Physical "reality'', no less than social "reality'', is at bottom a social and linguistic construct.
-- Alan Sokal
Shivaani Chakravarti: No, it is a complete, realistic, factual, 2-D representation.
Abraham Eraly: Yes, they do distort our outward reality. But at another level they truly represent our reality -- our inner reality of dreams, fantasies and aspirations.
Kalyan Raman: Tricky one, that. And what about ghazal-singing men with blow-dried hair and shawl-draped shoulders? Seriously, our narratives - our lives! - have no room for anyone but the most flaming narcissist. Is Shah Rukh Khan for real? Of course, he is. His unreality is the one real thing. So much for popular culture.
Advertisement
Aman Gill: In so far as popular culture emanates from and is a reaction to the dominantly held social norms, it represents "reality". Also there is not a single but multiple "realities".
While we have the Raymond’s complete man we also have (incidentally, also Raymond’s) the hard to resist men in Parx. We have Sunny Deol brand of machismo and along with that we also have Farhan Akhtar’s representation of male bonding.
I think popular media imagery by using stereotypes, resists change and works towards maintaining the social order. Whether the representation is real or unreal is an endless discussion.
Advertisement
Raji Pillai: Oh, they represent some aspect of reality, no doubt. But perhaps such representations prevent journalists from examining more deeply what the "intellectual legacy" might be. :-)
Anasuya Mohanti : Absolutely. The candy floss, bubble gum portrayal or the stronger-than-Hercules depiction of men in the Indian media is far from reality. To me, the quintessential Indian male is an average guy, with his self-centric attitude larger than life. He is far from being an icon of the male bastion. He is subservient to those who are superior to him and a bully to those he can control.
Reeta Sinha: Absolutely not. Alisha had it right..."Made in India" You think these gorgeous Indian men are a figment of my.er, someone's imagination? Look around you, they're everywhere. North, south, east, west, Sindhi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Keralite, Konkani or Kannadiga (not to leave anyone out but there is a word-limit, right?). On the street or in our own homes, India has no kami of heroes. Every family has their own Aamir, Hrithik, Jadeja, and Soman.
I kid you not. Sure, the media dolls up these more famous guys to look unreal, but they really are everywhere. Why, put a wrinkled, perspiration-stained kurta on Aamir and see! Look, over there - it could be that guy crossing the street!
Advertisement
Farrukh Dhondy: Contrary to popular belief, Amir Khan really exists in the flesh and is not a computer generated 3D person. I have met him, very briefly and when no-one was looking even touched him. So I know.
The greatness of our modern portraiture lies in the democratic representation of our people. My friend JC Bundulwalla, Professor of Physiognomic and Phrenological Sciences at Stamford Bridge University has made a computer composite of five hundred million Indian males and lo and behold, the picture that emerges as the average is the spitting image of Amir Khan.
On the female side of things, JC fed his computer the photographs of thirty crores of actual naked Indian females. The composite picture that emerged was the all too familiar depilated invitation to necrophilia that graces all our billboards, fashion-shows, TV ads, celebrity photo-ops etc. and helpfully sells us soap and other things we need.
Advertisement
JC is now working on the average or composite smell of Indian males and females. Marvellous things, computers.
Pauline Chitra Vellaichamy: Pop culture representatives?! Where do I find (at least) one of those?! I want, I want...
P.V. Subramanian : Yes, it's far removed. But that's fast changing. The Indian Male is rapidly evolving into something closer to His depiction on the screen (He doesn't read books). Of course, it has become more difficult now, with movie stars
becoming well-muscled and stupid. Maybe halfway there is a good start.
