Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Movies - Are they really reflecting the society

After viewing the movies today, a question that arises in the mind is - Is it the movies that are shaping the society or the other way round. The violence, love, betrayal etc. shown in the movies reflect what's happening in the society, or is it leading the society into making that happen. Everyone will have their own opinion on the matter. the bollywood & many of those supporting it feels that the movies simply reflect the society. They simply add some storyline to streamline it into a story (for the movie). Well may be its true. But is it really the entertainment we need.

Lets consider the romantic bollywood movies for example (Because its the most common theme in Bollywood). In most of the cases, its the same storyline - the boy & the girl are in love & want to marry, but either their parents or some other relatives or friends are not in favor. the movie shows the boy as a hero who takes the girl with him, fights everyone & in the end takes the girl with him against the will of others. Or in some cases its like "The parents will agree after the marriage anyhow. They can't stay mad with us for long". Agreed, that it might be happening in certain parts of the country, so whats the harm in showing it in the theater? Well, the concern here is that the things that were limited to certain parts of the country are now well known to everyone across the country. The younger generation especially is taken away with it and feels the compulsion to try the same themselves. Result - even those who would not have ever gone against their parents, now want to govern their own life and the parents are no longer consulted by them. The 'foreign' (Typically not considered as part of Indian culture) culture that was struggling to exist in the country has now become a part of the young blood. So, has the movie(s) really reflected the state of existing society?


It would not be correct to say that all the movies are having negative influence on the society. But the true family movies like "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" (its just the first name that came in mind - no offence) are very rare now a days. Ok, the movies like "Taare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots etc." are there but are only handful in number. 

Consider the bollywood movies once again. The hero in the movies kills numerous people (ok the bad ones) and what the public does - clap on the killings. The villian violates the girl(s) in the movies (ok not shown so explicitly in bollywood till date), and walks away at least at that time. 'Sex before Marriage' is not uncommon in the movies now a days. Consider the same in movies like "Dill Dosti, Salaam Namaste, or recent flick - Band Baaja Baraat" and the way it is shown; is it really a part of our society or have we really become indifferent to it becoming a part of our culture? Now is it truly reflecting the society & even if yes, is it really worthy to be shown in the public. Agreed that the mature ones can understand the difference between the fiction & the reality, but are the kids & the teens ready for this? Are they really isolated from watching such movies in general? If we visit some school now a days, the kids (leave alone the teens of senior secondary schools and the adults) are using the offensive languages as a routine part off their conversation, which was hardly the case - say a decade back. The 'tapori' kind of language used in movies like "Munnabhai" have become a part of their life. The innocence of the kids is lost far too early since they are watching whats happening in the society (i.e. movies as we say it). Is it really the entertainment & the society we want

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