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On Women's Day, there are a lot of articles, memes, and posts on social media about what women want, need, and most importantly, how they deserve to be treated. Businesses and brands ramp up their promotions and sales to entice women to treat themselves to some retail therapy.
However, it appears that very little has changed in cinema, television, or even OTT content. It is undeniable that progress has been made, but this Women's Day, the entertainment industry might take a pledge to eliminate character stereotypes that will not work in 2023.
Sidekick syndrome Although stars come and go, a female actor playing a male actor's love interest or insignificant sidekick simply never goes out of style. With the exception of Gangubai Kathiawadi, the majority of the year's successful films—including RRR, Kantara, Brahmastra, and KGF 2—were narratives that were dominated by men and featured few female characters. Women actors, some of whom were A-list stars like Alia Bhatt, played parts that were either poorly written or had little impact on the movie. Women need to stop making cameo appearances in men's lives and in their own. The sidekick syndrome must be eliminated immediately.
Matrimonial martyr I was 15 when the daily soap became so popular. Tulsi, Parvati, and Prerna became household names, and suhaag, sindoor, and suffering became synonymous with content on the Indian television screen. Despite the fact that the protagonist of the daily soap now at least expresses professional ambitions in the promos for its debut, she unfortunately only becomes a marital martyr. Shape-shifting naagins and venomous mothers-in-law still slither across small screens, gleefully watching as the bahu drowns in a whirlpool of tears, clutching her mangaltura like a life raft, two decades after they first became popular. Could the year 2023 be the year that television women don't live their lives around the men they marry? Matrimonial martyrs are now too old by two decades.
Successful cautionary tale When OTT platforms first went live, audiences sincerely hoped that things would change this time. In addition to providing us with well-written shows with memorable performances and truly expanding the scope of storytelling, streaming platforms have also provided us with the successful woman who serves as a cautionary tale. In spite of their professional success and financial independence, the female protagonists of shows like Bombay Begums, Human, Fame Game, Aranyak, and Hush Hush are shown to be deeply miserable. These were honors that main men were qualified for before, so when ladies begin living as men have for quite a long time, a proviso of 'hello you might think she is blissful, however she isn't' probably must be joined. We might have to explain that no one has a picture-perfect life because of social media. However, we must immediately eliminate stories in which a woman's workplace success is accompanied by statutory warnings.
The edgy girl She has piercings, tattoos, colored hair, and a traumatic past, and it's possible that she's still hiding. While none of these traits are undesirable or worthy of criticism, their combination into a new stereotype is problematic. A female character's appearance and the intensity of her kohl are used to indicate her sexual orientation or that she is facing demons from her past in multiple shows on OTT platforms.
Written by Saraswati Datar Mumbai | March 8, 2023, 07:23 IST Newsguard Alia Bhatt, Kiara Advani, Women's DayThe screenwriting and treatment of female characters needs to be reexamined in the entertainment industry. Photo: Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt, and Karan Johar/Instagram) On Women's Day, there are a lot of articles, memes, and posts on social media about what women want, need, and most importantly, how they deserve to be treated. Businesses and brands ramp up their promotions and sales to entice women to treat themselves to some retail therapy.
However, it appears that very little has changed in cinema, television, or even OTT content. It is undeniable that progress has been made, but this Women's Day, the entertainment industry might take a pledge to eliminate character stereotypes that will not work in 2023.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU 1Sushmita Sen resumes her exercise routine after surviving a significant heart attack: What a feeling, cleared by my cardiologist...' 2Hrithik Roshan celebrates Holi with a family workout rather than "rang or bhang"; Arslan Goni, Sussanne Khan's boyfriend, joins in: Best Holi ever, according to 3Badshah, "No one is making music today." Koi bhi gaana hit ho raha hai' is also worth reading. Also read: Inside Bollywood sets and studios: Of mansplaining, casual sexism, and male entitlement Sidekick syndrome Actors come and go, but a female actor playing a male actor's love interest or insignificant sidekick just never goes out of style. With the exception of Gangubai Kathiawadi, the majority of the year's successful films—including RRR, Kantara, Brahmastra, and KGF 2—were narratives that were dominated by men and featured few female characters. Women actors, some of whom were A-list stars like Alia Bhatt, played parts that were either poorly written or had little impact on the movie. Women need to stop making cameo appearances in men's lives and in their own. The companion condition should be sidelined as quickly as possible.
Matrimonial martyr I was 15 when the daily soap became so popular. Tulsi, Parvati, and Prerna became household names, and suhaag, sindoor, and suffering became synonymous with content on the Indian television screen. Despite the fact that the protagonist of the daily soap now at least expresses professional ambitions in the promos for its debut, she unfortunately only becomes a marital martyr. Shape-shifting naagins and venomous mothers-in-law still slither across small screens, gleefully watching as the bahu drowns in a whirlpool of tears, clutching her mangaltura like a life raft, two decades after they first became popular. Could the year 2023 be the year that television women don't live their lives around the men they marry? Matrimonial martyrs are now too old by two decades.
Also check out Kantara: Successful cautionary tale When OTT platforms launched, audiences fervently hoped that this time things would be different. However, Bollywood is learning all the wrong lessons from all the wrong films. In addition to providing us with well-written shows with memorable performances and truly expanding the scope of storytelling, streaming platforms have also provided us with the successful woman who serves as a cautionary tale. In spite of their professional success and financial independence, the female protagonists of shows like Bombay Begums, Human, Fame Game, Aranyak, and Hush Hush are shown to be deeply miserable. These were rights that only men had before, so when women started living like men had for centuries, there was probably a caveat that said, "hey you may think she is happy, but she is not." We might have to explain that no one has a picture-perfect life because of social media. However, we must immediately eliminate stories in which a woman's workplace success is accompanied by statutory warnings.
The edgy girl in the advertisement She has tattoos, colored hair, piercings, a traumatic past, and it's possible that she's still hiding. While none of these traits are undesirable or worthy of criticism, their combination into a new stereotype is problematic. A female character's appearance and the intensity of her kohl are used to indicate her sexual orientation or that she is facing demons from her past in multiple shows on OTT platforms.
Surprisingly, child sexual abuse was mentioned in the backstory of three different Netflix shows in early 2020: Guilty, She, and What the Love. Despite the fact that the physical and psychological abuse of women is a problem that needs to be addressed and that we could always use more representation in the content, neither of these issues should be made into convenient backstory devices or tropes in order to make the character "interesting," "edgy," or "modern."
