Raja Sen
Audiences refuse to believe that stars are human too
Aishwarya Rai has the worst fans. Being an Internet-based film critic for awhile now, I can attest to having received a wee bit more than my share of hate-mail. It’s quite staggering, really, to realise just how passionate people are about cinema, and more than a trifle alarming to wrap the brain around the fact that a very significant number of folks would love to bash my skull in based merely on disagreement – simply because, for example, I didn’t like 3 Idiots.
And while I haven’t yet faced physical violence – threats stopped fazing me quite some time ago – it’s always interesting to see just how quickly people jump to their feet to democratically proclaim an opinion wrong. And then there are the bizarre kneejerk reactions – like being branded ‘unpatriotic’ after finding fault with something Amitabh Bachchan does — and fantastical accusations of favouritism.
For example, a cursory glance around the Web will lead you to all sorts of conspiracy theories about how I am a corrupt champion of all things SRK, and while I think Mr Khan – whom I have met all of one time, during which he didn’t hand me a mithai-dabba stuffed with banknotes – is a better actor than usually given credit for, the claws come out for his films just the same as everyone else. (Of course, under those reviews a new bunch of commenters wisely proclaim that I live in Akshay Kumar’s pocket.)
The Internet messageboards are a thing of wonder. The process, in a nutshell, goes thusly: An article mentions Rajnikanth. A reader instantly calls Bachchan the real God.
A third brings in a Khan. Cue conchshells, signalling the onset of war. And there we have it, boom, a simple review spawns a shameful discussion: a riotous melee, complete with racial slurs and regionalistic jargon and extreme obscenity. Bad, bad bloodshed, this.
Now, the haters have found Twitter. One unfavourable adjective about an actor they have a crush on results in my timeline choked with abuse. I stopped taking the bile personally several years ago – a close friend put it enviably well when she pointed out that I “had made enemies among the ungrammatical” – but since I actually enjoy Twitter, it is occasionally jarring to stumble upon a swearword when expecting a smile.
Which brings me back to the first line of today’s column, one Ash should perhaps be concerned about. I frequently rip apart movies I consider bad – and she has admittedly kept herself in the firing line all through the last year – but her fans, and especially her online fanclubs, are the most profane bunch by a mile. Hiding behind stunning pictures of her, they use language that would shock a Mumbai policeman. Shame, Ash-fans, shame. Do you kiss your Taal poster with that mouth?
LINK
Audiences refuse to believe that stars are human tooAishwarya Rai has the worst fans. Being an Internet-based film critic for awhile now, I can attest to having received a wee bit more than my share of hate-mail. It’s quite staggering, really, to realise just how passionate people are about cinema, and more than a trifle alarming to wrap the brain around the fact that a very significant number of folks would love to bash my skull in based merely on disagreement – simply because, for example, I didn’t like 3 Idiots.
And while I haven’t yet faced physical violence – threats stopped fazing me quite some time ago – it’s always interesting to see just how quickly people jump to their feet to democratically proclaim an opinion wrong. And then there are the bizarre kneejerk reactions – like being branded ‘unpatriotic’ after finding fault with something Amitabh Bachchan does — and fantastical accusations of favouritism.
For example, a cursory glance around the Web will lead you to all sorts of conspiracy theories about how I am a corrupt champion of all things SRK, and while I think Mr Khan – whom I have met all of one time, during which he didn’t hand me a mithai-dabba stuffed with banknotes – is a better actor than usually given credit for, the claws come out for his films just the same as everyone else. (Of course, under those reviews a new bunch of commenters wisely proclaim that I live in Akshay Kumar’s pocket.)
The Internet messageboards are a thing of wonder. The process, in a nutshell, goes thusly: An article mentions Rajnikanth. A reader instantly calls Bachchan the real God.
A third brings in a Khan. Cue conchshells, signalling the onset of war. And there we have it, boom, a simple review spawns a shameful discussion: a riotous melee, complete with racial slurs and regionalistic jargon and extreme obscenity. Bad, bad bloodshed, this.
Now, the haters have found Twitter. One unfavourable adjective about an actor they have a crush on results in my timeline choked with abuse. I stopped taking the bile personally several years ago – a close friend put it enviably well when she pointed out that I “had made enemies among the ungrammatical” – but since I actually enjoy Twitter, it is occasionally jarring to stumble upon a swearword when expecting a smile.
Which brings me back to the first line of today’s column, one Ash should perhaps be concerned about. I frequently rip apart movies I consider bad – and she has admittedly kept herself in the firing line all through the last year – but her fans, and especially her online fanclubs, are the most profane bunch by a mile. Hiding behind stunning pictures of her, they use language that would shock a Mumbai policeman. Shame, Ash-fans, shame. Do you kiss your Taal poster with that mouth?
LINK
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