The film industry has always made an impact on its viewers. They are made in such a manner that people can relate to them.
The characters and their stories significantly impact the thinking and beliefs of the viewers, especially youth, because a young person can easily get influenced by something they can relate to.
The Indian population is dominated by youth. There are indeed many movies that have positively influenced them. They have inspired the youth to be themselves, instilled a sense of patriotism and reignited the flame of hope, faith and kindness in their hearts.
But, there are also some harmful ways the film industry has influenced its viewers’ hearts. Let us look at some of them.
1. Glorifying the role of men
There are so many action movies and romantic ones that glorify the role of a man. The male protagonist is always portrayed as the “hero” who saves the day by fighting enemies.
Fight scenes are often graphically displayed, making the young guys think they can use their fists to “save the day”. Their concept of saving someone and exhibiting their “macho-man” persona is different from those in the movies.
There are many headlines where youth have resorted to violence to curb disagreements. Also, men are presented as the pillars of strength and women as weak. Although many movies have shown otherwise, the ones to reach the top of the box office are spotlit with this concept.
2. Objectifying women
We belong to a generation of equal rights to men and women. But the continual production of “item songs” in hit movies puts us a step back from this progress. Scantily-clad, dancing and singing among hordes of drunk men seems a bit degrading.
Even if we teach boys to respect women and their right to dress as they please, the “item songs” put a significant dent in that practice. These songs help increase the IMDb ratings of the movies by objectifying the female gender, which is appalling. The youth starts to think that this is normal when it isn’t.
3. The “happy-ending” myth
Movies are nothing but fantastical stories. They come with an ending, usually the happily ever after kind. That is not to say that there are no happy endings in real life, just different from those in the movies.
In real life, guy-gets-the-girl-at-the-end, the-evil-dies, and the the-poor-becomes-rich notion of happy endings do not always exist. And the youth needs to realise that real life does not come with a time limit of 2.45 hours.
4. Unawareness of hardships
Some movies portray the struggles, sacrifices and hurdles a person goes through to achieve their goals and dreams. But the blood, sweat and tears are not shown in detail because obviously, it is a movie after all.
The youth does not comprehend the true hardships and are unaware of the real-life challenges one may face when trying to achieve goals. Of course, it is not that the whole generation is in the dark about it; many live it. But many of them have rainbow coloured glasses on when it comes to real life.
5. Influence on the choice of careers
In movies, the protagonists’ lives and other characters are sometimes sugar-coated and polished. They do display the bitter parts of life and tragedies. But the young generation will focus only on the best aspects.
Which, in turn, might influence their career choice. For example, seeing a character’s success in a particular field will prompt the youth to choose it for their career. Arguably, the right reasons like their own goals, not determined by the movies, for the selection is appreciated. But the wrong reasons can harm their lives.
Conclusion
The advances in technology have overtaken all the fields, including the film industry. And today, there are a variety of streaming services available like Netflix, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, etc.
The youth is an expert regarding these streaming services. They know what to watch and what will be released on these channels. They were a source of entertainment and an escape from boredom even during the pandemic.
In their defence, the film industry is just doing its job. But the industry’s negative impact on youth mentality cannot be ignored. Sometimes, the youth misunderstand the message it is trying to convey. And the fact that what the young generation learn and take away from these movies is upon them and no one else.
Published By – Vanshu Mehra
Edited By – Mahi Gupta
