Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Foyer Voyeur..!

voyeur

“When the chips are down, these civilized men won’t hesitate to eat each other!”

This is a dialogue from the movie The Dark Knight. This is where The Joker tries to explain to The Batman about the futility of standing up for the civilized society. The Joker had the best dialogues in the movie but I felt this was a little too much. I rolled my eyes back then. Later, the more I thought about it, the more it became evident. Scratch the surface, our holier-than-thou façade starts to fade and we can see the real self. The Self that The Joker was alluding to. The one that would not hesitate to kill The Other at the drop of a hat. It is well concealed beneath the pleasantries and the etiquettes. The real us is always lurking near the surface though. It’s like a bunch of vampires trying hard to lead a life between a bevy of beautiful girls. This façade nauseates me. Underneath the masquerade, everybody is a voyeur and a savage.

It is not a very unknown part of us. Man recognized his Frankenstein long back, but we have now started to feed the voyeur within us. It is despicable. Collect some celebrities and put them in a room full of cameras for the world to see. We all sit glued to it, fascinated, watching the celebrity eat and drink like us. It makes us feel better when we see that they too, break wind like us. And if not celebrities, bring a middle aged Mom to the hot seat and put her through the most uncomfortable and sadistic of questions and make her answer them for the lure of money. The audience won’t even know the name of the 50 something Mom and, in all probability, would never bump into her, yet they are transfixed to the seat during the commercial break post which she will reveal her husband’s role in her son’s birth. People forget to eat, they wait with bated breath as the skeletons tumble out of her closet.

The other day, Amma was watching something on her Tamil channel. It was the interview of a man who lost his limbs while trying to cross railway tracks. He explained how the railway station has no foot-over-bridge for people to cross over and said, amidst tears, how his life had grinded to a full stop after the accident. That he was the sole breadwinner of a poor family and how his illiterate wife now struggles to make both ends meet. It was immediately followed by the story of a Kid who was blinded in the Slumdog Millionaire style. The next week they were to air the story of a Kid who was raped by her father. I was all ears, disgusted with myself for being the voyeur that I was.

The other day, I was at the bus stop, at 12.30 AM. It was the last bus of the day and we were an impatient crowd waiting for it. It arrived finally and all hell broke loose. People jumped upon the bus like a pack of wolves over a solitary lamb. Forget about queue etiquettes and chivalry, even children were not spared. Once inside the bus did people realise that it was an empty bus. People were now smiling sheepishly at each other from the comforts of their window seats.

It disgusts me. When I see people craning their neck from the window of a bus to get a better view of the drunkard who is beating his wife or when people rush too see an accident site and are almost disappointed when there are no casualties. Or when I see civilized women pull each other’s hair in public over matters as quotidian as a window seat in a bus and when the other men stand on their seats to get a better view of the fight.

These educated educated people define a voyeur as the ‘one who peeps into the ladies’ rooms.’ What about the people who peep into other’s lives? Aren’t they voyeurs as well?

16 Grumblings:

AR said...

Not everybody. I'd rather kill myself (I am), than let others go through the unhappiness of being near me.

- You know who

ketki said...

somethings in this material world are inevitable...
the society loves being inquisitive, and you n me are a part of it...
so we have to, uncomplainingly, bear the brunt of being a part of this world full of voyeurs…

Sikander Fayyaz Khan said...

I feel you brother, I feel you. But having said that, imagine how boring this place would become if everyone was to be that righteous :p

Meera's World said...

It seems like we survive by others miseries.The TV channels are competing with each other to show who shows the worst gruesome scenes. When they talk about suicide news, they show the victim, thank god, they are not showing their faces! when they show an accident scenes, we also see people taking pictures of the tragedy in their cell cams! I used to watch a tv show that deals with murders etc. one day my husband asked me why I am wasting my time by watching this disturbing program. He said its only going to leave a bad taste in my mouth ,afterwards. That was true., and I stopped watching that channel.But the fact remains that we are all part of this game..
What’s going on? It’s like we are slowly becoming stones. Nice post.

Ayyappan said...

@AR
I'm sorry.. I didn't understand... what You-know-who meant!!


@Ketki
Why uncomplainingly? I am well within my rights to rant, whine and loathe our kind!!
Though you are right when you say that it is inevitable!!

Ayyappan said...

@Siku
We cannot change ourselves, however despicable they maybe.. but you all seem to have missed the crux of this post .. I said we always were voyeuristic .. but now we have started to feed the voyeur within us.. in the name of entertainment... and that disgusts me more..!!

Ayyappan said...

@Meera
Exactly..!! People take pictures of accident sites with their cell phones..!! How lower can we stoop?!

And if pictures were not enough, we have reporters swarming the accident site within minutes who then scavenge whatever little is left of the survivors..!!!

AR said...

You-know-who = You know who typed it. (Only if you had used a little of that brain) :|

ketki said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ketki said...

@ayyo,
what i meant was tht one loses the right to complain when one is both, the culprit and the victim.
so i wasnt talking about "You".
its ur blog, your space, so u can rant, whine, shout or do watvr.. u'll always b well within ur rights...

Ayyappan said...

@AR
OMG!! I am sorry for being such a troll!! How could I not recognize you..!!
Only if I had a fraction of your brains..!! :)

And now, I disagree with your comment completely!! x_X

Ayyappan said...

@Ketki
I understood what you meant and I am talking on behalf of the victim! I have also had my share of public voyeurism..!! I cannot take that uncomplainingly..!! I will give it back, rant and whine!! :P

kunwar said...

First of all I have to say, that this was your best post...

Ayyo Bhai...stooping to such low levels only indicates what a miserable life we are living...all of us...You mentioned that we get disappointed when there is no casualty in some accident sight...I'm one of them and sometimes I am just so disgusted and repelled by my own thoughts...

It's just a part of who we are...

Ps:-Nice way to bring in the name of your blog into the article eh? :P

Ayyappan said...

Thanks!! Though, personally I thought that it was not well written..!!

True, miserable creatures we are!! And I have seen people click pictures of accident sites..!!

Good, at least you noticed that I brought the name of my blog in the post..!! It was with the same thought in mind .. I created the blog..!

AR said...

Yeah, so finally you used it! :P
I knew you'd think I said it sarcastically, but no, I actually meant it! :| :P

And never wish for something that brings problems. May be because of those brains I thought that people would love me forever even if I tell them the deepest of my fears. It doesn't work that way here, no it doesn't. :)

Ayyappan said...

@AR
Hehehe!! I know I should've at least tried up use it..!! :D :P


And I disagree again! Maybe you chose to confide to the wrong people..! And you know there still are people who love you for what you are ... despite the brains..(Or the appalling lack of it, sometimes!) :D