My Unconventional TV and Movie Favorites #FridayFuel

In a world of trending content, I danced to my own beat. While classmates jammed to One Direction and Hannah Montana, I was lost in the drama of Kana Kaanum Kaalangal and Office on Vijay TV. Unconventional? Perhaps. But that was my world. I also remember the times I used to religiously watch Mahabharatam, Bharathi Kannamma, and Baakiyalakshmi.

One such current interest is Bigg Boss Tamil Season 7. I can proudly say I don’t watch the show. I catch up with the major happenings on social media. Be it the fact that Pradeep got a red card or Maya and Poornima are part of the “bully” gang, it seems to generate a lot of buzz. I see a lot of hate comments on each personality’s account. Should a reality show be taken so seriously? I don’t understand how a contestant fights so badly with another, and then seems to maintain a coordial relationship out of the house. I jokingly unfriended someone just because they didn’t add me to their ‘close friends’ list in my childhood. Definitely, the shows aim is to create TRP, and they are successful in it. But the viewers getting so flustered to the level that they hurl abuses about contestants is shocking. It is due to this reason that I have stopped watching the show. I remember watching the first season, and after that, things went downhill.

Moreover, I’ve noticed that increasing violent content in Indian shows or movies is frankly disturbing. I recently got access to Amazon Prime and decided to watch as many shows and movies I could. No doubt, I was most interested in exploring Tamil content. I watched good shows like Sweet Karam Coffee and Modern Love: Chennai. But I also watched shows like Vadhandhi and Pizza 3 with content based on violence against women, which is triggering and violative. I watched the trailer of Iraivan and Animal, which had similar content. In all these cases, the victim is humiliated, and the offender delightfully commits the crime. Don’t those exploitative scenes take the audience through this journey of bloodshed? The victim’s humiliation and the offender’s delight of the crime are both highlighted by the camera’s gaze, which does more than just record the act. The voyeuristic images invite the audience to take part in the bloodshed or abuse. Should this content be censored? Or viewers should refrain from watching them if they are bothered by it? What is your opinion?

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