, we will demand that the shloka be removed" from the movie. Some Hindus believe Hollywood is more prepared to offend their culture than, say, Muslims, because they are perceived as meek. Even so, the Anti-Defamation Coalition has enjoyed spectacular successes. A protest campaign forced Sony to change the cover of Aerosmith's CD "Nine Lives" which portrayed the Hindu deity Krishna with a cat's head and a woman's breasts. Protests also persuaded Universal to withdraw an episode of "Xena, The Warrior Princess" - which involved Krishna aiding Lucy Lawless in her Sapphic adventures. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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