I would really like to understand the term ' self orientalization ' more clearly if ur still following up , please . This is a request , i really wud. What did u exactly mean by that ? Didn't quite get u .
Yes I follow up Western soaps . And I even requested the NRI members of the forum not to think so badly of India as they see corruption as an integral part of India....what they see is prison officials being bribed , police being bribed , police handing important evidence to civilians ....doctors being bribed .....and so I requested them to see movies like Shawshank redemption or If tomorrow comes in which they have shown the corruption in prison management in the States rather nicely . As far as the soap operas go ....they do show domestic violence in Western soaps ....the diffrence is they also show characters telling the abused victims how to tackle it ....how to reach out for the help that is provided by society and get out of it .
They dont show this in Hindi soaps at all . They show domestic violence .....then they show the victims tolerating it till breaking point and then they show the breaking point . Thats what this discussion is about ....why wait for the breaking point ? If they showed one sister going thru all this , atleast show that the other sister , more wiser now , decides to stop after two three experiences and takes the right steps . But no . They showed that even Laxmi tolerated abuse from karan . They did show a social worker firing Saraswati's parents for letting her live with an animal who beat her black and blue . But only once . nothing more . Indian mentality regards these social workers more like pests who are swarming around to tarnish the ' reputation ' of the families . And since these Indian soaps r largely based on family and family reputations ....The Walias , the Garodias , The Singhs .....the makers of the serials dont ever go to a realistic point to show what real help actually means !This is my objection to these serials .
Did they show us a single character in that immensely large crowd of the Garodias who talked about such help , or was ready to give practical support to Saraswati , who told her to walk out on the marraige , who told her to start divorce proceedings and not to give a hang about the hypocritical reputation , or showed her where help cud be got if her father ....the bigger culprit here who sent her back inspite of knowing she was being abused only coz he had to face the society and marry off his other daughters....[ see the cruelty in the very thought ] .....if that father too backed out , then what she cud do ? Was this knowledge given to the hundreds out there who watch this soap by at least one character ? So ok ...if they wanted drama ....they cud have shown stupid Saraswati not listening . But the character shud have been there . His attempts shud have been there . In western soaps , generally such a character is there . And since the viewers dont even see such an option existing in the Indian scenario ...they find India truly barbaric .
There was a character ....Savitri's sister and the girls' aunt ....Chanchal Maasi who wud have fitted this role but they quickly did away with it .
The point is not that we self orientalize by saying India is barbaric and the West isnt....yes , there is domestic violence rampant even in the West ....the point is that most of the Western soaps show us the options to deal with it .....they dont give up trying for public awareness of the options available. Some of the less succesful Indian soaps have tried feebly to show such options , but largely the message is to put on a charade of good sanskaars and bear the atrocities and then take extreme measures . And thats what Betiyaan did and will still do . They will show Surya saying sorry , never changing , making mistakes again . They will never show the daughters learning from this and becoming economically independent etc....they will remain housewives eternally , never pursue careers , and run to God with their mother when things get out of hand . 350 episodes and still no such character who teaches them about the practical help avalaible .
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