Ever since the onset of daily soaps on television in India, this
industry has been growing bigger everyday. We have experienced this revolution
ourselves, in the past few years. These daily soaps have been a huge source of
entertainment for many, and especially the homemakers of our country at large.
And why not, I believe being a homemaker is a round the clock job and requires
most of the time to be spent at home, managing the day to day lives of the
entire family. These daily soaps provide a way of watching the stories that are
related to society as a whole.
The concepts behind most of these shows are often related to
normal households and its issues or the social issues in the society. While I
think that it is important that we talk about the problems in our society, to
create awareness among people, yet there is another face to these
daily soaps. While trying to bring out the reality of our society and culture,
these daily soaps often make the protagonist of the story an ideal character.
This person is the highlight of the show, and it is this character, around which
the story revolves.
This person they create is someone who is often ideal in
every sense. For reference, let’s call this person “X”. So, X could be a
daughter or a wife or a daughter-in-law or a son or a son-in-law or a husband
or a father or a mother or anyone else. X never lies, X never hurts anyone, X
never does anything incorrect, X is selfless, X can do anything to keep others
happy, X is full of sacrifices, X is almost close to perfect. Is that how you
or I are? Is that how others in our lives are? I don’t think so.
Everyone aspires to be ideal but let’s face the reality, is
it really possible? Real lives do not run on scripts. Real lives run on our own
actions. These shows that portray idealism are not doing anything wrong but
probably the way they affect us subconsciously is what is creating problems. We may
feel once we switch off the TV or change the channel, we forget about those
characters, but actually we don’t. Over a period of time, when we regularly
watch these shows, we begin to internalize them in our real lives. We begin to
relate and compare ourselves and other in our lives with these characters. It
is then that the real issues arise.
I mean come on, think about it, do you really think it would
be right to expect a woman who sleeps late at night after finishing all the
chores to get up early in the morning at 5, get ready with perfectly lined eyes
and perform prayer? Well maybe it is true for some but definitely not everyone
at large. What these things do is, they build up false expectations in the
minds of the viewers. They create an image of a world which in all honesty is a
work of fiction. The core issue behind is all maybe be real but the entire
characterization and drama created to push that issue is simply too much to
handle.
So the next time you watch these shows, watch and forget,
try not to internalize them. Do not build your expectations around those
characters. Daily soaps are meant to entertain you, so get entertained and
forget them. I myself do not like to watch daily shows but those who do, well,
just think about what I said the next time you watch them, you might see my
perspective.
Have a great evening : )
"X" reminds me of mathematical equations
ReplyDeletelol
lol ... that was the idea ... making the whole article a little scientific ... :D
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