I would like to warn minors that this review is graphic in nature and as Aamir requested on his show, if you are 12 yrs or younger you had better skip reading this post. Don't say I didn't warn you. This post is for Adults and I request that it be read with discretion.
As a precursor I would like you to read my post on a previous Satyamev Jayate season 1 show.
http://subashsworld.blogspot.in/2012/05/aamirs-sathyameva-jayathe-episode-2.html
I'll now review the most recent episode and then post my comments and views.
The first show that aired on Sunday, March 2'nd, was good and presented very well. At the end of the show Aamir asks us to send our comments and reviews and after two days I see there are over 10,000 comments for the first episode. Before submitting my comment or review I went through a 100 or more of these comments and most of them were just praising Aamir and the show and there were just two comments that asks the makers of the show to look into what makes a rapist today and what can be done to prevent that or mitigate that. Isn't that the better thing to do instead of trying to improve the behavior of the Police, Doctor and Lawyer in the aftermath of a rape? AFTERALL ISN'T PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE? I am not saying that the Police, Doctor and Lawyer are to be spared but if we only tackle the real problem, then we will not have to worry about the callousness, irresponsibility and heartlessness of these three. Unless there is a mini-revolution our legal (courts and the police) and medical departments are going to improve only marginally. So why flog the dead horse where there are other important things can be done to prevent rape in the first place.
As I did with Season 1 I will try and provide my solution to the problem and then will also be writing the makers of the show to read, respond and if possible take action on these lines but I am very skeptical if my comments or posts will be given the consideration of being read, leave alone take action.
So what are my suggestions for the solutions? I would like the Indian Government to impose the three below.
1. Invoke a complete ban of every type of Pornography and this includes pornographic Internet sites, chat rooms, chat phone lines, books, games, downloadable material etc.,
2. Invoke a complete ban on every type of Horror movie, both Indian or Foreign.
3. Include Moral Science as a subject in schools with ample doses of Spirituality.
Drugs, alcohol and a host of other reasons also exist but the first two mentioned earlier are what I consider the biggest evils creating the rapist today.
I'll go over these in detail now.
1. Banning all types of Pornography and 2. Banning all types of Horror movies
Banning is only going to make them (Porn and Horror films) go underground but like anti-social elements they will lie quiet and in hiding fully knowing that once they are out in the open they will be persecuted to the fullest extent by the law (i.e. if the ban is in place).
I read in "The Hindu" dated March 6'th, 2014 that Turkey has banned the film "Nymphomaniac" due to the pornographic nature of the film. I haven't seen this movie and neither do I have the desire to watch it but watching the trailer and reading about it, "Nymphomaniac" pales when it comes to the kind of abominably grotesque movies that are being made today.
The list of movies banned by India is pathetic. Just a few days ago the Censor board of India cleared its first full frontal nudity for the film "12 years a Slave". Just take a look at what developed countries like New Zealand, Germany, Singapore and several others on Wikipedia have banned and you'll be appalled with the kind of movies one can watch in India. India hasn't banned any of these films. It looks like anyone of any age can watch literally "anything". Our MLA's watch porn during assembly proceedings. There are uploads of pornographic material involving Indian teenagers. One clip of a popular Indian Actress (and probably many others) is still floating around. Access to any objectionable site in the world is possible by the flick of a switch and with the growing sales of big screen smartphones almost anyone can access a world of porn from their pockets.
There used to be a "The Exorcist" challenge in the seventies, a prize for watching "The Exorcist" alone in a cinema. Similar challenges exist to this day too. I don't want to call it peer pressure but when my son who'll be turning 15 this year asks me how to watch horror movies with being scared I warn him not to watch them in the first place. No one becomes a hero watching horror movies. Instead you only become more miserable, frightened and eventually destroy your precious personality. When I asked him about the films his friends were talking about he mentioned one called "The Human Centipede". Out of sheer curiosity I check this film on Wikipedia and I am shocked at the kind of stuff that goes into a horror film these days. The film has shocked people all around the world with extreme content. The second installment which is more horrible than the first has been banned in several countries. To make it even worse, a third installment is in the offing.
These days we have a new kind of horror. Enter, pornography mixed with torture! It is called "Torture Porn" and has become the staple in movies outside India and it now has started showing its presence in Indian movies too.
In the 80's I came to know of "Snuff" films for the first time. Many of these films are make believe but what is shown is the most morbid and the most macabre. Mutilations, torture and killings and nothing else. Several of these films are even believed to be real, like the ones rumored to have been made (again in the 80's) on the victims of the Sri Lankan army atrocities.
And for those of you who have no idea what "Extreme Porn", brace yourself, here are some very untoward facts. In 1995, in the U.S.A., Annabel Chong then 22, and who was born and raised in Singapore (where coincidentally pornography is banned in all its forms with particularly heavy restriction on Internet pornography sites) set out to do the impossible. Annabel teamed up with a producer of pornographic films and made a video where she is seen having sex with 251 men. In fact it was an edited film where the total number of men was 70 but many of them had sex repeatedly with her to total 251 encounters over several hours that even included lunch breaks and drinks. Soon after this record other professional pornstars took the cue and started beating her record. By 1999 the benchmark had been set. In 10 hours, pornstar Houston had had sex with 620 different men. Now this is from the 90's and one and a half decades later you can imagine what the scenario of Extreme Porn can be. And by the way this is only one genre of "Extreme Porn". Several other styles and genres exist.
"Torture porn" is "Snuff" + "Extreme Porn" and so you can imagine how "cursed" it is.
I can unequivocally say that today's rapist IS a habitual watcher of "extreme porn" or "torture porn" or both.
Movies are responsible for the damage too. Sadly Aamir belongs to the movie industry and it is ironic that one of the biggest fuel that feeds and fires the imagination and un-satiated sexual urges of today's criminals wasn't considered or even discussed in the show. I am not sure if the solution is slated for another show but I am doubtful of that. The damage that Bollywood and other Indian commercial cinema is doing is marginal compared to the damage that imported movies are doing but "damage is damage" and it is being done. When pornstar turned movie star Sunny Leone in sensually titillating costumes walks through the streets of Mumbai and interacts with auto-drivers and starts pasting stickers promoting her adult Hindi film with messages such as (translated into English) "Two is more" we can imagine what the intent of the message is and "what" in the name of "marketing movies" is being distributed.
Now how does all this make a rapist? Read on.
As for the viewers of porn and horror films I classify two types of people, one who watch and know how to act responsibly or go about it (though the subconscious has already been damaged) and the others who have no control or idea how to go about it. To them what is shown in these films is the real thing. These are the troubled lot and ones we need to worry about. Though today's rapist seem to be more from the lower rungs of the society, all levels of the society are prone to the ill-effects of this "torture porn".
Considering the rapes that have been going on in recent times it just not sexual frustration that is in the minds of the rapists but obviously there's seems to be something more because today's victims are maimed and killed in bizarre fashions.
There's no doubt, today's rapist is a frustrated individual. Here is my attempt to explain his frustration. When a rapist (or one who is eventually becoming one) watches smooching scenes in a move (let's say for example the Hindi film "Ishqzaade"), his idea of the "docile, demure bride" is totally obliterated. Instead it is replaced with a girl who not only demands pleasure for herself but also knows how to please her man. When he sees the girls and ladies of the society, he looks at them this way. When he see's a skimpily attired girl or woman or when he watches girls going on dates, being with their boyfriends and at parties, his longing only increases. Unfortunately from the strata of society that he is, the rapist does not get what he wants. For him even the prostitute is no longer a temptation. His frustration therefore, only snowballs. It doesn't stop there. With "torture porn" his imagination is fuelled a thousand fold and his frustration knows no bounds. That is why he goes beyond his sexual indulgence during rape and takes vengeance on the victim by maiming her and in the process causing her death. For him, hurting his victim and giving her agony is when his mountain of frustration finds release. This also applies to men from other levels of the strata but for many of these a release is found either with their partners or by some other means. That is why most rapists are ones from the lower rungs of the society.
If you still don't believe that movies don't influence rapists just check out the documentary "The Act of Killing" that was nominated for the Oscars a couple of days ago. The mass murderers (who have killed tens and thousands, one single guy attributed to even over a 1000 killings) readily confess how they got their inspiration by watching Hollywood movies of the Nazi criminals. Those movies of the 60's pale to what is being made today.
From the Wikipedia - Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki's murders of preschool girls was primarily because he was addicted to Guinea pig movies (ones made to look like genuine Snuff films, in Japan). They found one on his possession too besides the 5763 videos of anime and slasher films. He was addicted to child pornography too, another genre of extreme porn. Quoting Wikipedia again, K. Vijay Kumar, the Tamil Nadu Additional Director-General of Police, claimed that cinema was solely responsible for making the notorious serial killer, Auto Shankar a criminal. He mentioned this during a seminar on "Crime and Media" in Kerala.
3. Inculcating Moral Science and Spirituality in the curriculum of schools
I believe this subject no longer exists but in our days it used to be part of the curriculum in schools. The books and topics of Moral Science talked about God, goodness and other noble qualities and the power of prayer. I still remember some of those lessons. These lessons were not about religion but they inculcated the teachings of the wise and the Mystics and imparting this knowledge at a very early stage to children will go a long way in creating a better society.
As far as spirituality or civilization is concerned India is the cradle of the world but it's painful to observe where we have gone today. Spirituality even tells you of bliss that makes the "orgasm" a fleeting, trifling, silly thing but that's another story.
I conclude with a forewarning of what's to come if the law (police and lawyers) and the doctors continue their practices in the despicable fashion that has been reported on the show and the media. I am afraid that what's happening in the U.S.A with the ARA (American Rifles Association) will soon be happening in India. Women and their men (brothers, fathers, husbands, partners) are going to go armed to fight rapists and criminals. It's a frightening situation but it may be the only solution if current dire situation of rapes and ill-treatment of rape-victims in this country persists in this fashion.
I wish Aamir and his team had focused more on the "prevention" rather than the cure. Without prevention trying to get even with or trying to change the Police, legal and medical system as ours is a futile battle tackling one of the biggest crimes in our society today.
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