how liberal America is. We march in the streets so homosexuals can marry each other and so illegal aliens can avoid deportation. They march because Richard Gere planted about 5 unwanted kisses on a revered star.

How much respect are we required to have for a culture that lumps everything it considers immoral under the general heading "Westernization"? When is the favor of tolerance for cultural differences ever returned to our country?

Any Bollywood fan (I am one) could tell you: You don't kiss an Indian girl in public. Kissing on film is to a Bollywood star what doing a nude sex scene is to a Hollywood star; some of them do it, but it changes the way people think of them. What was Gere thinking? Doesn't he have handlers to tell him this stuff?

India isn't America. I was looking at photos from the recent wedding of Aishwarya Rai (the most beautiful woman in the world, according to some people) to Abhisheck Bachchan (son of Amitabh Bachchan, possibly the most famous Indian actor of all time). Lovely wedding. Lovely photos. Lots of pretty dresses, flowers, guys with machine guns, security guards beating people's heads in with sticks on the street. India is a place where famous actors get arrested, not just for drunk driving like Paris Hilton, but for drunk driving OVER four beggars sleeping on the sidewalk! India is the place where actor Hrithik Roshan's father was shot for failing to pay his dues to the mob. It's a place where making rude comments about the government can get you burned in effigy. It's not a place for an actor to go acting like an ugly American.

Look, I'm with you, the whole furor over this was ridiculously disproportionate and misplaced -- yes, there are other bigger problems that we should all focus on, and it's nice that perhaps this stupid story provokes debate on more important things. But stop congratulating yourself (both the writer and the other posters) for a second and think about what this might symbolize. It's about cultural conservatism facing global flows of more liberal culture, yes. It's also about resentment. It's also about the inappropriateness of how Gere felt it was OK to manhandle a woman (and the clip is gross and tacky, you'll agree) without giving a SECOND to think about cultural difference or respect for a woman, and so on. (The existence of worse things both in India and in the States, for that matter, doesn't negate the inappropriateness of his behaviour (though I still think the protests were disproportionate).) It's about a certain perceived arrogance of "The West" -- and exactly the sort of selfcongratulation (look how great we are) that this article and the postings just radiate. So just stop to think about how it may have seemed outrageous to others. As someone who lives across multiple cultures, even while I agree that the protests were completely ridiculous and that things should change, I do have to say that it's really arrogant to think that you all are the keepers of the liberal flame and that those backward people over there need to modernize and open their minds despite themselves. That's the sort of colonial oblivious mentality that has led to all kinds of problems, and it really does smack of "save the natives from themselves"... Anyway, not to rant, but please take a moment to consider your OWN cultural contradictions. And change takes time. The two postings really got my goat, and trust me, NO one culture can claim moral superiority. And this is not how one behaves when one goes somewhere else, regardless of one's opinions -- I'm a big believer in cultural dialogue improving things, but again, change isn't forced down people's throats either. Gere's behaviour displayed severe cultural ignorance and tackiness and just plain rudeness. Where were his handlers? :)

Ok, I am done now. :)

there's no public displays of affection. some cultures here are comfortable with it, some are not. i noticed as more and more people are coming here who are *not*, it's stopped. there is still teenage smooching, there is still prostitution, but it's much more discreet. why? i think it's a tacit acknowledgement of how we have to behave to get along. as a result, unlike S.F. there's no graffiti. sections, yes, but no ghettos. gere is like paris hilton. he thinks he can do what he wants, when he wants, the "help" will take care of the messes.

maybe you read me wrong. i'm in agreement with you. i HATE lefties who spend half the day patting themselves on the back, and the other half of the day wagging their fingers at God-fearing Americans who believe in right and wrong. it's catching up to us (our blind liberalism is why the twin towers fell -- if you disagree, read some Bin Laden, it's on the net)

I think most of the outrage is because Gere is a non-Indian (Buddhism aside) disrespecting an Indian cultural taboo.

But, please, the hypocrisy stinks. It's pretty typical for someone to get real uptight over the little things when they're on the wrong side of the Big Issues.

are you equating kissing in public and killing 3000 at random? perhaps gere deserves a flame - but not literally! i find your "it's catching up to us (our blind liberalism is why the twin towers fell)" sickening. and perhaps THEY are now finding what THEY did catching up to THEM. if you don't understand the difference between bad manners and sexually repressed murderous rage, you don't belong in flushing, queens.

I'm equating our ever eroding moral standards to the motivations for anti-Americanism around the world. Have you ever read any Bin Laden? He's the guy that was behind blowing up our towers. Seems like a pertinent guy to read. It seems as if you haven't. I believe our 'anything goes' ethic has hurt America. We need to have 'right' and 'wrong'.

how did you decide that I reside in Queens?

Have you seen our morals lately? Were we really more moral in the 1920s? The 1880s? The 1860s?

Ridiculous. We've spent more time, energy and money on exploring and understanding morality now than at any other time in history. And we're still not perfect? Say it ain't so?

It's just that we talk about it now.

And what I want to know is 'where the hell does Gere get off kissing people who don't want to be kissed?'