Episode 709: Monkey Man!
Transcript!
PDF transcript. Also available via our Buzzsprout page.
Shownotes
(because citations are political)
This episode has no real thesis—except that you can find religion lurking everywhere, including a truly fun, if utterly confusing, action movie starring and directed by Dev Patel.
We talked through our immediate impressions, themes, and utter delight and deep confusion, which included:
Hanuman
the Ramayana
cults, sort of
gurus
hijra communities
Hindu nationalism
and more!
Homework
We didn’t actually assign homework, nerds. It’s a movie date! But we did say we’d supply some background readings so if the themes of the movie were a mystery to you, you could check ‘em out here. Actually, that IS homework. We did in fact assign homework, then.
Ilyse mentioned the Amar Chitra Katha series, a renown (if Hindu fundamentalist) set of comics/graphic novels that tell stories about South Asia’s mythic, historic, and influential stories, personas, and events.
We also suggested or referenced readings about Hanuman:
Philip Lutgendorf. Hanuman's Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey (Oxford 2007)
Lutgendorf, P. (1997). Monkey in the Middle: The Status of Hanuman in Popular Hinduism. Religion, 27(4), 311–332. https://doi.org/10.1006/reli.1997.0095.
“Lord Hanuman was a Sportsperson,” The Times of India December 24, 2018.
A few resources on hijra communities:
Gayatri Reddy, With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India. (Chicago 2005)
“The Third Gender and Hijras,” Hinduism Case STudy. Center for Religion and Public Life. Harvard. 2018.
Jessica Hinchy, Governing Gender and Sexuality in Colonial India: the Hijras, 1850-1900 (Cambridge 2019)
Couple reviews of Monkey Man:
Nitish Patwa, “Monkey Man Has a Bold New Vision.” Slate. April 5, 2024.
Harmeet Kaur, “How ‘Monkey Man’ Offers Another Vision of Hinduism,” CNN. April 15, 2024.
A few resources on Hindu nationalism:
Yasmin Flodin-Ali, “Hindu Nationalism Poses a Threat to Democracy (and to Muslims) in Both India and the US,” Religious Dispatches. December 2024.
Audrey Trushke, “Hindutva’s Dangerous Rewriting of History.”
Religion Is Not Done With You
Our book is available! And if you know anything about contemporary book publishing, those orders really, really matter. We love a local indie store, but you can grab a copy to be delivered on November 5 everywhere and anywhere books are sold.
If you want to have us visit your local bookstore or campus, please reach out to us and Caitlin Meyer, one piece of the rockstar publicity team at Beacon Press.
