Reel and real life connect

We all love movies, don’t we? They take us to a different, often unrealistic, world where everything becomes alright to make for a happy ending. Movies are meant for entertainment purposes and mostly there is always a clear distinction between the reel world and the real world. When socially undesirable or unacceptable situations take place, it is often shrugged off with the saying ‘anything can happen in movies’.

But it isn’t always so. Movies mirror reality. They are the reflection of society. Some movies strive hard to change the social scenario of our country and give out poignant messages through their art. However, these realities are often put under cover within the tag of the ‘unrealistic’. But it has to be noted, no activity, behaviour, situation, for that matter, nothing is isolated from the larger social context. If on the one hand movies showcase the real life, on the other hand, real life is also greatly influenced by cinema. The emulation and fan following of superstars is self-explanatory in this context.

Movies do generate awareness about certain social ills but it also breeds social opinions. Item songs are a very explicit way of ‘objectifying’ women. With the growing popularity of these songs, nearly every film features an item number. Apart from the foot-tapping music, what else does it give us? It gives us a social perception. It provides us with a worldview to look at women as objects. The lyrics of these songs are no less surprising. Comparing women to ‘tandoori murgi’ is grossly disgusting. The way these women are treated in the song is taken on by younger boys as imitation. And this is precisely the justification they give!

Typically in Bollywood movies, the hero casually gets away with any criminal offence if his intent is good and of course, the fearless, merciless villain doesn’t really care about the law. Their( film-makers) basic intention is to project the victory of good over evil. But in this run, they actually end up promoting non-obedience to law. And it comes as no surprise that a recurrent debate issue is that movies breed violence. Of course, if a young person will see her/his favourite actor being easily let off for a grave crime, he will necessarily be encouraged!

In the last episode of Satyamev Jayate Season 3, Aamir Khan emphasized the role that cinema needs to play recognizing the influence they have over their audience. He attacked the practice of persistently going after the girl even after her refusal to the man’s proposal. There are many such vague acts which through repetition have the potential to turn into an inflexible norm.

A simple question- why do we like some films? Precisely because we can relate to them. So if you are going through a particular phase in your life and a movie is based on the same, you will take something from it and that something could actually be very wrong but since movies are for entertainment, your stupidity in modeling what is shown in the movie can quite easily put to blame. The audience is not ‘meant’ to practice what they see on screen, according to film-makers who make such films, but the actuality of the situation is that they do!

The very tagline that movies are meant for entertainment is wrong. They might be meant for it but they have an unprecedented impact on the audience and specially the younger generation. Cinema in fact shoulders immense responsibility towards the society and anything that any movie depicts must be carefully scrutinized and its effects must be analyzed before including it in the actual movie. The movie stars, if they want to, can actually bring about change since they have a huge fan following and ardent fans who are ready to obey whatever they do or say. They must take advantage of this very fact and cultivate realistic, fair and unbiased social views.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. Spectralhues is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. The information, facts or opinions expressed in the article do not reflect the views of Spectralhues and Spectralhues does not take any responsibility or liability for the same.

• About the Author

About Manleen Bawa

It is a very daunting task for me to describe myself. I feel that there isn’t any one particular kind of thing that can truly define me. So, I am the kind of person who will very blatantly speak her mind, shoving away all signs of coming across as rude. I am also the kind who might tell you that you look quite pretty today just because I know how good that will make you feel about yourself. I am the kind of person who will often lose herself in the beauty of a book while completely oblivious to the world around me. I am also the kind of person who will try to devote as much time to others (people I love and care about) as I possibly can. What makes us human are our complexities. So, rather than being a strict prototype of a certain way of life, be complex. Be human.