First off, this is not a movie review. I haven’t watched the film I will write about and have no intention of watching it, now or ever. What this is, is a question.
Why are we here in the twenty-first century?
Maybe it should be more than just one question.
How are movies like these being celebrated? Why are women coming out of cinema theatres applauding this film? What is wrong with our society if toxic masculinity seems to garner this much praise?
‘Animal’, an Indian (Hindi) movie from the stable of Sandeep Reddy Vanga, has just been released. Within its opening weekend, it has become a blockbuster hit. People can’t get enough of the blood, the gratuitous violence or the misogyny on display. All this under the garb of a tortured hero with daddy issues. This is from the same director who came out with the equally vile ‘Kabir Singh’, a paean to neanderthal behaviour and attitudes.
What is it about movies like these that sets the box office on fire?
Is it a backlash against women’s increased independence and success? Has all the progress we have made (in India) only been surface-level?
Actually, why only India? Let’s talk about the world. Influencers like Andrew Tate talk about women as chattel, to possess and control, and he is lauded, his followers increase, and there is an outcry when he is arrested. Statesmen publicly boast about harassing women with impunity, and they win elections. Roe v Wade is overturned.
Where are we headed?
Setting aside this issue, let’s look at the increasing levels of violence in the movies. What justifies this? If films reflect what’s happening in the world, then the world also learns from what is being portrayed on the screen. Isn’t there enough war and bloodshed in reality without it being served up to us as entertainment, too?
The India I grew up in was a vastly different landscape from the one that exists today. However, there was a modicum of respect towards women, even if it came cloaked in patriarchy. This was reflected in our movies, too. Today, while most men have happily hopped on the bandwagon of discarding ‘old-fashioned values’ of opening doors or offering seats for/to women, because “aren’t we their equals?”, they have taken on the more sinister and subversive mantra of cutting women down to size through intimidation, disrespect, and mockery.
It is a worrying trend, not just for young women but also for young men, who imitate these behaviours, imbibe these messages and internalise this gross misogyny. Filmmakers like Vanga revel in controversy, bait their critics and rake in the moolah, all the while upping the ante with each release. The only answer to them is to talk with your feet. Walk away from movies like these. Don’t give them your money. Don’t yield to your curiosity and don’t react to the controversy.
Why then, you may ask, am I writing a blog post about this then?
Honestly, I am enraged, and for me, writing is catharsis. It’s the only way I can work through my dread, my anger and my helplessness in the face of this monstrosity of a film.
The effects of toxic masculinity and extreme violence exist all around us. Movies like these only add fuel to the fire. The trouble is that most civilised people will see this for what it is: pandering to the lowest common denominator. But doesn’t money talk? There will be countless imitators now who will joust for similar success at the box-office. Countless imitators who will take it even further than a scene asking the woman to lick the hero’s shoes to prove her love.
Where will it end?
Isn’t it funny that behaving like an animal is meant to convey some sort of nadir of human conduct? Look at the animal kingdom. They display far more respect for one another and the planet than we ever have.
