Gurinder Chadha Bastes a Turkey or Two
by Brandon Judell
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British film director Gurinder Chadha, who struck an international chord
with her Bhaji on the Beach
(1993), has returned to critical favor with
her latest effort, What's Cooking?
With delightful panache, Chadra invites herself into the homes of four
families (African American, Jewish, Latino, and Vietnamese) on
Thanksgiving. The kosher dinner includes (gasp!) two lesbians, played by
Kyra Sedgwick and Julianna Margulies. (We all should be so lucky.) If
that isn't enough, one of them is pregnant.
To discover the creative sensibility behind this film, PopcornQ caught
up with Ms. Chadha in a New York hotel.
PlanetOut: This film is so inclusive. You include gay, black,
Hispanic, Jewish, and Asian minorities. It's so seldom these folks get
represented without caricature in a film. Was this a political act on
your part?
Gurinder Chadha: God, I'll say! I had a vision of what L.A. was
supposed to be from the movies I'd seen. Then I got there and felt,
"Wow! This doesn't look anything like what L.A.'s supposed to look
like." I just thought ... people in Europe would be really interested to
see this side of America. So, yeah, the inclusion thing is there, but
that's what you see if you walk around L.A. with your eyes open.
PlanetOut: In my review of What's Cooking? I wrote that finally
here's a film every queer person can bring their bigoted relatives to.
Can you talk about how you drew the gay characters and decided with
which ethnicity to place them?
GC: Well, my godson in London was born out of a lesbian mom and a
donor. Actually her girlfriend's brother was the donor. [Chuckles.]
Hamish, he's called. I have a very strong bond with him. He's like my
son, basically, and in a funny sort of way my husband and I act as the
"normal" couple amongst all his wonderful extended family -- various
girlfriends and lesbian couples and gay couples and whatever.
For him, it's totally normal, this idea that guys can be with guys, and
girls can be with girls. [He thinks:] "Now Gurinder's a bit different
because she's with a guy, but I don't mind."
For me, I wanted to really normalize the idea of women having babies,
but I also wanted to show the impact of that with their families,
because my friend Sally found it very hard to tell her mom she was
pregnant. She did this whole one-night stand kind of thing and all that,
and it went on for ages, and the stress involved in that for her and all
of us was just appalling.
But at the same time, the thing about the film is, I do want everyone to
see everything from everyone's point of view. You must acknowledge that
for the parents, it is a tough thing. So I kind of have fun with showing
both points of view. I think that because I have so many friends from
the gay community, I got it right.
PlanetOut: Throughout the film, you have Jews playing Jews,
blacks playing blacks, Asians playing Asians, etc. But with the two
lesbians, you hired two straight actresses. Why? Is that because you
know of no openly lesbian actresses? Was Anne Heche busy?
GC: Not really. We did approach Anne Heche and Ellen, actually.
... I can't remember what happened. ... But now, in the aftermath of
their relationship, it would be tragic. But I love my Ellen joke in
there.
PlanetOut: Have your own personal experiences clued you in that
Thanksgiving gatherings are the perfect events to depict high drama? And
what do you think about Jodie Foster's own turkey drama [Home for the
Holidays]?
GC: Well, what happened was we had written the first draft of our
script and then we heard that Jodie Foster had made a Thanksgiving
movie, too. We thought we had been real clever because no one had ever
done it before, then all of a sudden there was Jodie's, so we were real
gutted. We kind of felt really stitched up.
But you see, the thing is, they might both take place on Thanksgiving,
but they're very different. Sometimes what really upsets me about
American films is that they are very indulgent on the dysfunctional
sides of American culture. Most films I've seen that have Thanksgiving
scenes are terribly angst-ridden, and of course that's a reality, but I
don't know ... it's too cynical for me.
I think that families do have a tough time. No one's family is perfect.
But at the same time, what I think is great is that even though we're
all filled with dread when we know we're going to a family wedding or a
Christmas gathering, or whatever ... there is still this impulse within
you that wants to go and hopes that it's all going to be OK. I think
that's such a beautiful, delicate impulse that's really worth
preserving, because no matter what the conflict is within your family,
you can't get away from the fact that that's who you are. Frighteningly
so, as you get older, when you realize you're turning into your mother
or your father. And that's what happens to all of us.
So rather than fight that whole side of who you are in that context, I
would say you've got to embrace it. ... If you just kind of get on with
dealing with it and embracing it, you're actually going to save yourself
an awful lot of grief later on. And that's for every generation. That's
for the parents of gay kids as well as the kids themselves. So instead
of protecting your parents, be open with them. There's no point in
beating around the bush.
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