THE CANCEL CULTURE!
“HOW CAN THIS PERSON DO THIS?”
“HOW CAN THEY THINK LIKE THIS?
“HOW CAN THEY SAY THIS”
“LET’S BOYCOTT!”
“IT’S SABOTAGE TIME!!”
How many times have we chanced upon the aforementioned statements on the internet? Almost everyday.
The Internet today is replete with a bunch of people wanting to have something boycotted ASAP.
One glance over the popular social media platform, Twitter, will tell you a better story than what my words can put forth.
I recently came across one, #BOYCOTTKAREENAKHAN, and there I knew, I would have something to write about. Remember when ‘#’ was used merely as a number sign? Good old days, because now every time I see that symbol, I sense a threat of varying range.
The first instinct is that of fear and anxiety, because that’s what this symbol represents today — Overly sensitive, utterly frivolous, shockingly prevailing
Anyways, back to the boycott culture. The moment I saw the above mentioned trending topic, I was tempted to check out the bulk of information that is usually unpleasant. I was taken aback in a jiffy reading the tweets associated with this hashtag. Hindi film actor, Kareena Kapoor was called out for ‘apparently’ being approached to portray the role “Maa Sita” in yet another movie adaptation of Ramayana.
The moment I saw the derogatory tweets, I was convinced that reverse evolution is at play. But this is a layered issue, isn’t it? Let’s look into some of the layers.
Firstly, I want to be sure as to many more adaptations of the great epics are we going to be presented with? I don’t mean disrespect whatsoever, but to have another in the foray is just incomprehensible. We do have many adaptations already, perhaps, we need a complete revamp and be presented with a take on historical and mythological events. Not too much to ask for, as the movie industry is by and large expected to harness imagination. Alas.
Secondly, is there a dearth of stories in India? I really do not think so. If one has an insatiable appetite for stories, India is the apropos land for them. There are stories emanating from every nook and corner. Stories don’t necessarily mean that they have to emerge from the books of history, not taking away from the fact how splendid historic tales are, but there are stories fashioned every passing minute of the day. But anyway, paying heed to the occlusions, let’s only focus on history for now. Movie industry hasn’t properly focused on the diverse history of the land, presumably. No wonder there’s a dearth of stories to be depicted in movies. Dismal to say the least.
Finally, and most importantly. How dare we? How dare we demand for a piece of art to be boycotted? It’s blasphemous when I have to read these hashtags almost everyday. The boycott culture has risen significantly over the past few years, especially with the galloping social media trends, it’s become rather convenient to call for a ban. Sure, the culture has been prevalent since a very long time; when effigies of famous celebrities, sports persons, and others were burnt mercilessly, right in front of their houses, much to the torment of their families. But because it’s been a part of our fabric for a long time, it doesn’t mean it’s right. We have scorned the idea then, and we continue to scorn it now. But it appears that there are folks who still want to augment this unmitigated violence in the name of sanctitude.
But what they fail to realize is that they’re doing just the opposite. What a cruel irony when we reprimand something; when we call for it to be banned; when we unleash rage in the name of protecting farce principles, just because we are not comfortable with the said idea. The reason we call for a ban shows how insecure we are and how fragile our tenets are. It would take a lifetime to truly understand why we would want something banned. On the contrary, we should use the liberty to tell a better story, if we don’t agree with other’s depictions. But simply having something banned for our personal issues is unacceptable.
Twitter houses many such impudent and preposterous demands. Gone are the days, when twitter was simply viewed as a micro blogging site, projected to be of use to people with great ideas, but now with the excessive connectivity and networking, it seems that we have only resorted to insinuate, presume, and jump to conclusions.
We cannot let these lepers cast a grim shadow on our being, for this idea of boycotting and banning serves no good. Let’s start with not getting intimidated.
