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I can understand why people might object to the historical inaccuracies of the show. This is a strange issue to address, because I tend to have a problem with, for instance, Disney's perpetuating John Smith's Pocahantas myth and completely diregarding the facts. But X:WP is a series which pays absolutely no attention to time. The Greek myths themselves are never told accurately; they meet Homer one day, and then they're at Troy; they're in Ancient Greece, and then they're with Caeser. Ultimately, I think that fans of the show realize that time is one thing that Xena tends to disregard. I wound up writing a rant on this...
But what strikes me most about this accusation from Hindu groups is the supreme hipocracy of attacking inaccurate portrayals of deities on Xena when BOLLYWOOD does that all the time on Hindi movies. Don't even get me started on that one!
Moreover, history changes and varies as time passes. Besides written documents, Hinduism contains a rich oral tradition. As in any oral tradition, stories are passed down and told and modified according to the listener's needs. A story may be told in two completely different ways to people who need different sorts of advice to apply to their lives. My point is that it doesn't truly matter whether something is totally accurate or not. No human work is devoid of error, and when it comes to stories, even divine or historical accounts, I hold the effect that they have on their audience as superior to "accuracy." It's more important to ensure that a story's philosophies shine through to help the listener than quibbling over whether this figure was really here or there during this or that time. "The Way" reportedly conveys Hindu ideals such as ahimsa (nonviolence). In this day of relative cultural sensitivity, the writers have carefully avoided offensive portrayals of Hindu deities. Perhaps the events didn't really happen, but the underlying messages of Hinduism were revealed. So what's the problem?
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Xena: Warrior Princess is © MCA/Universal and whoever else legally owns it. This page is © 1999 shilpa.