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Hello,
I am Ibby. Some of you might have seen me around posting here and there occasionally. Recently, I have graduated from Philosophy school and I aspire to become a writer one day. A writer who provokes interesting thoughts in others. I have always used the characters and shows from Indian Television in my essays to sustain my argument throughout my university. My tutors have always believed it was quite original. But, I have rarely attempted to use my philosophy to write about the shows I watch regularly. This post is my first attempt of doing so.
In what follows, I consider the arguments/frustration by many of you towards the creatives glorifying Mohana, despite that she is an evil antagonist and the positives are being neglected to an extent. The argument that evil is presented as superior.
I am going to get straight into admitting that I support the creatives in glorifying Mohana to the extent that they do. But, by no means does this suggest that I am rooting for what is evil. I am still a believer that good prevails always. The good always triumphs and indeed they do, for Mohana has not yet been successful in her aim. I believe it makes more sense for the creatives to glorify Mohana than any other characters in this show.
Firstly, the show is ABOUT an evil Dayan and her struggle to survive. It is about her eyeing an opportunity to live longer. Perhaps, it is the way we see this story telling. Some of us are inclined to see it from the standpoint of the positive characters, where the struggle is to fight a Dayan who happens to be a family member. But, some of us on the other hand quite clearly see that the story is being told from Mohana's Nazar - Mohana's perspective. When we see this tale as Mohana's story, the glorification seems to make sense. Consider, none of us ever complain that a good character is glorified too much. It seems absolutely fine to do so because we like to believe that we should always be promoting what is good. However, no story entail just the good. Our world consists of all good and bad. There are good people and then there are bad people. Further, both types of people live a story. They both have their struggles and victories. It just happens that this story showcases the victory and struggles of one who is innately evil. All stories are worth telling, since they all teach us something. Imagine, the story of Raavan or other evil personalities found in the scriptures. Sometimes they are told from the perspective of their opponent or purely from the characters themselves. Suppose, this story was about a Davansh and how he is basically doomed to be made a victim by his evil mother, then in that case the creatives would have glorified his character a little more. If this story was about a Daivik - one who comes to protect a man kind at heart from going down the evil route and become basically a dinner meal for an evil Dayan, then creatives would have followed the lines of glorifying the Daivik and all the good a power of good can do. But, that cannot be applied here and at least, not for a while because the story here is of Mohana.
Secondly, there are many ways to perceive a character. Also, different people see different characteristics. For example, some of you often disregard Pia's overall character and solely focus on her Daivik status and assume that basically means that she is the most powerful and therefore, every time she falls weak front of Mohana is frustrating and a bad way to portray the good. I shall shortly come back to this. For now, I want us to consider the fact that Mohana is an Ekyan - she is 250 years old. Now consider, what do we often call people who lived a while and know things. I am inclined to say wise and knowledgable. Mohana is the oldest character. She has lived longer. Which means that she has had all those years to graft herself. She spent time to learn about her Dayan status - what she can do and cannot - as well as learn other creatives with special powers like herself. Also, learn about those who are basically powerless. We can call her a "fountain of useful knowledge" if we like. Of course, she is going to be glorified in most instances. She knows what to do and how to face her challenges. She is confident and her life experiences are there to show this. She has been living her life this way, so she has plenty of training. Now coming back to Pia as the Daivik and Ansh as DV. They are both newcomers into the supernatural world. They have only recently realised their powers and in fact, they have only realised parts of it. They have yet to know what they can do and cannot. We learn and become knowledge because of our experience. We cannot become something overnight, at least I don't think so. Further, PiAnsh has lived most of their life as a human. They have lived like ordinary people and therefore, in most circumstances they are bound to still like one. Hence, why Pia still does not Kill Mohana because she thinks like a human who knows what it is like to lose a mother. A Daivik, on the other hand, is more likely to disregard such a matter in light of considering what is good for the world. Think of all the times, as Daivik Pia has often tried to hit Mohana with the Trident. Something which she only ever considers as a last resort. Only when Mohana does not relent. While Mohana only ever thinks from being a Dayan. So, once again, of course Mohana is going to be glorified. Since her character is that of someone who is experienced and rehearsed. Still, you might argue why is it that the good - PiAnsh and RH family - are struggling to defeat Mohana. Perhaps, this is because an evil power at the end of the day is still powerful. Think of the tales Hinduism often tells. I remember watching Mahakaali and often, Kali could not simply just kill a demon, though she was the powerful being in the world. She had to rehearse, learn about her powers, think of the circumstances and then go out to carry out her actions. Pia will need to do something along the same lines or else it won't follow. We won't be able to see how Pia came to be who she is - a powerful Daivik. While this happens, of course Mohana is going to be glorified because she knows the most and she knows who she really is.
Thirdly, it maybe possible to see the glorification of Mohana as a way of believing that is how she perceives herself, as this story is about her. When we see Mohana as triumphing against most of her struggles and being the confident woman she is - perhaps we can say that she glorifies herself. She takes herself to be this powerful Dayan who cannot be tamed and one who always has a solution to her problem. The representation of her character in her show is a vision of who she takes herself to be.
Finally, I want to say that it is quite unusual to tell a story from the antagonist perspective. Often, they are represented in a story as this other' character who is basically a part of someone else's story. I think this is unique. The antagonist at the end of the day lives a story too, where he or she is the most central character and everyone else is just merely a part of their story. We often see a story of Raven through Ram's, Sita's or Shani's vision, but never through Ravan himself - mainly because it may mean that we will have to glorify the instances he has lived proudly. But, why is that a problem? At the end of the day, he has lived a story and his story tells a truth too. That being blinded by one's confidence and powers and committing atrocity and immoral actions only lead to a bad end. Similarly, Mohana's story will meet a fate similar, but whatever is wrong to see this end from her own perspective rather than someone else's? I do not think there is any.
That is all. Thank you for reading and being a part of this new beginning of The Philosopher's Corner'.
Kind Regards.
I am Ibby. Some of you might have seen me around posting here and there occasionally. Recently, I have graduated from Philosophy school and I aspire to become a writer one day. A writer who provokes interesting thoughts in others. I have always used the characters and shows from Indian Television in my essays to sustain my argument throughout my university. My tutors have always believed it was quite original. But, I have rarely attempted to use my philosophy to write about the shows I watch regularly. This post is my first attempt of doing so.
In what follows, I consider the arguments/frustration by many of you towards the creatives glorifying Mohana, despite that she is an evil antagonist and the positives are being neglected to an extent. The argument that evil is presented as superior.
I am going to get straight into admitting that I support the creatives in glorifying Mohana to the extent that they do. But, by no means does this suggest that I am rooting for what is evil. I am still a believer that good prevails always. The good always triumphs and indeed they do, for Mohana has not yet been successful in her aim. I believe it makes more sense for the creatives to glorify Mohana than any other characters in this show.
Firstly, the show is ABOUT an evil Dayan and her struggle to survive. It is about her eyeing an opportunity to live longer. Perhaps, it is the way we see this story telling. Some of us are inclined to see it from the standpoint of the positive characters, where the struggle is to fight a Dayan who happens to be a family member. But, some of us on the other hand quite clearly see that the story is being told from Mohana's Nazar - Mohana's perspective. When we see this tale as Mohana's story, the glorification seems to make sense. Consider, none of us ever complain that a good character is glorified too much. It seems absolutely fine to do so because we like to believe that we should always be promoting what is good. However, no story entail just the good. Our world consists of all good and bad. There are good people and then there are bad people. Further, both types of people live a story. They both have their struggles and victories. It just happens that this story showcases the victory and struggles of one who is innately evil. All stories are worth telling, since they all teach us something. Imagine, the story of Raavan or other evil personalities found in the scriptures. Sometimes they are told from the perspective of their opponent or purely from the characters themselves. Suppose, this story was about a Davansh and how he is basically doomed to be made a victim by his evil mother, then in that case the creatives would have glorified his character a little more. If this story was about a Daivik - one who comes to protect a man kind at heart from going down the evil route and become basically a dinner meal for an evil Dayan, then creatives would have followed the lines of glorifying the Daivik and all the good a power of good can do. But, that cannot be applied here and at least, not for a while because the story here is of Mohana.
Secondly, there are many ways to perceive a character. Also, different people see different characteristics. For example, some of you often disregard Pia's overall character and solely focus on her Daivik status and assume that basically means that she is the most powerful and therefore, every time she falls weak front of Mohana is frustrating and a bad way to portray the good. I shall shortly come back to this. For now, I want us to consider the fact that Mohana is an Ekyan - she is 250 years old. Now consider, what do we often call people who lived a while and know things. I am inclined to say wise and knowledgable. Mohana is the oldest character. She has lived longer. Which means that she has had all those years to graft herself. She spent time to learn about her Dayan status - what she can do and cannot - as well as learn other creatives with special powers like herself. Also, learn about those who are basically powerless. We can call her a "fountain of useful knowledge" if we like. Of course, she is going to be glorified in most instances. She knows what to do and how to face her challenges. She is confident and her life experiences are there to show this. She has been living her life this way, so she has plenty of training. Now coming back to Pia as the Daivik and Ansh as DV. They are both newcomers into the supernatural world. They have only recently realised their powers and in fact, they have only realised parts of it. They have yet to know what they can do and cannot. We learn and become knowledge because of our experience. We cannot become something overnight, at least I don't think so. Further, PiAnsh has lived most of their life as a human. They have lived like ordinary people and therefore, in most circumstances they are bound to still like one. Hence, why Pia still does not Kill Mohana because she thinks like a human who knows what it is like to lose a mother. A Daivik, on the other hand, is more likely to disregard such a matter in light of considering what is good for the world. Think of all the times, as Daivik Pia has often tried to hit Mohana with the Trident. Something which she only ever considers as a last resort. Only when Mohana does not relent. While Mohana only ever thinks from being a Dayan. So, once again, of course Mohana is going to be glorified. Since her character is that of someone who is experienced and rehearsed. Still, you might argue why is it that the good - PiAnsh and RH family - are struggling to defeat Mohana. Perhaps, this is because an evil power at the end of the day is still powerful. Think of the tales Hinduism often tells. I remember watching Mahakaali and often, Kali could not simply just kill a demon, though she was the powerful being in the world. She had to rehearse, learn about her powers, think of the circumstances and then go out to carry out her actions. Pia will need to do something along the same lines or else it won't follow. We won't be able to see how Pia came to be who she is - a powerful Daivik. While this happens, of course Mohana is going to be glorified because she knows the most and she knows who she really is.
Thirdly, it maybe possible to see the glorification of Mohana as a way of believing that is how she perceives herself, as this story is about her. When we see Mohana as triumphing against most of her struggles and being the confident woman she is - perhaps we can say that she glorifies herself. She takes herself to be this powerful Dayan who cannot be tamed and one who always has a solution to her problem. The representation of her character in her show is a vision of who she takes herself to be.
Finally, I want to say that it is quite unusual to tell a story from the antagonist perspective. Often, they are represented in a story as this other' character who is basically a part of someone else's story. I think this is unique. The antagonist at the end of the day lives a story too, where he or she is the most central character and everyone else is just merely a part of their story. We often see a story of Raven through Ram's, Sita's or Shani's vision, but never through Ravan himself - mainly because it may mean that we will have to glorify the instances he has lived proudly. But, why is that a problem? At the end of the day, he has lived a story and his story tells a truth too. That being blinded by one's confidence and powers and committing atrocity and immoral actions only lead to a bad end. Similarly, Mohana's story will meet a fate similar, but whatever is wrong to see this end from her own perspective rather than someone else's? I do not think there is any.
That is all. Thank you for reading and being a part of this new beginning of The Philosopher's Corner'.
Kind Regards.
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