Misogyny in Bollywood: Is the Indian film industry influencing the country’s rape culture?
Disclaimer
In light of the the ‘Bois Locker Room’ incident and the plethora of other cases like that, many members of India’s youth have been talking about the need to provide sex education to the current generation. However, I feel another great influencer of India’s filthy rape culture is Bollywood. This post talks about the need to eradicate glorified misogyny in Bollywood. I would like to state that the following is only my opinion and I am hereby not stating or distorting facts.
The Kabir Singh controversy
Before I begin to nitpick, I would like to say that I loved Kabir Singh. It was a film which was arguably Shahid Kapoor’s best performance. The Film possessed a powerful story, with authentic characterisation and a scintillating music album. It also highlights issues such as society’s disapproval for marriage and drug addiction. I feel it was one of the best films of 2019 and all of the film's faults can not undermine it’s well deserved success. However, it has a few problems.
To begin with, there were two main opinions regarding Kabir Singh and they stood radically opposed to one another. One side said that Kabir Singh glorifies misogyny and it basically sums up the reality of a male-dominated Indian culture. The other side said that Kabir Singh merely exercises it’s right to cinematic freedom and portrays a problematic and realistic character with excellent precision. I understand both sides of the argument, but…
Now the issue with Kabir Singh is that even if Kabir does something morally wrong, he still gets what he wants. During the introductory scene of Kabir Singh, we witness Kabir pointing a knife at a girl asking her to take off her clothes. While, this cinematic freedom is allowed, it is not right to play a pacy, adrenaline inducing soundtrack while this is happening to glorify his actions. This means Kabir is being shown as a hero for his actions. I remember I was in the cinema hall and as this scene played out there was constant hooting. It was as if Kabir’s behaviour was being celebrated.
Kabir obsesses over Preethi, tells her what to do and kisses her the moment he meets her. What punishment did Kabir receive for such blatantly misogynistic behaviour? None. He was rewarded for it because she fell in love with them. This celebrates the behaviour that when a man wants something, he will get it, even if it means dominating his female counterpart. The first time Preethi properly speaks is towards the interval of the film. The film has a scene where Kabir slaps Preethi and instead of fighting for herself, she begs for his mercy. All of this would have been slightly (very slightly) more acceptable, if Kabir had realised his mistake towards the end of the film and apologised for his misogynstic behaviour. But instead he just says they are made for each other and they fall in love again. I hope you understand my point of view. There is the freedom to portray problematic characters, but this freedom shouldn’t lead to these characters being glorified as heroes. They shouldn’t be set up as cool, charming role models.
The sexist concept of ‘Item Songs’
We have all been accustomed to women dressed in scanty clothes dancing around drunk men. These misogynistic songs are what we call item songs. Only made for the sole purpose of gaining revenue and popularity, these songs are met with cheering in halls. While this may be a promotion gimmick, some bright minds of this country feel it is their right to treat women like the men in these item songs. It’s also hard not to mention the vulgar lyrics these songs have. For example -? Boycotting films that endorse such horrific female objectification is one way to eradicate male dominance in today’s film industry.
Obsession and stalking by men in Bollywood
We have witnessed many a times that a man sees a woman who he finds attractive at first sight. He then goes on to tell his friends and together they stalk her, extract personal information about her and obsess over her. And all of this is justified in the name of love at first sight. One of the most celebrated and remembered films of India’s golden era of Bollywood is Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). This film tells us that it is okay for a man to stalk a woman if he can convince her to fall in love with him. To make matters worse, the best way to treat this woman is to reject her just so her father can be the one deciding whether she can marry him or not, highlighting her complete lack of choice in this situation.
Another example of this grotesque behaviour is Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017). Varun Dhawan plays a stalker who is violent, who harasses and even kidnaps the woman he obsessed over, despite her constant refusal. The girl is shown to tolerate this behaviour and even fall in love with him. When such behaviour is rewarded with the girl falling in love with the man, a sector of the Indian population feel that they have the right over a girl without her consent. We need to stop celebrating and appreciating such films.
Section 375: An exemplary work of realism
Section 375 (2019) focuses on the premise that a film director is accused of raping a costume assistant. This film could have been just a well-made courtroom drama which supports the female side of things. However, it also highlights the misuse of the #MeToo movement. Despite this, it doesn’t glorify either the man’s point of view or the female’s point of view. At the end of the film, you are not rooting for either characters, but you understand that rape accusations can go either way and making early judgement is something which can lead to distorted information. This fine work should be held as an example for how to treat complex and sensitive subject matters like rape.