Much has now been written about the film All We Imagine As Light and the erudite men in charge of deciding who represents India at the Oscars. I don’t doubt their intentions, of course, and assume they know what they’re talking about because talented male filmmakers from India have long been qualified to comment on most things under the sun. They do this anyway, every other week, even when they aren’t asked for an opinion. Luckily, this time around, the Film Federation folk helpfully explained their decision, clarifying that their choice was based upon the fact that a great film just wasn’t Indian enough.

It isn’t the first time an argument like this has been made, and I suspect it won’t be the last either, given how so much of the past decade has been spent defining and re-defining what India means. Indianness, patriotism, nationalism—these have been important topics for a while, which is presumably why India hasn’t had much time for stuff like managing unemployment or reaching those trillion-dollar economic goals announced in 2014. It’s also why the rupee is falling faster than standards do in Parliament. The reason for this obsession isn’t surprising though; it is common amongst all insecure people and nations.