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The Oscars, like other things, show trends — certain long established understandings and interpretations, which are ultimately not easy to counter, that is, if at all we agree that they need to be. This year Ang Lee gets Best Director for his Life of Pi. Lee is a top director and the idea here is not to put the question mark on the film itself as to discuss a certain kind of film, and a certain kind of vision, which has over the years signified 'India' to the average western audience. As well, this kind of film looks good on paper for a certain humanist/human interest motivation which bodies like the Academy are keen to uphold.