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The Great Indian Kitchen, an in-your-face portrayal of our lives is surprising and not surprising, and I want every man to see this - it's now on Prime, guys, so what's your excuse?
The Great Indian Kitchen, an in-your-face portrayal of our lives is surprising and not surprising, and I want every man to see this – it’s now on Prime, guys, so what’s your excuse?
SPOILERS ALERT
When I started this movie I had an idea in my head that probably there would be a story, a timeline, a plot, characters and their development. What I wasn’t ready for was an hour and half long enactment of our lives.
I’m not reviewing the movie. There is nothing in the movie to review. This isn’t a movie. This is a documentary. This should straight away be part of basic primary education. There. That’s how important it is.
What I do want to talk about (or rather scream about) is how every single second of this has been such a traumatic ride, that the line between protagonist washing the dishes and me washing was blurred. At one point that kitchen didn’t belong to her alone. It was universal.
Every woman in this movie is either cooking, washing the dishes, thinking of cooking, talking about cooking or smelling their hands from the stench of waste after cooking. It’s fucking enraging and completely stupid how nothing and everything about this movie surprised me. I hate how this movie didn’t shock me at all. Nothing about this is fiction. I hate that fact.
I hate how everyone and myself included is suggesting men see this movie. But I hate it more that even after this movie nothing will change. They have found their way around manipulating women into believing that they are trying to help or be considerate, but that they are helpless because of some ingrained societal values that they don’t have the fucking guts to break.
Every man in this movie is real. No man is a character that is created to enhance the storyline. Every man in every frame is present out there in millions.
Whether it’s the husband who pushes something as mediocre as just ‘calling the plumber’ for later until living with a broken sink becomes a habit, or the father in law who doesn’t like the ‘modern times’ and has the superpowers to differentiate between rice cooked in a cooker and rice cooked on fire or clothes washed in machine or washed by hand, or that absolute nut case of a male relative who takes it upon himself to fucking teach you how to make tea, and thinks only cooking is the major portion of a women’s job in the kitchen, cleaning and clearing up the mess is not exactly work.
Also, it’s more horrible how every tactic that men in this movie have used is so familiar. When the husband says that it’s their father so giving him the toothbrush is a small act and to make the wife feel that if she can’t do it he can do it. It’s so fucking clear. He won’t do it. He just wants to make her feel like it’s such a small job, but if she feels bad about being hesitant, he can guilt her into doing it anyway.
When she talks about her discomfort of sex being painful to her and whether he can consider foreplay, this whole scene was so fucking traumatic and hurtful I wanted to go inside the screen and create chaos. Why why why do men think it’s shameful for a woman to be aware of her sexual needs and demand it, and by what right can they make us feel ashamed about this?
I had to pause multiple times throughout the movie cause I couldn’t take it anymore. Doesn’t help that I saw this late at night and the silence just put me in a small closed space mentally.
This was our mothers and grandmothers and every woman out there who can’t keep herself out of the kitchen, whether hers or anyone else’s.
Anyone else becomes angry when we visit somebody else’s house and the first to get up to help clean are the women from the guests? Hahaha. Fucking annoying right?
Women will go berserk after watching this. This in your face portrayal of our lives is surprising and not surprising and I want every man to see this and yet I don’t care if you don’t. I’m not expecting anybody to change. I’ve given up.
I just want every woman to see this, and to save some sink water from time to time, to put to some good use.
Tarannum is a feminist who is currently pursuing her CA. She loves to read, write, and watch movies. Cooks rarely, eats more than regularly. And is always trying hard to behave her age. read more...
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