Idiocity of the idiot box

Everybody who knows me even a li’l bit, knows that I am a major tv buff. I can watch just about anything. I watch so many daily soaps and if I cant watch them, I will read written episode updates. Yes, I am that bad. Although watching TV has reduced now. I prefer reading the updates at lunchtime and I watch American tv series it night during dinner. If Bigg Boss is on, then, well, Bigg boss during dinner. 😀

In 10th and 12th, during mandatory board-preps-cable-cutting time, I made a giant fuss about it all happening! But did it deter my tv watching? Nope, sir. I switched to watching crap on Doordarshan. Moo and I still sing ‘Sabka pyara, Nandu apna’. I still remember shows like Miss India, Kadambari, Aankhein, Kunti, etc. They were legendary to say the least! Hehehe.

You should see my mom when she watches tv. She usually hates the heroine for being miss goody two shoes. She used to get so agitated while watching Balika Vadhu at Anandi. She calls her super stupid and ‘ekdum thandi’(cold). Specially the first adult Anandi. It looked like she was sleep walking and talking.

The whole reason that my mom and I get mad at serials are the very regressive portrayals of women and society. We did not have cable tv till my 6th standard I think. But there were some amazing shows on Doordarshan Metros and cable tv alike that showed women to be strong willed and independent. Hasratein was an example where a woman goes after an affair and breaks her marriage. Saans showed a woman gathering her life again and tying up all the loose ends after her husband has an affair. She never took him back, rather lived quite independently. Tara had the protagonist going for the kill and so did Shanti and Swabhimaan. The women knew what they were doing and they did it with full conviction. Moral policing be damned!

Then came the era of Tulsi Virani and Parvati. Oh god! How annoying were they! ‘Self-sacrifice for the betterment of happiness’ was shown to be a virtue and a way to win the husband back from the 2nd or 3rd vamp. If a woman cannot be a mother, it is pretty much the end of the world. The 2nd bahu of the house who is ambitious and career oriented is the one who breaks the house till the badi bahu weeps buckets of salt water and teaches her how parivar is what matters and not career.

That crap is still going on with rubbish like Uttaran, Pavitra Rishta, etc. I hate Pavitra Rishta! It is the worst show ever! The women are shown to be such sacrificial lambs who willfully sit on the stone and beg to be killed. No spunk at all! Such weaklings. Uttaran is way worse because the stupid heroine LOVES to hide things from her husband and decided to take all the pains of the world on herself. How stupid is that! I don’t understand why is sacrifice shown to be so important! Why does a woman have to keep family happiness on top, to be genuinely happy? Why would you want to be part of a family that will be happy only if you squash what you want to do? They are sowing superstitious things like walking on hot coal to the temple 108 times, or doing a headstand overnight praying to god, will lead to a baby being conceived. Oh God! Is this 1938 or 2014? Akshara from Yeh rishta was willing to sacrifice her life because she wanted to risk giving birth to her second baby. Stupid woman seemed to have forgotten about her existing 5 year old. Diya aur bati hum is a step in the right direction showing the woman studying for and becoming an IPS officer with the support of he halwai husband, who goes against the family too and convinces them in the end about a woman’s dreams. If only, they don’t show her family interfering in her work and her having that confused expression ALL THE TIME, it would be pretty good. The xBF’s sister and mother had told me that they are liking that show, around 2 years back. I am very interested in knowing if they are still watching it and what are their thoughts on the woman being more career oriented than her husband. Hmmm…

It sucks to see such sad portrayal of characters on a medium that such a huge chunk of population watches. I know it’s just the tv but it still makes my blood boil! My mom cannot watch shows quietly! She will scream so many instructions/threats/abuses. They really really need to work on better scripts that have atleast 20% of reality. They should stop glorifying marriage, jeevansathi and motherhood for God’s sake. A woman can be a beautiful person inside out, but may not want kids or may not have kids. There is nothing wrong with it. There is no need to show the world breaking apart after a miscarriage or a medically necessary or even consensual abortion.. There is no need to show every single protagonist willing to sacrifice her life for a child. She might as well adopt another baby and help nurture a life. There is nothing wrong with a girl who wants to study and wants to focus on a career. This does not make her a mean person!

Sigghhh…. I have so many suggestions to raise the quality of daily soaps. But who listens to me?

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