Why we cannot forgive Priyanka Chopra for taking selfies at Holocaust Memorial
- Priyanka Chopra diminished, glamourised and romanticised the collective pain of Jews across the world and in India by taking selfies at the Holocaust Memorial.
- Chopra, now a global star, fit into the trope of a tourist, an outsider and distanced herself from the horror that took place in a continent far away from home.
- The Holocaust Memorial is a reminder for all of humanity that innocent lives were lost and the least we can do is respect it without capturing it through a romantic lens.
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Priyanka Chopra was in Germany to promote her upcoming film Baywatch, but so far her trip to this European country has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The actress was trolled earlier for wearing a dress that India’s patriarchs deemed inappropriate and later, she was attacked for taking selfies at a site which, in many ways, pays tribute to the mass killings of Jews in Europe during the World War II.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, more popularly known as the Holocaust Memorial, is a vast expanse of land filled with concrete slabs that differ in height. Ranging from eight inches to fifteen feet in height, this site is a reminder that countless children, mothers and grandparents were indiscriminately killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
But Chopra’s selfies didn’t approach this sordid, horrifying history with respect. If anything, the actress diminished, glamourised and romanticised the collective pain of Jews across the world and in India.
Is it respectable for @priyankachopra to be taking selfies at the #Holocaust Memorial? pic.twitter.com/BKPpJOAsE7
— Sara Muzzammil (@SaraMuzzammil) May 30, 2017
@priyankachopra Did you really take a selfie at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin? Unbelievable....please show some restraint and respect.
— #hellomynameisKapil (@DocKapman) June 1, 2017
Priyanka Chopra took selfies at the Holocaust memorial.. is this a another attention seeking stunt ??? Shouldn't have done that ..
— sahil (new acc ) (@DeepikasWarrior) May 31, 2017
Chopra may have taken down the selfie with her brother after a barrage of angry tweets were directed at her. However, that she found the memorial an ideal place to document her eventful Germany trip is troubling.
The Quantico actress displayed her ignorance of the trauma that generations of people of the Jewish faith still carry. And Chopra, now a global star, fit into the trope of a tourist, an outsider by distancing herself from the horror that took place in a continent far away from home.
Perhaps she would have approached her excellent selfie skills differently at Jalianwala Bagh, a site where thousands of Indians were shot on the orders of General Dwyer when India was still colonised.
But like the Jalianwala Bagh in Punjab, the Holocaust Memorial is a reminder for all of humanity that innocent lives were lost and the least we can do is respect it without capturing it through a romantic lens.
