Its 5 hours before new year's and there is a party being organized to heralding the beginning of a new era. The function is being organized by the children in the society and this being my first time here, i didn't know what to expect.
Half an hour into the program, there was a dance by a group of 4 year old boys followed by one with similarly aged girls. Being an attempt to impress and astound the audience, the songs were remixes of popular bollywood songs which would have been incredible if it hadn't been for the fact that a majority of the songs were filled with lewd innuendos and gross sexual overtones. The reason the parents brush it off lightly is that the children don't know what the song means and consequently no harm can come off of it. But, what they fail to realize is that the harm might not be visible immediately but the children do grow up and they do learn what the song means, rather quickly at that and when they do, they assume the cheers during the performance were specifically due to the song. Encouraging performances that demean and objectify women, especially at the age when children are just beginning to understand the world makes them believe that 'that' is exactly how women are to be treated. These songs often encourage the persistence of a boy to chase after a girl irrespective of her opinion and finally getting his way. Several others show women as the frailer being who needs to be protected and cant survive alone, all of them being nonsensical, even dangerous ideas to encourage.
While correlation and causation are different, the recent rise in incidents against women, be it just rising coverage or a true rise in number 'might' be because of the increased exposure to populist ideas propounding male overlordism. Hardly any movies in English, Telugu or Hindi ( as these are the only two regional languages i know of ) ever possess a female lead who does something beyond staring at the male protagonist and exclaiming at their impossible prowess, unrealistic and unattainable. Yes, there are exceptions, one movie or so in a year, but they are far outnumbered by the 100 other popular movies expounding the idea of male superiority and advertising an impossible image for both the male and female characters.
Yes, movies are meant to have stories with ideal characters, but doesn't that extend beyond the exterior?
Movies with women who are as beautiful as a swan but cant walk ten feet without falling over is NOT ideal, women who cant support themselves is NOT ideal. Men who stalk women and repeatedly confess their love hoping she will accept is NOT ideal, Men built like a tank who are willing to fight ( and hurt) an army of people to prove his love to a girl who does not want him is NOT ideal.The ide that the girl will always fall for the boy is NOT ideal.
It isn't that i hate all movies, nor is it that i dislike the romantic story line so prevalent in movies. What i do despise is that what most movies seem to do, is build an impossible, dangerous image of a character that in the real world would be thrown in a psychiatric ward and call him ideal. This is especially problematic when the songs from these movies which aren't meant to be their selling point turn into just that is encouraged by society. Especially when you see kids, 3-4 years old dancing to these tunes not just in functions but at eateries with the parents and nearby customers encouraging them on.
I despise this but i despise censorship more, so this post is definitely not a call for that. What does need to happen however, is movies should evaluate not what the society wants but what it needs and portray characters who fill that role. A few recent ones come to mind but they still fill a niche category and till they become mainstream and songs go back to being less about innuendos and more about the melody, new year's shall be just another gross continuation of a society caught in a spiral leading to world where everyone feels inadequate and dreams of gender equality are just that.
Half an hour into the program, there was a dance by a group of 4 year old boys followed by one with similarly aged girls. Being an attempt to impress and astound the audience, the songs were remixes of popular bollywood songs which would have been incredible if it hadn't been for the fact that a majority of the songs were filled with lewd innuendos and gross sexual overtones. The reason the parents brush it off lightly is that the children don't know what the song means and consequently no harm can come off of it. But, what they fail to realize is that the harm might not be visible immediately but the children do grow up and they do learn what the song means, rather quickly at that and when they do, they assume the cheers during the performance were specifically due to the song. Encouraging performances that demean and objectify women, especially at the age when children are just beginning to understand the world makes them believe that 'that' is exactly how women are to be treated. These songs often encourage the persistence of a boy to chase after a girl irrespective of her opinion and finally getting his way. Several others show women as the frailer being who needs to be protected and cant survive alone, all of them being nonsensical, even dangerous ideas to encourage.
While correlation and causation are different, the recent rise in incidents against women, be it just rising coverage or a true rise in number 'might' be because of the increased exposure to populist ideas propounding male overlordism. Hardly any movies in English, Telugu or Hindi ( as these are the only two regional languages i know of ) ever possess a female lead who does something beyond staring at the male protagonist and exclaiming at their impossible prowess, unrealistic and unattainable. Yes, there are exceptions, one movie or so in a year, but they are far outnumbered by the 100 other popular movies expounding the idea of male superiority and advertising an impossible image for both the male and female characters.
Yes, movies are meant to have stories with ideal characters, but doesn't that extend beyond the exterior?
Movies with women who are as beautiful as a swan but cant walk ten feet without falling over is NOT ideal, women who cant support themselves is NOT ideal. Men who stalk women and repeatedly confess their love hoping she will accept is NOT ideal, Men built like a tank who are willing to fight ( and hurt) an army of people to prove his love to a girl who does not want him is NOT ideal.The ide that the girl will always fall for the boy is NOT ideal.
It isn't that i hate all movies, nor is it that i dislike the romantic story line so prevalent in movies. What i do despise is that what most movies seem to do, is build an impossible, dangerous image of a character that in the real world would be thrown in a psychiatric ward and call him ideal. This is especially problematic when the songs from these movies which aren't meant to be their selling point turn into just that is encouraged by society. Especially when you see kids, 3-4 years old dancing to these tunes not just in functions but at eateries with the parents and nearby customers encouraging them on.
I despise this but i despise censorship more, so this post is definitely not a call for that. What does need to happen however, is movies should evaluate not what the society wants but what it needs and portray characters who fill that role. A few recent ones come to mind but they still fill a niche category and till they become mainstream and songs go back to being less about innuendos and more about the melody, new year's shall be just another gross continuation of a society caught in a spiral leading to world where everyone feels inadequate and dreams of gender equality are just that.
