Posted:
I've had to gather all my courage before making this thread, because I just didn't have the gumption to do it till now.
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I have watched Meri Zaat Zarra e-Benishaan and was deeply touched by it. But the series left a niggling feeling in my mind.
And when I watch Shehr-e-Zaat too, that feeling reappears.
Both these shows show how the central women characters transcend the trappings of earthly existence. How they discover their true self, and commune with God and surrender themselves to him completely.
But what about their earthly realities?
Meri Zaat's Saba gets an abusive husband and puts up with him, till he divorces her for no fault of her own. But what I liked about her was that she had the courage to surmount her difficulties and refused to marry her cousin when he tried to make amends for his false accusations.
Falak from Shehr-e-Zaat is less likeable than Saba, at least in the beginning. She is superficial, caught in the trappings of her wealth and her beauty. Cannot appreciate the essence or true nature of things, but is attracted towards external appearance.
I was eager to know what happens to her, and I went on Wikipedia and watched some epis on Youtube.
And...spoiler ahead. Please highlightđł
Salman is cheating on her with a relatively ordinary looking woman and Falak's shattered by the revelation. She questions her existence and her identity.
I have to say, I don't like how superficial Falak was, and she had to be taken down a notch. Life hits you hard when you least expect it to. She HAD to learn her lesson at some point or the other.
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Coming to the original point of my post, I get the spiritual moorings of these two shows. I am probably unable to appreciate them in their entirety since I do not know much about the dogmas and the scriptures of Islam. I read that Umera Ahmed in particular portrayed that to good effect in the latter.
While conceding my lack of knowledge, I have to confess, as a lay, woman viewer, the overwhelming feeling that I am left with is dismay. Saba in no way deserved all the s*** that she went through, but at least she was left standing tall because she had achieved closure and did not want to compromise on her self-esteem. But as an educated woman, to portray her falling so hard- I didn't like how they reneged on the whole point of her being an educated woman.
And Falak?
Spoiler again - Please highlight-
Falak discovers that Salman is cheating on her and has a breakdown. But she discovers God and herself and goes back to Salman in the end. Say what?đ„±
If Falak deserved a lesson, and got it too- why did she have to go back to that horrible Salman who is an emotional zombie, and after what he did to her? What kind of a message are they sending out to the viewers?
God knows we women have a hard time already with many things. Some of us, however are blessed with education, loving parents, and are ambitious to succeed in our chosen endeavours. Saba and Falak are both educated, I'd have liked to see how they use their education to good effect to rise in life and carve their identity. It's disappointing for me as a female viewer to have these characters portrayed as being so docile and martyr-like.
I am not naive to think that poetic justice happens in the real world- but what is fiction if it weren't for this comfort? And why do women get dealt such hard fates in such spiritual shows? I'd really appreciate it if the writers had a positive thing to say about their earthly realities as well.
Your views/rebuttals are welcome. But please be niceđđ
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