Ever since the rape of the Mumbai journalist a month ago has again put India on the center of the map, Bollywood actress Kalki Koelchin and VJ Juhi Pande teamed up together with Indian comedy group called All India Bakchod. The video went viral on Youtube but surprisingly was only mentioned briefly on my Facebook without any comments or reaching the same popularity that many other videos have received. As we live and breathe in the digital era, this does provoke concerns and thought because India continues to be viewed as a dangerous country for women. It also provokes questions about how we receive and process information and news.
Kalki Koelchin via Firstpost
© Nidhi Shrivastava 2014 This content is subject to copyrights. Please ask for my permission before using this content for any purpose.
The Satirical video is called "It's Your Fault" and has received more than 1, 25,000 hits in India but did not receive much attention from my observation that it needed because the video while capitalizing on humor does invoke important issues and both the actresses perform their lines with a smile.
According to a fellow blogger and critic who has written for The Hindu has observed, "The part that irritates me about most apparently well-meaning TV shows, campaigns, cinema, and some written features on India’s rape/violence against women culture is that many of them unwittingly belittle the issue with tasteless, needless hyperbole. News channels do it via a silly choice of ominous or tragic background music, as if any music could possibly make us feel worse about a woman having an iron rod pushed up her vagina. In print, sometimes even news reports take it too far with judgmentality (for example this report on an honour killing which feels the need to include phrases like "Billu, the remorseless father of Nidhi" or "parents have not even filed a complaint")."
Juhi Pande via The Hindu
The video starts with Kalki addressing, "Ladies, do you think rape is something men do out of a desire for control empowered by years of patriarchy. You clearly been mislead by the notion that women are people too, because let's face it ladies. Rape, It's your Fault."
The video targets all the stereotypes and also engages with the law - where - it all boils down to victim blaming. Furthermore, it also pokes humor at many critics who said that the woman who was raped in December 2012 could have prevented the rape by shouting "bhaiya" (brother) and mocks statements made by politicians, gurus, and other people who blame that women trigger rape and bring it upon themselves. Within a span of 3 minutes and 36-second footage, the video addresses popular topics like wearing provocative clothing, marital rape, late night parties, and going out for dates as means by which women bring rape and violence unto themselves.
Rohan Joshi, who was one of the stand-up comedians spoke to IBT and said, "We want to contribute positively to the conversation about the subject. We hope it makes some people feel like idiots, and we also hope it tells women that we're not all idiots; a lot of us are on your side, and will always be vocal about it,"
Why I want to draw attention to this particular video? There are multiple significant reasons I find this video an important contribution in the dialogue of Indian rape and popular culture.
- Although this video may take humor as a plot device to invoke affect/emotions/reactions, it draws and highlights important issues that we need to think about when it comes to rape studies. How else can we provoke change without addressing it?
- India's current situation especially when it comes to vulnerability of women is a topic that many do not want to engage or discuss, but solutions do not come by themselves especially if we are the ones living the privileged lives while only a few resources are made available to the victims. I.e. In the Delhi rape case 2012, the victim and her friend were left bleeding and naked without help for 45 minutes. I am not saying that we are to blame, but it seems to be too touchy a topic which people refrain from speaking about.
- It also brings us to think about different ways in which we can bring into discussion these important issues. Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate was one of the shows that really brought these impending issues upfront.
- How can we make laws and train people to implement them? What type of developmental resources do we need to provoke the change?
Source: Ibtimes.co.in, buzzfeed.com, and indianexpress.com
© Nidhi Shrivastava 2014 This content is subject to copyrights. Please ask for my permission before using this content for any purpose.
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