Aren't Movies Our Teacher?

“We become what we behold” – A mesmerizing quote by an English poet William Blake puts in nutshell, the impact of observation on oneself. People are constantly being influenced by what they see and hear, thus, restructuring their thought process every passing moment. In this regard, movies as a part of the larger entertainment industry, including short films, dramas, tv shows, and web series, etc., significantly enrich one through their audio-visual lessons. So, a curious question emerging in my mind is – am I wrong calling them our teachers?

While movies might not seem like teachers in a traditional sense, their imprint on an individual’s personality is undeniable in this globalised-technocratic world order. Starting from mannerisms and behaviour to ambition and ideology, everything a person is and dreams of becoming, is influenced by these broadcasted entertainment contents.

Profound Influence of Cinema

The psychological growth of a child implies the growth of its personality, i.e. the child is adding and altering its characteristic features every moment, thus, shaping the child’s habits, attitude, and ultimately, its understanding of reality.

These characteristic features are essentially learned through observation of its surroundings, of which the broadcasted visual contents are an inevitable part of, in this modern age. When a child watches a movie, it absorbs content, encoding them into its brain. So, in turn, this stimulates an emotional response leading to happiness expressed through laughter, sadness through crying, fear through shivering, and so on. And frequent exposure to the same stimulus from the reel world will reinforce the responses, thus, creating and strengthening the attitude towards similar situations in the real world.

For example, when a child watches a horror movie portraying darkness as a “ghost” terrifying people, it will automatically start fearing darkness in real life situations too. Similarly, what is regarded as funny, what is considered sorrow, what becomes annoying, etc., are all moulded through cinematic experiences to a large extent, preparing one to real-world situations.

Just like the emotional system, these digital-visual contents help build one’s value system. Although one learns basic values from their physical environment by observing their parents, teachers, and peers, these digital visual contents further fortify one’s ethical attitude by bringing in confidence.

 In a drama, when the actions of the protagonist are glorified, those actions will be perceived as an ethical standard for the viewers. That is, if a righteous person is celebrated in a film, then consequently, people will strive to replicate such honesty in their personal life too.

Further, the impact of these entertainment contents is reflected in one’s community interactions, societal understanding, and national obligations. Many regional TV serials can make a person from a nuclear family understand the different relationship-dynamics of a joint family, or vice versa. Similarly, a movie like Sam Bahadur (2023) could evoke nationalism in audiences, reminding them of service obligations toward their nation.

From all the above, we may easily be convinced to conclude the motion picture as a righteous virtual teacher. But this can become a disastrous conclusion if the reality is not well-examined!

Cinema – a Risky Role Model

Though cinematic contents help to develop one’s emotional system, often, they tend to redefine basic emotional responses, confining them to a regressive stimulus. Take happiness for instance. Many movies have reshaped the definition of happiness by attaching it to money. While money is one of the means to attain a happy life, the cinema made it an end in itself, thus, glorifying even unethical means to attain it. So-deemed hit movies like Pushpa 2 (2024) reinforce this derogatory message of getting rich through any means to be happy, in a cinematic way.

In addition, these entertainment media further reinforce existing social evils instead of restructuring them. The huge box office response to the film like Animal (2023), reiterates how much the “toxic male heroism” is still valued in this modern India. A student bringing a gun to his school, masking sexual harassment as love, and un-questionable wrecking of law and order (no police in the film!) – if all these are referred to as “heroism,” then what kind of impact will it leave on our future generation is a question to ponder upon.

Another biggest issue is the way they make it sell! To elaborate, in the name of making the viewing experience pleasant, generally, these films or web series tend to add spice to their salad, called masala in films. These masalas historically revolved mainly around objectifying women, derogatory comments on disabled, and social shaming of transgenders. Besides dissolving the growing generations’ childness by pre-matured exposure to such degraded contents, it further desensitizes them, endangering tolerance in this diverse country.

Need of a Responsible Mentor

While the government regulates such virtual role models through legislation, censor board, etc., extensive control becomes a breach of the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression. But self-regulation and peoples’ influence would not be deemed so. In fact, the best reform is self-reform!

To begin with, the entertainment industry must take responsibility for making progressive content. While realistic portrayal is appreciated, it must not cross moral limits. Although cinema may mirror society, it also strongly influences it back. Hence, contents must be made keeping in mind the progressive values of the Indian culture and its heritage.

This cannot be possible if the peoples’ response is not garnered towards progressive film-making. In reality, cinematic industry which once made dramas to bring social revolution in our country reduced to mere “Masala Industry,” not because of the dearth of social issues to talk about, but due to peoples’ apathy towards such progressive contents. People must support movies and series that push forward-looking ideas, de-popularize toxic messages, condemn inappropriate portrayal, and must end piracy as profits are necessary for the sustenance of such progressive contents.

Since the entertainment industry holds a profound task of mentoring the younger generations in this “world in our palm” era, it must hold utmost integrity in its noble profession. While entertainment involves a mix of comedy, romance, action, horror, etc. they must not come at the cost of sensitivity, dignity, and humaneness. Although the role of movies as our teacher is undeniable, the extent to which it will be progressively inspiring will be determined by our response. Thus, the task of transforming this risky role model into a responsible teacher rests in our hands!

Let us begin our actions from here. Do you agree with my views? Do comment below and keep your freedom of expression alive!