I couldn’t think of a better title to the post because I am girl.
Oh! did that sound ridiculous? If yes, then you haven’t watched much of indian cinema. If no, then you know what I am talking about.
Before I start of with, lets all take a look at the link below.
Common now! What are these people talking about? I mean, what is so wrong in people stereotyping girls as weak and dumb species? *pffhhhhh*
Or Am I wrong here? Isn’t it how it is supposed to be? OK, we all know cinemas speak a lot about our day to day life, at least thats what is believed in India. So, lets just take a tour of Indian cinema to show how wrong these people are for asking us to be what we are.
To start of with, as far as I can remember most of the movies show the lead female characters as nicely dressed up woman with such neatly done make up. I mean with the whole package, lipstick, face creams, mascara, eyeliner, etc., etc.,. Now wait, all the characters? I mean even female leads who are shown to come from BPL families?? and the answer is yes. BPL is defined as people who cannot afford the day to day basic needs, it does not talk about make-up items. So, yes they can afford all branded creams, lip wears and everything. Then, she makes an appearance in the film only to fall in love with the hero and it really doesn’t matter to her if he is a rowdy or a gangster. All she wants is for the lead male character to say the “magical”, “heavenly” three words – I Love you and hoila! She is all his.
This scene would undoubtedly be followed by a song sequence, where the heroine would be dancing with bare minimum dress on her in some European country/ USA/ Australia at the temperature of around 0 degree celsius (You know, India is what is shown in Slumdog Millionaire. How can they shoot a nice sequence in the slums of Mumbai?). Hold on! How can a person dance at such low temperatures with minimal clothes on them? I understand your question. Any normal person would wear at least 2 jackets at such temperatures, but wait, we are talking about supernatural people who can afford Lakmé and Olay when they have nothing to eat. So it is possible. And there is always time for a nice romantic song right. I mean who wouldn’t want to have a duet in cold, romantic places when the heroine’s brother or the hero’s best friend just died ( Ayan and Ko – Tamil movies).
(Making a list of all such movies would probably result in a book that is the size of a standard oxford dictionary).
Hey now we do have movies where the lead female actor has an important role, you know like Ghajini. Yes, agreed. But think of what happens to Asin. She plays the role of a daring young girl in the movie and finally she is chased and killed half way through the movie. This is what happens when female actors steal the focus away from the hero. No way it can happen. Isn’t that why a lead female actor’s name always comes after the lead male actor’s name? *pfffhhh*
Lets just stop for a moment and take a look at Mani Ratnam’s Roja, Kanthil Muthamittal (A peck on the cheek), etc., Now don’t those movies have genuine stories with equal roles for all the leads? Chuck those movies, they don’t know what they are talking about and besides the total number of such movies are so meager. We need not worry about them. Also directors have made sure that movies like Queen will not happen in future. How can girls be independent! Ridiculous.
Now, coming back to our main question. After picturing from ages that girls neither have a life nor do they play a major role in anybody’s life , how can these people expect us to grow strong and independent? *pffhhhh* They really need to get some perspective right? I know! All I can say is “Its not happening anytime soon guys, definitely not in India.” 😛
P.S- With all the sarcasm aside, I am definitely not advocating feminism here. All I am trying to say is it’s high time that we rethink our motion pictures and stories. Not necessarily are all girls crazy about shopping, not necessarily do all girls care about their appearance and most importantly a girl does care about her career, loves to pursue her interests and is emotionally and physically strong. Cinema is a powerful mass media and it should be used in the right way to spread good morals and to inspire people to rise as a society. Lets stop stereotyping and make sure that it is not a gateway for any kind of chauvinism! 🙂
Maha~
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