Is romance all that we are interested in?

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TintinleMechant

@TintinleMechant

Dazzler

Posted: 15 years ago

#21

I think regardless of the fact that we have interest in say politics, or furthering our careers, being with our family, art, literature, science etc you have to take into account that what binds us all as humans is our relationship with other people. When push comes to shove, in a hypothetical situation of the world ending, everyones going to probably try to find somebody they love the most, regardless of what type of loev that is, and seek solace in their company. I think films capitalize on this weakness that we all have as people, its not really that we like seeing mindless romance because we are idiots, its just that as humans, psychologically what appeals to us as a species are bonds we make with other humans. And everyones knows that the most sought after relationship type is ' romantic love', which isnt biological or platonic, but a phenomenon of two different human beings meeting, connecting on a deeper level and being able to forge a very intimate and heavy bond.

I think as people, even if we have or havnt experienced love first hand, we are intruigued by how the process works, and thus we watch over and over again these films about people falling in love.

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233283

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Posted: 15 years ago

#22

Romance is a good way to escape for a lot of people because it is one of the most ideal concept that everyone secretly desires to fulfil. Especially the Indian audience.....it is deprived of romance except in books and movies. I mean come on...holding hands, kissing, and all other romantic stuff/PDA is looked down upon in India. Hell....even on the internet I have seen a lot of people criticize Abhi/Aish for always holding hands. Seriously? Marriage is more about caste, status, societal expectation, familial obligations etc. Romance isn't given priority to.....so yea I guess bollywood cashes in on this deprivation of romance in Indian society. Regardless, as we grow older, our tastes and preferences change despite the society's impact on our lives. Ofcourse there are people like Kajol who keep reading mills and boons all their life (I don't get it!)...but I digress. All things romantic used to interest me in my tweens. After I hit my late teenage years, I started becoming more inclined towards non-romantic series/movies etc. Which is strange because I used to absolutely adore the likes of beverly hills 90210, melrose place et al and all those other soap operaesque shows.Now, I seem to like Dexter, Breaking bad et al. My main beef with bollywood is just that...they don't offer much besides cheesy romance and regressive movies. Atleast English/Asian tv shows offer both.

Anyway, I bet all the twilight fanatics favoring team Edward and team Jacob will be embarassed 20 years from now. 😆

Edited by xetaxeta - 15 years ago

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kabeeraspeaking

@kabeeraspeaking

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 15 years ago

#23

smarie pants, great thread, interesting question.

I'm young and romance is not all that I'm interested in. Given the choice between a romantic comedy and a historical flick, any day, any time regardless of how much I want to 'escape,' I will pick the historical flick. Maybe it's about inclination, maybe while I delve deep and seek to draw something profound from literature, art, and movies, others seek to wind down and enjoy a good show, one that doesn't require them to think after a long day's work. It's all about perspective really. You can also 'escape' into a historical, political, action movie...people just don't see it that way. Sadly, the Arts are mostly only seen as a means of entertainment, and not a channel of intellectual stimulation and self-evolution, which they can be. Even a rom com can be a means of that, but romance has been watered down to satisfy needs in the age of instant gratification.

Originally posted by: ladygaga
That is why I liked Aitraaz, it beautifully showed that its not always a man who is wrong.. a woman can be monsterous too, a woman can attempt to rape a man too, a woman can be manipulative too, its not always the man's fault.. It was good at ripping apart the stereotype where woman are always showcased as a victim in our society... Woman can be equally manipulative.. but still this is a scary thought to people.. But, I honestly don't think our audience is ready to face facts and come out of dreamworld... So they should forever stick to same ole crap.

I don't think Aitraaz was a path-breaking eye-opener on this subject. You should catch serials sometimes, they have plenty of this 😆 The idea is actually only as old as Eve 😆

Originally posted by: xetaxeta
Anyway, I bet all the twilight fanatics favoring team Edward and team Jacob will be embarassed 20 years from now. 😆

There are grown women and aunties who think, breathe, and worship Twilight without any signs of embarrassment. What's to say teen fanatics will feel any differently in 20 years? Physical maturity really has nothing to do with mental maturity 😆

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233283

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Posted: 15 years ago

#24

^^^^True that, but umeed pe duniya kayam hain.....lets hope this breed of tweenagers won't turn out like the teens of the 80s. And yes I do know an annoying 38 year old whose every sentence starts with Jacob and ends on Edward. I'm not sure why I know this person. 😕

Edited by xetaxeta - 15 years ago

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LifeOLicious

@LifeOLicious

Sparkler

Posted: 15 years ago

#25

curious....is it the case sometimes that audience actually don't GET a movie? don't you think it's ok if that is the case? is it necessary for everyone to get every movie or every book or every art work? not really. it doesn't make the audience dumb....they are just not used to deciphering tough artwork! LOL! so ummm ya uni-dimensional audience is not such a bad thing as long as the movies with layers are not written off because the audience didn't get it. it's ok to not get it....doesn't mean the movie sucks! just like it's ok to get the movie and enjoy it and watch it 100 times doesn't mean the movie is great! :-)

and about the topic.....ya mostly we desi audience like romance.....and not romance but marriage....the whole structure of our society relies on marriage. wherever you go that's all you will ever hear.....marriage marriage marriage! 😆 so movies with that target seems to click with our aam junta! that's ok. just don't write off those "snob" "intellectual" "hard to get" "gives you a headache" "puts you to sleep" movies please! 😆

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31609

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Posted: 15 years ago

#26

well...all i was saying at the start of the thread was we dunt pay as much attention to movies of other genres as we do to romantic ones...which is surprising considering the fact that they are so done to death...we technically should not have much to discuss about the movie...

Even when movies are marketed, they are marketed with a "pairing" which might attract the audience...i remember how much attention kat and ranbir got during the rajneeti promotions with the media projecting it to be some kind of a love story whereas the movie was a political drama with various other characters and love being just a decimal part of the story. Movies like MNIK, Veer,raavan etc which had other themes involved, were also marketed to be "an epic love story", "a different love story" or something like that...so it is obvious that we look for romance in everything we watch...

As indians we like watching about human relationsips, yes. But there are many other relationships which could be explored....like mother and son (TZP), Student and teacher (Black, TZP) Father daughter (Baabul)...they dunt necessarily have to deal with a couple in love..

Edited by smarie pants - 15 years ago

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502348

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Posted: 15 years ago

#27

I grew up in a country, where there was very little freedom. I couldn't step outside without my Dad, and I never got around to biking, walking down the street or on the road on my own. My whole world revolved around movies. They were the only form of entertainment, and possibly something fun apart from school. I used to be a HUGE movie buff, in fact I still am, however after watching 5-6 movies I started getting annoyed.
This was back in the 90's, where romance was a huge part of cinema. I was fed up. I wanted another story line! I didn't want to watch the leads running around in the fields, dancing and singing some song. I didn't understand the concept of love, and didn't get why everyone kept saying "pyaar" "pyaar". I wanted to watch something cool and different, where the leads did not run around in the fields, and scream "main tumse bahut pyaar karti hoon", because as I mentioned earlier that always let me confused.
Alas my wish remained unfulfilled, and all movies kept up with the romance theme, which is the main reason today I stlll HATE romance. Tell me to watch a movie that doesn't have the leads falling in love, and I'll be more than happy to watch it, even if it's ridiculously boring.

Edited by infinity_9000 - 15 years ago

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AreYaar

@AreYaar

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+ 19

Posted: 15 years ago

#28

Originally posted by: make-believe
smarie pants, great thread, interesting question.

I'm young and romance is not all that I'm interested in. Given the choice between a romantic comedy and a historical flick, any day, any time regardless of how much I want to 'escape,' I will pick the historical flick. Maybe it's about inclination, maybe while I delve deep and seek to draw something profound from literature, art, and movies, others seek to wind down and enjoy a good show, one that doesn't require them to think after a long day's work. It's all about perspective really. You can also 'escape' into a historical, political, action movie...people just don't see it that way. Sadly, the Arts are mostly only seen as a means of entertainment, and not a channel of intellectual stimulation and self-evolution, which they can be. Even a rom com can be a means of that, but romance has been watered down to satisfy needs in the age of instant gratification.

@bold: Completely agree....especially the bit in blue.....romance is all about instant gratification nowadays....cuz if it was shown intelligently and developed properly, even a rom-com can be enjoyed on a deeper intellectual level.

@topic maker: Great topic....I think most ppl in here have covered the general points.....when it comes to entertainment, everyone is looking for escapism....now we can't say that "is romance all we're interested in"? Would this question be addressed only to women or men?? Cuz I doubt men would say, "Yes we are only interested in romance"....they all run in the opposite direction screaming if you so much as mention a romantic movie for the most part.....now if we speak of females, yes most females would favor a romantic movie.....as for the why of that....it's cuz most ppl love the fantasy of love....why do romance novels sell so much??? They also all have the same story....same scenes time and time again.....yet there is never a dearth of audience for them.....ditto for bollywood typical romances I think.....doesn't require a person to exercise their brains much....it's the easy way out I think.

But then it's not possible to make a serious, intellectually simulating movie everyday also.....what would be the importance of say a RDB or Lagaan or 3 idiots if there were 5 of them being churned out every year?.....Rom-coms are easier to make I think....standard formula....but only the ones that atleast try to go for a bit of a different treatment end up being memorable....rest fade from memory as timepass.

Speaking for myself.....I have no real preference....I'd just like to watch a well made movie...with a good storyline, well written screenplay, intelligent direction and good acting....it doesn't matter what genre. A rom-com is just as capable of having those qualities as any 'arty' movie.

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455517

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Posted: 15 years ago

#29

Originally posted by: xetaxeta
Romance is a good way to escape for a lot of people because it is one of the most ideal concept that everyone secretly desires to fulfil. Especially the Indian audience.....it is deprived of romance except in books and movies. I mean come on...holding hands, kissing, and all other romantic stuff/PDA is looked down upon in India. Hell....even on the internet I have seen a lot of people criticize Abhi/Aish for always holding hands. Seriously? Marriage is more about caste, status, societal expectation, familial obligations etc. Romance isn't given priority to.....so yea I guess bollywood cashes in on this deprivation of romance in Indian society. Regardless, as we grow older, our tastes and preferences change despite the society's impact on our lives. Ofcourse there are people like Kajol who keep reading mills and boons all their life (I don't get it!)...but I digress. All things romantic used to interest me in my tweens. After I hit my late teenage years, I started becoming more inclined towards non-romantic series/movies etc. Which is strange because I used to absolutely adore the likes of beverly hills 90210, melrose place et al and all those other soap operaesque shows.Now, I seem to like Dexter, Breaking bad et al. My main beef with bollywood is just that...they don't offer much besides cheesy romance and regressive movies. Atleast English/Asian tv shows offer both.

Anyway, I bet all the twilight fanatics favoring team Edward and team Jacob will be embarassed 20 years from now. 😆

Don't be so sure... lol

I loved Beverly Hills and Melrose Place too but it wasn't ONLY about love - it was about work - professional career - family - friends too.....

Usually guys don't like rom coms unless the female lead actress is the Bomb...

I like action thriller spoof movies (scary movie 1 2 3 4 - when will this stop😕😆) fantasy - sci fi -- with a lil bit of romance but not too much...but yes I loooooooooooooove period dramas/mini series or biopics full of it...too...😳

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qwww

@qwww

Dazzler

Posted: 15 years ago

#30

Originally posted by: xetaxeta
^^^^True that, but umeed pe duniya kayam hain.....lets hope this breed of tweenagers won't turn out like the teens of the 80s. And yes I do know an annoying 38 year old whose every sentence starts with Jacob and ends on Edward. I'm not sure why I know this person. 😕

Lol maybe we both know the same person

That Edward guy was much better in Harry Potter GOF - atleast the character died at the end of the movie.😉

Ontopic I am not exactly sure why "love" is so revered in the Indian film industry. It has always been that way not just with the new generation. I guess its because our society was and to a certain extent still is so opposed to couples finding their own partners. Perhaps with this mindset changing we wil have a balence of different types of movies and people will give "Art" movies a chance. I already see it with movies like Peepli live.

Personally I loved the romantic movies as a teenager but later on it started getting boring I guess I am jaded😛

Edited by qwww - 15 years ago