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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, November 18, 2003: A reader in Malaysia has alerted HPI to the Hindu aspect of the hit movie, “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” starring Shan Connery. The movie is based on a comic book series of the same name which brings together a variety of fictional characters from past literature. Among these is Nemo, a Hindu, who is a variation of Jules Vernes’ Captain Nemo of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” He is the villain in the movie, and has a spectacular submarine (see the movie’s website at “source” for the short preview of the film) which has Hindu appointments and, our reader pointed out, a very realistic Siva Lingam as the huge submarine’s conning tower. One can see it as the sub surfaces in the preview. It is also a weapon of some sort, though that part isn’t entirely clear to HPI. Our reader complained that the sacred icon was being used as a weapon, and also that in certain parts of the movie, the characters are standing on it. HPI contacted an expert, Jess Nevins, on the comic book series (“LXG” to aficianatoes), and he explained that Nemo was a survivor of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (or “India’s First War of Independence”) and spent most of his time attacking the British. Jess said, speaking only of the comic books, “Nemo, as an Indian survivor of the 1857 Rebellion, would be the worst fear of the British empire: a well-armed, technologically advanced soldier who hates the empire. And so his submarine is full of symbols and statues of various Gods, Nemo professes himself a worshiper of Siva, and Nemo, given the chance, gleefully guns down dozens of British soldiers. It is a kind of racist portrayal–but it is exactly the kind of racist portrayal which a comic book published in Britain in the 1890s would have contained.” The comics are a modern production, but Victorian in style. If you’ve seen the movie and would like to comment on it, kindly e-mail ar@hindu.org.

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