It has been more than a year since #boycottbollywood has been trending. After the death of Late Sushant Sing Rajput, the “Celebrity Privilege” is something that has been talked about. Netizens are continuously making sure that most of the Bollywood movies that promote nothing but degraded ideologies and are connected with celebrities who have been accused of some of the other crimes get into the list of “flops”. Tweeter has become a platform from which these trends are launched and cover every other social media platform.
The thing that started to promote the justice of Late Actor Sushant Sing Rajput took a very different turn and now actors are attacked for any move they make. Now, it does not matter who is in power or not, Bollywood actors have become the soft target of the media and public as well. The media and the public are running their different courts nowadays that give judgment just after the news is released, sometimes this news is based on a single piece of photograph. This is not something which started just now by the Nitzens but has always been there as a part of our “culture”.
Humiliation and Artists
Artists are humiliated everywhere. Why is there a section of “artist” when we are here to talk about celebrities? Well, this is the point where we all should understand that celebrities that act in front of cameras to entertain us are also artists. Humiliation is something that comes complimentary to artists. While some people think they should stick to doing what they are good at and should not speak about anything else but their art. The tag of ‘liberal’ is put on celebrities if they talk about anything that is not related to their ‘art’.
People who are powerful always tend to control artists and their expressions. Right now nothing is more powerful and influential than the media and the public shake hands with it without asking questions when it is related to celebrities. The great artist M.F. Hussain was humiliated for his works and books by Salman Rushdie were banned from publication. These incidents are enough to tell how suppressing it is to express if someone is an artist.
Artists and their Hardships
Artists are celebrated by the crowd because of their talent and skills that set them apart from the public. Stating that that artist does not get respect at all will be wrong but indeed they have their own hardships to face because ever since the beginning they are the soft targets and this escalated more after Sushant Sing Rajput passed under controversial circumstances. Though theatres and Films have always been the best communicator with the masses, their role became more constricted within the boundaries of films and theaters only.
Now, artists are expected to feel guilty about what they do or say. The basic human right of stating a point has turned into a nightmare because of the reaction one gets from the public. Artists are ever extorted to exploit their images and life, of course. Some people are afraid that artists might influence people in the right direction. We live in an era where artists are judged for their routines, the person they choose to love or date, or the vacations they go on!
Deep down, people who troll or exploit the images of these artists are trying to earn so much so they can go on vacations to the same places and brag about it. So, just because they go to places with their money, they are bad?
Artists who are famous and earn a lot are criticized for not being charitable enough. A section of people exists that thinks that these celebrities should donate more since they earn so much, even if we consider this as okay, how well actually know these artists, and how can we be so sure what they do with their money?
Things Beyond Control
Everyone is aware of people’s reactions to celebrities’ political inclination and that celebrities prefer not to state anything. People have problems with the silence as well. Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s daughter was given rape threats and this is nothing new, if you go and check the comment section of most of the celebrities, you will get many comments like this irrespective of gender and age of celebrities.
When Aryan Khan’s arrest completely suppressed so many cases that needed much more public attention than a young kid’s drug use. One such case was Hathras Case, a nineteen-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district by four upper-caste men but the media decided that Aryan Khan’s arrestation process was much-needed news to be heard. People tend to forget much larger news needing their attention for the betterment of this society. Sadly, all such news related to rape cases and molestation of any gender and age is not been followed properly but we can see people being up to date with the arresting updates of Aryan Khan’s in a religious manner.
Conclusion
Criticism and Judgement are two different things, being involved and obsessed are two different things. People and the media have to understand that there are bigger problems that exist in our world. It should also be understood that artists are normal human beings first and they have their own sets of rights and inclinations just like us. Shaming them will get no one anywhere. But it should also be understood that if someone is doing harm to society, be it a celeb, they should be punished equally. Media and public, together, is more powerful than any party and if they are willing to take command of judgment in their hands then they should understand the difference between right and wrong thoroughly.