‘It’s strange why no one realized this until now about our movies and serials’
The Indian Censor Board has been in the headlines often in recent times, pertaining to unnecessary censorship in movies and even television, which has been deemed as a blatant misuse of power by many.
Some have commented on this erratic behaviour of the censor board calling it a blow to the idea of dissent and free speech, and an attempt to quell any disagreement directors and film makers might have with their perceptions. We recognise the ineffectual and erratic nature of this censorship in India as the times when a James Bond movie had to undergo several cuts and edits to receive the censor board’s approval, while movies where the sexual objectification and general disrespect for a community or section of the society has been allowed to pass through with minimal edits. We also remember the episode on Big Boss, a reality television show, where Pamela Anderson appeared as a guest, and strict censorship immediately demand for a different and late night time slot for the show for that particular episode.
Any religious or political conflict is mostly cut off, or censored to the point of it appearing inconsequential to the audience.
However, we’ll digress from this topic, and hope to revisit it later. Right now, we will talk about an issue haunting those living in the rural areas of our country, and more often than not, who also are people living below the poverty line. One of the consistent themes in the lives of people here, are the rampant belief in superstitions and the propaganda of omen and ominous associations which ought to be feared and ‘nipped at the bud’.
Stories of witch hunting, although sparse in our newspapers, not because of their low probabilities of occurrence, but due to their nature of being unreported to the police and apathetic stand of the locals, have stayed prevalent to this day.
Astrologers with their advice to bring prosperity without efforts, and quacks with their unskilled and immoral practises of playing with their patients’ lives, have grown manifolds over the recent years. These practises however, are not limited to rural areas, but have steadily spread in the urban space, despite the education and posh lifestyle of people, proving once again, that victims of these trades are spread all over the country.
Locals are mostly sympathetic and fear-ridden with these practises, either supporting it actively or passively by staying silent and non-committal. Even the police and administration often turns a blind eye to these circumstances, for fear of upsetting their valuable support and vote banks.
Coming back to the pertaining issue of censorship in television and movie contents, one of the growing trends in Indian television specially, is the advent and spread of myths and stigmas in the contents of most popular daily soaps and other television content. In a country crippled by the ignorance propagated by the belief in various superstitions, this has only added to the harm in our social sphere by portraying various sects of the society in harmful and often regressive perspectives. For example, in one such television show, a titular character has a dialogue that translates to “a woman should only walk out of the threshold of her house at her death”. In the same show any woman who values her independence and voices her opinions openly is said to have a detrimental effect on family values and is considered a carrier of evil, while women who suffer from infertility are burdened with proving their belief in a deity by bearing a child.
One can only shudder at the implications it might have on the working woman of today who choose to prioritise their individuality and career over marriage. Another show portrays terminal patients and people on their deathbed being miraculously cured by divine intervention. In a country where every year a sizable number of snake bite victims and those suffering from other fatal diseases die from lack of treatment because their families would rather take them to quacks and saints than rush them to hospitals, these shows work splendidly at planting the seed of further disbelief in medical practises in the minds of the ignorant.
What we have to ask ourselves, is why the censor boards, and the respective television channels, don’t work at scrapping such movies and shows which feed to the frenzy of superstitions which fuel so many criminal cases of violence and ostracism.
What we have to actively speak out against, are the media content which make use of racism, bigotry, gender segregation and homophobia to sell their shows, repeatedly, and to dire consequences.
