Skip to main content

Passage to "Bloody India"

By the second post, I fear I am donning the mantle of a media basher – ‘media watchdog’ as some would put.

Recently the Indian news channels and newspapers were bursting with reports of Brangelina’s “arrogant” security guards swearing at a motley crowd as “bloody Indians” at their shoot-location of “A Mighty heart”.

Now were the crowd at “Anjuman-i-Islam school” (the shoot location) unruly?

Yes. I would think so from my experience of have attended numerous functions and been witness to numerous occassions when a celebrity / s has made an appearance.

Leave alone the crowd, the media – especially the press photographers and the camera-men sometimes exhibit the most uncouth behaviour in their enthusiasm to get the best angles and expressions.

If some one behaves in an unacceptable manner, then you have a reason to get upset. How one shows this is very unpredictable. I wonder how anyone would think of a politically correct ‘expletive’ in such situations.

That the Brangelina visit should attract so much press coverage is so despicable. Why are we lowering our social intelligence and consciousness by giving so much significance to events that do not warrant attention?

Aren’t there issues galore that would require more public action than the visit of a Hollywood star?

Infact how many of the people who crowded there would have watched more than one film (‘One’ itself is an exaggeration) of Ms.Jolie?

I am not saying that ‘trivia’ should be done away with…But exciting the public and then making a news story of that in the garb of ‘sensational news’ is one thing the already “idea-starved’ media agencies can do without.

And when a star-starved and overexcited public overreacts at some Hollywood star, and elicits a “bloody Indian’ response, you know who is to be blamed.

The efforts of the fourth estate are wasted in such unwarranted and wasteful news reportage. Shouldn’t they be looking at reports that would mobilise the public for something more useful? Why is media aping the tabloids and paparazzis of the west? There are enough ‘bollywood columns’ and ‘star scape’ sections and dedicated journals for those who are waiting for a shot of these ‘star-rumbles’. Give them their dose of ‘Brangelina exploits and spare the poor Indian who just wants some real news and responsible news coverage in national news papers and news broadcasts.

Endnote: When it was already reported that there is a threat of disruption given the sensitive nature of the film which traces the life story of journalist Daniel Pearl (who was captured slayed by the Taliban), why was the security left to the largesse of Brangelina’s private security guards? Why wasn’t there adequate protection given by the local police-especially since they were shooting in a muslim school?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It just happens

You are reading this article. That is coincidence. No. This one is not crappy… There is this small theory about life that I have assimilated after a lot of introspection over the past, maybe 5-6 years. I do not know whether I can lay claim to this because I have sometimes seen similarities in what others feel about life. So here goes, I call it the THEORY OF CO-INCIDENCE . To start with, let me present some situations for you… Think of the person who you met last. Or better, one who you spoke to last… Just think back and try to gather when you met him / her for the first time. (to be effective don’t think of your parents or siblings…at least not yet) Could you think back a few minutes before that, and then start constructing a ‘what-if’ situation if in case you haven’t met him/her. If you are going around with someone, can you think of a situation wherein you haven’t met him/her? Can you think of a situation where you missed the train that you actually got into? Ima

Religious hypocricy and political expression - Part 1

Tales of late self realisation to a naive political observer   Not sure what's running though the minds of people who have been following the Maharashtra Civic Polls 2017. I was quaintly surprised at the emergence of BJP as a front runner in this. What have people voted for? - The candidates, their ideology, their past performance, or the expectations of a better future? Or is there something more latent - like hope, ambition, aspirations, or negative emotions like discontent, feeling of oppression, dejection etc.? To unravel this, I do not have access to the statistics that the  psepologists refer to, nor have I been a keen observer of past trends. But I've been able to put together some basic data and understand BJP's performance in various elections since they won legislative elections in 2014. In more or less every election involving a civil body or a legislative bye-election, held in India since 2014, BJP has improved its vote share if not emerging with a

Religious Hypocrisy and Political expression Part - II

Home Truths In the land I come from, in Kerala, half-informed debates on public policies, regulations and laws were common place across any congregation above 2 people. During my younger days, matters of faith used to be a private matter. Personally too, I have always felt uncomfortable discussing attributes of one religion versus the other.  I have also been led to believe that religious tolerance and acceptance in the state of Kerala was much higher than the national average. As much as I can remember, the fiercest rioting and arson in Kerala have happened on political agendas rather than anything overtly religious. Here again, it was the Communist parties with their militant trade union ideologies that always used to find itself at either ends in these clashes. However, unlike in many other parts of India it used to be the youth cadres of the Communist parties and RSS (and not BJP) which used to engage in these political battles especially in the northern belt of Kerala. (th