Miss India Georgia

"There she is, Miss...India Georgia?" Presently some 200,000 people of Indian or Pakistani descent live in the American South, and believe it or not, a small number participate in their own version of one of America's oddest institutions--the beauty pageant. Filmmakers Daniel Friedman and Sharon Grimberg follow four contestants--ranging from a dutiful daughter named Nisha to the little-miss-rich-girl spoiled Mini. Comprised primarily of interviews with the girls and their parents and footage of dance practice, dress selection, and the Big Night, Miss India Georgia reveals a fairly wide gap between the generations. One young woman named Amu attends a nice all-girl school (alumni: Barbara Bush and Kate Jackson; the former, George's angel, the latter Charlie's), seems well-adjusted, and speaks intelligently and eloquently of her ambitions and goals. Contrast this comment in halting English from Amu's pop: "We want our children to be exposed only to the things we want." (My gut feeling is that South Park would not make the cut.) Of course, considering India's heinous treatment of women, it's not terribly surprising that the freedom of the average American teenage girl (roughly one-fourth to one-half that of the average American teenage boy) should create a tiny bit of friction in a newly Americanized Indian family. As an interesting slice of cross-cultural and cross-generational life, this is warmly recommended for larger collections. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)