Heidi Klum Angers Hindu Leaders With Halloween Costume
Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed says Heidi Klum has gone too far this year by dressing up as Goddess Kali this Halloween. What may have seemed like a little fun for the German supermodel has deeply upset Hindu scholars, who feel Klum should make a public apology for posing as a sacred figure.
"Goddess Kali is highly revered in Hinduism and she is meant to be worshipped in temples and not to be used in clubs for publicity stunts or thrown around loosely for dramatic effects.
"Hindus welcome Hollywood and other entertainment industries to immerse themselves in Hinduism, but they should take it seriously and respectfully, and not just use the religion for decoration or to advance their selfish agenda. Casual flirting sometimes results in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees."
Zed is not alone in his outrage; various other Hindu leaders, including Jawahar L. Khurana of the Hindu Alliance of India, and Bhavna Shinde of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, have also criticized Klum for posing as Goddess Kali on Halloween.
What do you think? Was it all in good fun? Or was Heidi disrespectful?
265 Comments
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Well, disrespectful or not, it was one HELL of a costume. I'm sure she didn't mean to offend.
BrowserNov 3, 2008 @ 04:17 pm
It's called cultural misappropriation made worse by the fact Kali is a religious figure. It is completely obvious that some white people are STILL ignorant about other cultures/religions. So much so that they justify Heidi's airheaded and offensive halloween custom with idiotic statements like the one above. This is my favorite one: "I'm [obviously white] christian and I'm not offended". Duh, b***hes, it's not your religion or culture! Why should you give a damn. SMDH
So if she dressed up as a cow would Indians be insulted? People dress up as Jesus all of the time, hell - people even name their children after him. I think everyone needs to lighten up and realize she was just having fun. I'm sure she meant no disrespect. My gosh - grow up.
I don't undersand....is naming your child Jesus (which is a sign of religious respect) offense?
I couldn't agree with you more. In fact, there were people at that Halloween party dressed as Jesus, I've seen pictures. No one took offense. Heidi wasn't even the only one there in that costume. This is much ado about nothing. In the week of possibly the most historic political activity of all time, people are making a fuss over a Halloween costume? Get a life!
yes obviously white people are the problem...ever heard of reverse racism?? you ARE an idiot! it was just a freaking costume....go vote for obama and quit being a bitch...seriously im white, and i respect other people's cultures and such, it just seems outrageous that we all need to step on eggshells not to hurt each other's feelings. i know lots of ignorant black people if you really want to go there...
You are an idiot ****. This is not a case of "reverse racism". It is an instance of cultural insensitivy. I don't believe heidi klum meant to disrespect ppl. But the fact remains that she used a sacred symbol in a fashion that is offensive to a sect of ppl. Similar to a reaction from a group of catholics that would be angered at the sight of ppl dressed in pope and nun costumes. Its not about catering to ppl's feelings its about being proactive and knowledgable of other cultures. Additionally I don't see where "ignorant blacks" fit into your argument, being that this is a a discussion of insensitivity to the religion of Islam. You have shown your true colors, u rascist prick. You will be eating your words when President OBAMA prevails. --- since you went and put your own insecurities on blast, bringing up political and racial attitudes that obviously keep u up at night.
Cultural insensitivity is what America is all about. Welcome!
islam? i don´t think so, dumbass.
Just to let you know, this is about HINDUISM, not ISLAM. Talk about cultural insensitivity - you can't even get the religion right.
“Reverse Racism” is an offensive term that suggests that racism is an inherently “white” problem. Racism is universal.
"obviously white christian" ?? you have completely contradicted your point about white people being ignorant when YOU yourself don't see that christians come in all races and ethnic backgrounds (chinese, korean, hispanic, middle eastern, african)
Lots of people in our culture dress as Jesus, the Pope, God, etc., and there is still reverence for them. This is a different country and "Hindu officials" shouldn't be allowed to regulate what goes on here. In our culture, on Halloween, it is traditional for people to dress up in shocking, frightening, and outlandish costumes.
Do you realize Hindu is a religion and there are many Hindu people living in America? Our culture is a mixed religious culture. If you think Americans are all Christian, you need to grow up.
We're just sayin Heidi should have been a bit more sensitive before choosing to dress up as Kali. This costume has certainly earned her a lot of attention, but at a high price. I have just lost some respect for the supermodel for this insensitivity.
Yeah you right I don't give a flying **** about some stupid ass monkey religion. If you're offended its your ****ing problem, not mine. Get the **** out of this country if you don't like something about it nobody will stop you.
hahaha love it.
ok let the new president hear you say that! dumb ass you go back where you came from! unless you are native american this is not your home land so stop telling anyoen to go back! and yes this costume is disrespectful and ignorant. if you are a public figure you should know what is and isn't offensive.
At first i thought "whats the big deal, its just a halloween costume" but i have to understand the Hindu's feelings in this. I am a Christian, and if she had dressed up like Jesus, I would have been offended. So I can understand the Hindus for being upset. I dont think she meant to offend anyone though. so please dont be too hard on her.
YouAreAnIdiot - Your continued inference that Christianity is a ‘White’ religion is rather misguided as it is a religion that spans the entire globe. In fact the highest percentage of Catholics in the world rests in the Philippines. Your continued posting of the exact same post over and over, with its reference to skin colour (that is not a typo by the way, That is how ‘colour’ is spelt in my country) suggests to me that you want not only to make this an issue of differing ideologies, but one of different skin shades. So for the record I am Caucasian and Buddhist. My first impression of the costume was “WOW!” and my second reaction was to look more into what Kali is. As a Buddhist I have no doubt that the Buddhist community would be fine with Mrs. Klum dressing as a Tibetan god next year or even as the Dalai Lama himself, a tribute I’m sure he would find very amusing.
I am from the Philippines, and though it is the only Catholic or Christian country in Asia it does not have the highest percentage of Catholics in the world. Both Italy and Poland have a larger percentage of Catholics in their population, by more than 10% in each country. While it is a grave assumption, Christianity is in fact a predominantly Caucasian religion.
The Philippines has a population of 91,077,287, 81% of which are Catholics. Poland has a population of 38,518,241 90% identify as Catholic. Spain has a population of 40,44,191 94% Catholic. So while you are correct that these two countries do have higher percentages of Catholics, clearly with a population greater than both countries put together the Philippines has easily the larger amount of Catholics.
There are an estimated 145 million Catholics in Brazil - the highest number of any country in the world, representing 74% (International Religious Freedom Report 2005) of the Brazilian population. Yaay what do we win? I like the costume, and there will alwys be someone offended anyways, she could dress as Jesus that I wouldnt have a problem with that. There is a bunch of naughty nuns around and I dont see anyone conplaining.
I think Heidi's evident dedication to replicating an accurate portrayal of Kali shows her respect for the goddess as well as Hinduism. Look at the sensational detail she put into this costume! It's not like she just threw something together for fun and "dressed up" as Kali. Clearly something about the goddess spoke to a part of her and she wanted to show that. She invoked the spirit of what it means to be Kali with this costume and I don't think she owes anybody an apology for being so obviously complimentary.
I think Heidi's evident dedication to replicating an accurate portrayal of Kali shows her respect for the goddess as well as Hinduism. Look at the sensational detail she put into this costume! It's not like she just threw something together for fun and "dressed up" as Kali. Clearly something about the goddess spoke to a part of her and she wanted to show that. She invoked the spirit of what it means to be Kali with this costume and I don't think she owes anybody an apology for being so obviously complimentary.
you might ask yourself, why do deities NEED humans to get offended and do something for them? Too many layers of BS in religion that people don't consider because they turn off their critical thinking.
Remember when Seal blew up at the paparazzi for disrespecting him and his family even though they were just doing their job??? Well F**k Seal, Klum and their whole family. I hope the paparazzi eat them alive. Hypocritical bastards!
Wonder if Ms Klum is liking her four extra seconds of attention, since Kali does not like to be mocked. Yet the outrage is not there among Westerners because they can only think in the terms in which they treat their dieties.. The myraid comments stating "Well, people dress like Jesus" as some sort of justification is missing the point. That is Christianity, and it is a different religion, obviously. Thus, this sorry attempt at an excuse by saying, basically "my Western religion does this, so who cares about Eastern dieties" is narcissistic and irrevalent. Just because your religion allegedly allows mocking of dieties means it is okay, because it is your religion? Sorry, game over. If you dress up as deities for Halloween, it shows your religion is having some real problems. Kali is a fierce diety, and if you want to get into specifics, Ms Klum is only showing Kali in one of her stages. She was never raised in the Hindu tradition and has no idea of what she has done. It is sad she has so little respect for the traditions of other cultures. She wants attention, and she has disrespected and misinterpreted this major Goddess in the most vulgar fashion imaginable. May Mother Kali help her. Bette
In our culture, on Halloween, it is traditional for people to dress up in shocking, frightening, and outlandish costumes. They're offended at Heidi's irreverence for their culture, and I'm offended they they are trying to infringe on my culture.
You live in AMERICA! Your CULTURE is their CULTURE, duh! They live in AMERICA too. I hope other 'culture' infringe on your 'culture' your whole life. Your probably one of those idiots that don't want O'bama to win because his father was Muslim.
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