Three Idiots Can Work Among American Audiences
I chose to look at how 3 Idiots translates to American media. Although the story involves three college students and the problems they and their peers face while trying to live a happy life, the American audience that has actually seen the movie tends to be middle-aged Americans. One reason 3 Idiots translates well to middle-aged Americans is because it resembles a “snob vs. slob” (Mecchi, 2006) comedy, like the American movie Animal House, that this audience is probably familiar with. Dramas over a child being excommunicated because he married someone he loves from a different religion or social class obviously are not applicable to an American audience, but a movie about a series of pranks by weirdos to expose the faults of the education system can be applied to American viewers. Mental health struggles are universal, and so a movie that brings them to light can be applied anywhere. The most powerful scene of the movie is the scene where the main character flies a drone by the windows of a residential building, and everyone on the ground can see someone changing, and then the drone flies higher, and it shows a student who has hanged himself and written on the walls “I give up.” That stark difference is enough to force empathy upon anyone, regardless of background or socioeconomic status. Therefore, it is the central message of the movie 3 Idiots that makes it translatable to an American audience.
I still think that 3 Idiots, with revived attention from social media, would work extremely well with American youth, because of the emphasis on the issues apparent in education systems, especially considering how many American students can emphasize to some level the mental health struggles college students in India face.
Preliminary Thesis:
Indian movies or movies about India, such as Slumdog Millionaire, that are appealing to American audiences work outside of the subcontinent because they portray India according to the stereotypes they believe, and the movies often involve a “rags to riches” type story that makes the audience feel like anyone can escape poverty. I argue, however, that other Indian movies, like 3 Idiots, can also translate well to American audiences because they appeal to more common issues, such as mental health, that many Americans may face.
