The Impact Of TV Serials

Introduction    

   Impact of TV serials is huge on society. Serials have wide impact on the mind. Today the Indian channels have come up with number of channels. It act as a major advanced indirect socialization induced in the society by the medium of media.Indian television today has bombarded with variety of TV serials on different channels.

     Serials like Satyamev Jayate are great initiative and are making people of India think and act in the best interest of the society. Some creative, dancing, singing shows provide a platform to perform and show their talent.

    But in the race of TRP, serials have doubled their number just to win the TRP. This is because few people have surely had great impact in their mind. Some channels are showing the Saas-Bahu serials on large scale which sometimes makes no sense.

    From all the serials I have seen, the constant theme seems to be - living in a joint family is bad for your health, wealth and sanity. Sadly, families all over India - and abroad - watch these serials as if they are "masala-melodramas", not recognising the poison hidden within it. This is very damaging to Indian society and is contrary to our ethos.

 

List of negative things they show. Here are just a few points 

• People constantly fall in love with one person, but get married to another.


• Multiple marriages are common.  Cast members get married multiple times, to multiple members of the same family and no one seems to bat an eye lid.


• “Power of Attorney” is misused on a regular basis to ruin the financial and business empire of people and yet, no one ever learns from previous mistakes !


• People lie, cheat, keep dreadful secretes and yet no one in the family ever seems to know !!  In “joint family” where every lives in such close proximity, it is amazing that regular lies are never caught !!!!


• Family members seem to constantly work to undermine each other.


• Often, people are shown to arrange kidnap, murder and rape of their own family members with outside goons !!!!


• At any time, anyone can get slapped !!  Domestic violence is rampant in these serials. 


• Everyone seems to harbour “secretes”, no matter how trivial, leading to terrible misunderstandings and grief for all concerned.

    These serials do not reflect any aspect of India was know to be true.  What they show does not reflect the India of yesterday or today.  God forbid if this is the version of India yet to come !!  Children who see these serials as possible mirrors of India and Indian life are bound to be gravely disappointed when they get to India.

For example

• Amazingly enough, though set in “modern India”, women are still stereotyped as incurable gossipers and schemers who only work to undermine other women in the “family”.


• Women wear expensive clothes and jewellery all the time – even in bed !


• Everyone lives in huge palatial houses with massive rooms.


• No one ever does a decent days work.  People come and go from "office" as if its another room in the house.

 

Present Day Serials

   Its amazing that the censor is passing such terrible story lines without thinking how its impacting the minds of the young. Its amazing that the advertisers are choosing to advertise during such dire soaps !  Its even more amazing that the public is watching these without comment.

    I think present day serials have got degenerated.There are no good story writers.I feel that there is no check on violence in serials.The parents of the boy misbehaving in the the Marriage Hall look mean.Raping is very common.Women are shown as bitches.I really wonder how people tolerate such serials which are demoralising.       

For most of the typical Indian housewives there is no better timepass than watching the family dramas on small screen. TV Serials like ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ (KSBKBT) and ‘Kumkum’ ran almost for couple of years and had captivated the entire women population of India.  So was their popularity that once a group of ladies protested on the streets of Mumbai because a character named Mihir in KSBKBT had been killed. The producers were forced to miraculously bring him back so as not to lose its TRP.

 

Saas-Bahu Dramas

These saas-bahu dramas are not only watched for entertainment but are also loved by the people. The characters seem to become a part of the daily lives of millions of families all over the country. The in-laws want a bahu like Parvati or Kumkum who would be docile and sacrifice everything for family’s happiness. They begin to think that the ideal place for a woman is at her husband’s feet; that her only duty is to take care of her in-laws and raise children. It is indecent for a woman to venture into the professional world and they should let men take care of all the financial matters. In today’s world we are debating on woman’s position in the society; protesting against rapes, infanticides, dowry system; fighting for women’s right. But we seem to ignore the influence of the idiot’s box on more than 60 crore Indians of all age group. It is true that these serials will not portray women so as to elevate their position in the modern world. Why can’t the producers show a courageous woman IPS Officer or a successful businesswoman? Because in doing so they may lose a large population of viewers who find it extremely difficult to accept the professionalism in women’s attitude.

 

Entertainment Channels

So do these entertainment channels have no responsibility towards a society where female infanticide is so common, where the birth of a girl child is a curse and where educating a girl is a waste of money? Do note that there are around 15 crore TV sets in India. That means more than half of India’s population is exposed to all the ill-effects of TV serials. People seem to enjoy the stereotypical portrayal of Indian families no matter how much melodramatic or boring they are.  If these soaps are their obsession they will never accept men-women equality in the society.

 

Things I hate about TV serials

They are endless:

• Climaxes for these serials do not exist. One of the characters in a Star Plus serial was shown to have lived through four generations. The director still planned to keep her alive had she not died a real-life death.


• There’s no such thing as certain death. Now, as far as I know, when you’re dead, you’re dead. But in Indian serials a character can die and return as many times as the director wills it.


• Once a character is killed off, they may return to the show with a completely new face. Even the height, eye colour, and voice are different. Under some circumstances, the said character returns having suffered memory loss. This character thus remembers nothing except the latest fashion trends, of course.

Endless affairs:

• In every serial, there must be at least one extra-marital affair, and every extra-marital affair has to produce an illegitimate child. I would have thought that science had progressed enough to take care of that. But it seems that in the world of Indian soaps, the plastic surgeons are much more advanced than the gynaecologists.

Absurdly large families:

• I am always amazed at how so many people can be accommodated in one house. What is even more surprising is how easily room is made for any added member. Do all middle-class Indians live in palaces?

The crazy math of money:

• Rich folk can lose their money if they screw up one deal out of the millions they conduct every day. They are shunted to a small house if one of their 50 factories catches fire. Meanwhile, the women may not have beds to sleep in, but they have gold jewellery that they can wear even as they do the dusting and sweeping.

The universal utility of the set:

• The living room seen in the first soap becomes a restaurant, and 30 minutes later it turns into an office. The same building keeps changing into a club, a bar and even a five-star hotel.

Drum rolls:

• Whether someone dies or a supposed-to-be-dead person returns (only to attend his/her spouse’s wedding, of course), your eardrums are sure to be pierced. These ear shattering notes follow arguments, slaps, and shocking moments in general.

Non-existent door locks:

•  You live in a huge mansion and you do not have locks on your bedroom door? Some nosy aunty from the family can easily peek into your bedroom when you are getting naughty with your husband’s sister’s husband’s cousin. Surely, a disaster waiting to happen.


• The age math, It is beyond me how the son can look older than his mother and younger than his wife.