Dreading Documentaries

Not all Indian men are like that. But from personal experience, I have never once gone out, and not faced some sort of harassment. These things do happen every day, and of late, are growing at an alarming rate. The problem is quite big, and I don't think there is much room for extrapolation or magnification. I am glad that this incident is not forgotten as a one - off case, because it is not. I would also like to see the juvenile punished, and his identity revealed.

 

When i first started sharing my views on this thread, i was thinking well let us see if this thread goes constructively. somewhere as the thread progressed, i felt sad.

Egos, cynicism, and more was what blatantly came to the front.

I have not been against the director or bbc making the video. i was and am against the way the video was done incomplete. the canvas and the medium had more potential, but it just left a bad taste.


There have been wonderful documentaries done on indian issues by people who are staying, sharing the woes. and i object to the cynicism that comes across. ARnab can be loud, barkha lost her sheen only in the later years as power,pressure, and competition came to play a role. so let us leave the yelling and the scheming. barkha was an role model for being brave and breaking through the glass ceiling and moving with the man during the kargil war.

have you seen a documentary called war and peace made by a indian. A classic case of redtape and censorship that forced it out of the screening, yet came back to be screened. One of the few names to reckon. Anand PAtwardhan.

Do you appreciate documentaries like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W732xlmt18

Why did we not discuss a documentary that came two years back the menstrual man, a indian, who started something to ease his wife's pain. listen to him talking ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4_MeS6SOwk a person somebody after my heart..after watching the talk i stood up and clapped making my kids curious on a positive note..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVSzJsNEBtU of an indian who wants to make a change..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx9v_J34Fyo a lady who talks about self being the one motivator..


And there are criminals like the rapist and more evil in other parts of the world.
let me share just few.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izKHJ_TJQw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp0h2fvQKDE
and yes both these are from the developed countries.

Let us move forward, let us talk something constructive. Safety does not mean taking screwdriver, pocket knives or chilly powder. it is more about teaching our children,empowering the women, going to the root cause of the issue, the triggers not just throwing comments like indian cinema, the dresses and more.

It is easy to take a broad brush and paint and swish our hands this way and that way and paint it..but that is injustice is my opinion.

My point of sharing these videos is not to dilute the thread, but to say there is a positivity, there is change, there is more happening, only a little more streamlining, a more constructive plan should be in place.

Let us do our small bit.

 

Sure, and I was trying to reassure you and saying 'there, there, it's not all bad news'! console1

Not diluted, but 'abstracted'. I was referring to your phrase about 'most important take-home message', simply to say that there may be many, not just one 'most important lesson'. Of course, we have to talk about them one at a time, but there are many threads. Journalistic ethics is a part of it, due process of law is a part of it, an 'outsider' making a film is a part of it (at least perceived as such), the problem of this rape being solved is a part of it, the problem not being solved in the general case is a part of it, the depressing comments by the rapist and the lawyer are a part of it .... need I go on? I was simply trying to remind you of what you already know - essentialist arguments are overly reductive. Reductionist arguments ('sick society'? Bah! :roll make for poor social policy.

As for the documentary itself, no matter what I think of Ms. Udwin's comments, I think, as a documentary filmmaker, she has earned her fifteen minutes. It is significant that a rapist on death row is able to persist in his delusions with no remorse. It is interesting that a lawyer, ostensibly trained in the logic of argumentation and rhetoric, can be so devastatingly ignorant. (If I were the criminal, I might well consider an appeal on the basis of poor legal representation on grounds of incompetence!). I think these two have sealed their fates.

I am simply not given to hand wringing. India, despite all its faults, is making dramatic strides (and I don't mean that in an 'India is Shining' spirit). Not all the changes are good, but that's the way it is.

The challenge the documentary poses is useful. The less than optimal situation surrounding its genesis (the payment, premature release, the inflammatory comments of its maker) is unfortunate. We are witnesses to change on a large scale. It is noisy, messy and sometimes destructive. It is better that we strive toward creative destruction.

 

Go Shanvy! :thumbsup

Thanks for the list.

And I seem to have heard about someone called Malathoy Joo? Joy? Jee? Something like that ... dealing with women's issues in her own way .... thinkingsmiley

PS, before the cudgels come out: yes, I know rape concerns us all, men and women.

 

@sokanasanah
Exactly it is Malathy Jey (@Induslady). i am sure many members,lurkers have understsood what abuse is, what DV is, and gathered the courage to move forward in their life in a positive way.

Don't cheer me, then this thread would become flooded with my links from my bookmarks. i love documentaries and off-beat movies. Some of the debates on DDLoksabha and DDbharathi are so good to watch.

There are yuva brigades, youth groups that want to make a difference. let us give them a chance.

do check out
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI1-zEpGFJ8F-u_retK2v5w
Check out chakravarthi sulibele lecture series on india-tales of yesterday,today and tommorrow. (he talks in kannada..there may be few in english)

 

That would be a good thing. I want those links. Please post them.

I also think it would be encouraging for the filmmakers for whom the effort is often a labor of love, executed against the odds, to get more clicks.

I am hereby lobbying for a 'sticky' thread that can house such links with a brief description, even a one-liner, for search purposes. If others agree, then do write to the mods / Indus Lady.

I was kidding - of course I know who it is - you gave the game away! :rotfl

 

@Laks09 i have retaliated back. i have slapped the guy amidst a crowded bazaar when he said it is crowded, and it happened by mistake. i remember that it was the talk in the office the next day, but people knew, i will not hesitate.

Couple of days back i was standing in the post office queue, a very long one at that. there was this man standing before me and fidgety..that caught my attention. i see that a lady's dress just exposed a little of her cleavage and bra lace (because of her son's pulling and pushing) and this fellow was looking there now and then..not ogling. i went out of the line, told the lady to adjust and came back and told in a calm voice show over..the man was embarrassed.

Next time a guy palms you tell him, oh you miss your teddy bear, come with me, i will get you a better softer one that you can take home with you or if you are missing your mom, give me her number, i will call her, you don't need to waste your mobile talk time..have done this a couple of times.

Yes, these people get encouraged when you silently suffer. the moment you communicate you know what they are doing..

I would have told the guy at the temple, i thought we are all standing here to have a darshan of the lord, not try to think that you are the one doing one of his leelais..

And i am sure your daughter will learn to be strong. she does not need over protective. she just needs you, a person she trusts, she knows watches her back and will do anything for her.

well that is me..!! sleep tight and all the best for your race.