So I'm back after a hiatus which I didn't take voluntarily to mull over my thoughts or to discover who I really am and all, I just had my exams. One of the side effects of studying for five months continuously is that you run out of ideas and topics worth writing about on the blog you created so enthusiastically. So after a lot of floundering and one draft post which I'm too hesitant to post, I'm presenting to you this post.
Now the media, be it films or advertisements. Sometimes what they showcase really irks the hell out of me. Because its the same concept, the one idea of some filmmaker becoming the ultimate archetype and no one ever wants to dabble even in something different. Here are some stereotypes that I really wish would wane away in the near future
Advertisements about fairness creams and silky hair
Now if you see those ads, there is just one plot. There is a girl in college and her face seems good enough but there is this exaggerated dose of makeup to make her face look oilier than normal. Then there is this guy that doesn't want to ask her to some party or that guy makes fun of her face. Then some other girl who has benefitted from the fairness cream gives her advice and she comes back looking all unnaturally ethereal, not like a girl that goes to a regular college.
I mean just realistically, if some strange guy came and made fun of you, I'm sure you'd have better things to do than go and become fairer. I would personally have my fun ragging back at him or asking him what his real concern about my complexion was.Like there was this ad, for some hair smoothening shampoo, where the guy makes some snide comment about the girl's hair, but she does have a comeback which she reserves until she becomes all silky haired. Why not just use that pretty witty comeback on him then and there.!
Fat friends
This is a trend that I have observed in Tamil films more
These days Vidyu Raman, a good supporting actress in the South, is seen in almost every film as the heroine's friend/sidekick/comedian. She invariably plays the friend of every lead actress here, like Hansika in some not-worth mentioning movie or Samantha in Neethane en ponvasantham. Her character was actually more interesting and she had a much better personality than the lead actresses in both these films. But the hero has to fall for the slim one, which is okay. But why always cast a fat girl as the friend, because the hero shouldn't have any confusion as to whom to pick? Why can't they cast two slim women, whose chances with guys are stronger apparently, and have the hero fall for the girl with the better character. I am a feminist , but I'm backing men here. I'm pretty sure not all men go for women just based on looks, they also see character.
"Bubbly" girls
Okay see, I love Jab we met and Kareena played her part brilliantly. Similarly, I loved Bommarillu/Santhosh Subramanian and Genelia was great in it. But in real life, if someone behaves like that, all hyper and "living in the moment"and acting on an impulse, it really irritates and looks mighty fake. I actually prefer people who keep shut to those that start talking to you as though they have known you for years, within five minutes of meeting you. I totally get Shahid Kapoor when he yells at Kareena as she goes on babbling. These things look good on celluloid, in real life, I'd run away from such people. And I am telling you, Im not the only one feeling this way. So I think this stereotype of guys falling for girls that behave stupidly again, should go away asap. I'd judge a guy that falls for women who very obviously is only trying to ape these onscreen characters.
Fat=Funny
Especially with women, there is a tendency to cast fat actresses as the comedians. Now that's not fair to thin people. They can be funny too. But name one funny thin comedian woman we know in India. It's not that thin women aren't funny, its just that they are never allowed to show that side of theirs because that will accomplish the sin of overshadowing their beauty and glamor quotient, to which only they are entitled. Thin women can also be witty and funny
Boys don't study well
Dhanush, in all his films, plays a college / school dropout that can't study for peanuts. Most guys in movies, follow the girls around, stalk them and lose out on their studies after which they proudly announce that they have failed. No one has ever deigned to show a girl as a weak student or someone that doesn't care about studies. She always passes or tops and falls for the guy that fails, funnily. The guys that surround me are big time bookworms and many are All India Toppers in CA final and all, thats a tough course to even crack man! So yeah, guys do study well and yes girls are definitely good, good enough to also have the sense not to fall for feckless guys that won't be able to earn. Love is not that blind also.
So these were some exasperatingly boring stereotypes that I would like to stop witnessing. Some stereotypes are really fun and harmless, like how every hero has the energy in him to beat up the much more physically capable villain, how when even Dhanush kicks someone they go flying in the air, thats all good. How Vijay and Ajith spit vitriol at each other through their punch dialogues. Let that never go away, let that always be there, that's the essence of Tamil Cinema :)
Now the media, be it films or advertisements. Sometimes what they showcase really irks the hell out of me. Because its the same concept, the one idea of some filmmaker becoming the ultimate archetype and no one ever wants to dabble even in something different. Here are some stereotypes that I really wish would wane away in the near future
Advertisements about fairness creams and silky hair
Now if you see those ads, there is just one plot. There is a girl in college and her face seems good enough but there is this exaggerated dose of makeup to make her face look oilier than normal. Then there is this guy that doesn't want to ask her to some party or that guy makes fun of her face. Then some other girl who has benefitted from the fairness cream gives her advice and she comes back looking all unnaturally ethereal, not like a girl that goes to a regular college.
I mean just realistically, if some strange guy came and made fun of you, I'm sure you'd have better things to do than go and become fairer. I would personally have my fun ragging back at him or asking him what his real concern about my complexion was.Like there was this ad, for some hair smoothening shampoo, where the guy makes some snide comment about the girl's hair, but she does have a comeback which she reserves until she becomes all silky haired. Why not just use that pretty witty comeback on him then and there.!
Fat friends
This is a trend that I have observed in Tamil films more
These days Vidyu Raman, a good supporting actress in the South, is seen in almost every film as the heroine's friend/sidekick/comedian. She invariably plays the friend of every lead actress here, like Hansika in some not-worth mentioning movie or Samantha in Neethane en ponvasantham. Her character was actually more interesting and she had a much better personality than the lead actresses in both these films. But the hero has to fall for the slim one, which is okay. But why always cast a fat girl as the friend, because the hero shouldn't have any confusion as to whom to pick? Why can't they cast two slim women, whose chances with guys are stronger apparently, and have the hero fall for the girl with the better character. I am a feminist , but I'm backing men here. I'm pretty sure not all men go for women just based on looks, they also see character.
"Bubbly" girls
Okay see, I love Jab we met and Kareena played her part brilliantly. Similarly, I loved Bommarillu/Santhosh Subramanian and Genelia was great in it. But in real life, if someone behaves like that, all hyper and "living in the moment"and acting on an impulse, it really irritates and looks mighty fake. I actually prefer people who keep shut to those that start talking to you as though they have known you for years, within five minutes of meeting you. I totally get Shahid Kapoor when he yells at Kareena as she goes on babbling. These things look good on celluloid, in real life, I'd run away from such people. And I am telling you, Im not the only one feeling this way. So I think this stereotype of guys falling for girls that behave stupidly again, should go away asap. I'd judge a guy that falls for women who very obviously is only trying to ape these onscreen characters.
Fat=Funny
Especially with women, there is a tendency to cast fat actresses as the comedians. Now that's not fair to thin people. They can be funny too. But name one funny thin comedian woman we know in India. It's not that thin women aren't funny, its just that they are never allowed to show that side of theirs because that will accomplish the sin of overshadowing their beauty and glamor quotient, to which only they are entitled. Thin women can also be witty and funny
Boys don't study well
Dhanush, in all his films, plays a college / school dropout that can't study for peanuts. Most guys in movies, follow the girls around, stalk them and lose out on their studies after which they proudly announce that they have failed. No one has ever deigned to show a girl as a weak student or someone that doesn't care about studies. She always passes or tops and falls for the guy that fails, funnily. The guys that surround me are big time bookworms and many are All India Toppers in CA final and all, thats a tough course to even crack man! So yeah, guys do study well and yes girls are definitely good, good enough to also have the sense not to fall for feckless guys that won't be able to earn. Love is not that blind also.
So these were some exasperatingly boring stereotypes that I would like to stop witnessing. Some stereotypes are really fun and harmless, like how every hero has the energy in him to beat up the much more physically capable villain, how when even Dhanush kicks someone they go flying in the air, thats all good. How Vijay and Ajith spit vitriol at each other through their punch dialogues. Let that never go away, let that always be there, that's the essence of Tamil Cinema :)
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