A review video released by a Tamil channel “Valai pechu” is under radar for all the wrong reasons. The video shows three men discussing about the movie, saying audacious things like they don’t feel pity for the girls who are being molested because of the kind of character they play, implying to girls who go to pubs and drink.
The panel discussion only takes an uglier turn quoting things about casual sex prolonging in North and not South India.
“Panelist 1: They seem like upper class girls. They go to pub and drink and one girl has lost her virginity at 19. After that having casual sex, we start believing why do we have to care what happens to them?”
“Panelist 2: In the movie pink… Going to pub, having casual sex is a usual thing in North India. That’s why the movie “Pink” was a hit in Bollywood. But this is not “Tamil Culture”!”
Foe of feminist voices:
This really brings to light the kind of dull-witted thoughts that prevails in the society. After decades of activism, empowerment, female-centric movies that thrive so hard to tell the women side of the story, Why does patriarchy persist? What is the psychology of these type of men who position to power? Such thoughts are not only unacceptable but also destructive to what our future society might be shaping up to. While the whole world is working so hard to break such entrenched stereotypes, it is heart breaking and infuriating to hear such words out loud.
This is not the first time the phrase “Tamil culture” is dragged into debate. Not our “culture”… what does that even mean, these norms instilled in us by age-old times. Are we to push away judgement, sacrifice our needs, only to fall in line to what the society believes as “Tamil Culture”?. Why should “Tamil Culture” be synonymous to being conservative, and narrow-minded? How long till that changes? This kind of hardwired mindset is harmful to both men and women and the young boys and girls who’ll grow up to define how the world works in few years from now. It is the children of men like these who go to school assuming power because they are boys or being submissive because they are girls.
The video has also received backlash from across the city and many celebrities are stepping in to reply to this insensitive and foolish review. Actor Siddharth took to Twitter to call out on the channel. “Desperate, shameless, uneducated and repulsive yellow journalism” he wrote.
https://twitter.com/Actor_Siddharth/status/1158961558354976768?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Singer Chinmayi also expressed her distress to this kind of open everyday misogyny.
The everyday misogyny and justification of ‘They asked for it’ by 3 mainstream Tamil reviewers. https://t.co/kUtnifheAC
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) August 6, 2019
Popular entertainment industry tracker Ramesh Bala was also critical about the comments made by the team. “No means No.. Doesn’t matter what her past is.. Doesn’t matter what she is wearing or drunk.. It’s all about consent.. Sad to see some reviewers not understanding this..”, (sic) he wrote on Twitter.
No means No.. Doesn't matter what her past is.. Doesn't matter what she is wearing or drunk..
It's all about consent..
Sad to see some reviewers not understanding this..#NerkondaPaaravai
— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) August 6, 2019
The page then released an open apology and took the video down. But that does not approve of how the mentality of these men work and think.
We have learnt that some of our statements in the recently released video review of #NerkondaPaaravai has hurt the sentiments of many, and we regret to have made these statements. The particular video has been taken down.#ValaiPechuVideos #BanValaipechu
— வலைப்பேச்சு (@valaipechu) August 6, 2019
The movie deals with three independent, working women are living their best life when they come across three men during a music festival. Meera Krishnan (Shraddha Srinath) hits Aadvik (Arjun Chidambaram), the son of a politician on his head with a bottle and escapes the place with her two other friends Fami (Abhirami) and Andrea. The girls then face a series of threat from the boys including the abduction and molestation of Meera. That is when lawyer Bharath Subramaniam (Ajith) steps in to help the girls put across the importance of a simple yet powerful word – NO.
This is definately one of the most important topics to discuss in our society today.
