Review of The Namesake (2006) by Stella G — 20 Nov 2010

By watching The Namesake, now I understand how an arranged Hindu marriage works. It's not only the parents of the couple who agree to let them get married but also the couple has to agree if they like each other or not. Like In the movie when Ashoke and Ashima met, she was so happy to go through with this proposal that she even tried to be in his shoes by wearing them. After their marriage, they came to America and Ashima went through a culture shock. The couple had two kids Gogol and Sonia and tried to teach them two different cultures. Gogol was so involve in his American life style with his American girlfriend that he was not calling his parents till his sister called him with the news that his father has passed away. As Gogol mourns the death of his father he changes his ways of thinking and become more Hindu oriented by spending more time with his mom and marrying an Indian girl with the name Moushumi which he knew from his teenage years and has change a lot since then. Moushumi was not accustomed to the Hindu believes, mankind the marriage collapse after a short period of time due to her infidelity.

I enjoy watching this movie very much, it kept me thinking on how kids and also adults from different cultures have to go through so much in order to adapt to the new culture form where they live. It teaches us how in Indian culture some people have arranged marriage and how their weddings are performed. How a different name, as Gogol, can impact a person. His name has been the reason he's been teased his whole life in American. It's an eye opener on the importance of understanding not only our own culture and beliefs, but also to respect and understand others. I actually watched this for a Film for my religion class and it helped me understand Hindu religion a bit more. The struggle between both cultures was interesting and is something I think I can relate to.