Gunga Din Analysis

By examining the two films Rhodes of Africa (1936) and Gunga Din (1939), which were both released during the 1930’s, and comparing it to two later films Zulu (1964) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975), which were released in the 1960’s and 1970’s, we can see how the British Empire is depicted in different lights over the years. In these films we are given serval different views of the British empire and how British films seemed to have many issues with representing the natives of the country that the films and events were supposed to have taken place within. In the two earlier films Rhodes of Africa and Gunga Din we take a look at the British empire in Africa and India. In Rhodes of Africa we take our first look at the British empire as

Gandhi shows the Indian people as dignified people who both have their own rich culture and have taking customs from the British with some characters being proper British gentlemen. They are shown as normal human beings who stand up for themselves as a nation fighting the British oppression. Meanwhile in Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom, the Indian people are not as kindly portrayed. In this film we are shown only two different type of Indians, the helpless villagers that rely on a magical stone for the wellbeing of their land and then the evil Thuggees who practice child slavery, human sacrifice, and eat solely bugs, eyeballs, and monkey brains. This is extremely problematic on both sides. The poor villagers in Indiana Jones are completely dependent on Indiana Jones coming to save them and fix their problems for them, rather than trying to solve the problems and save themselves. They are also shown to be primitive when compared to Indiana, relying on magical stones and worrying about the evil curse of Kali worshippers making them too afraid to do anything for themselves. While on the other hand we are shown the Thuggees, who are the mysterious evil antagonists of the film. At first it seems like there isn’t much going on and the villagers just had crazy rumors spreading around according to the Prime Minister Chattar Lal who openly criticizes the British empire with sarcasm. After which the feast scene begins and shows the Indian people only eating extremely strange foods, such as bugs and brains, rather than more normal food such as fruits and vegetables. After this the protagonists are almost murdered and see the “real” side of the Thuggees with child slavery and human hearts being ripped straight out of