For weeks on end now, Indian news channels have followed – or rather, hounded- the case of an unfortunate and untimely death of a movie star with the persistence of a bank exceutive trying to sell you a credit card and the sensitivity of a sledgehammer. Many articles have since cropped up on both sides of the table-debating, analysing and ultimately ruing at what has come to pass for “journalism” these days- and with news channels crossing every ethical limit possible, the reproach is somewhat understandable. The antics of the anchors on the primetime news vary from outrageous, absurd, scandalous, sleazy to downright unintentionally comic, but this is hardly surprising to anyone who has been following popular Indian news channels for a few years now.
I have stopped watching primetime news altogether simply because I acknowledge that almost all of it is politically sponspored propaganda one way or the other aimed to distract people from asking real questions about real issues, with nothing really neutral. Hence, the shameless coverage of this case was somewhat expected, let alone surprising – more so since it happened with a pandemic crushing our healthcare and our economy in the backdrop.
What did surprise me, and unpleasantly so, was how my family and some of my friends chose to consume this case as it played out on their television screens relentlessly. It brought out the deep rooted sexism, misogyny, patriarchy and absolutely zero awareness of mental health issues within people close to me, all well educated, mind you. People who I thought may see through the smokescreen, people who have actually encouraged and empowered me to be the opinionated woman I am today.
A member of my family was of the opinion that since the person who passed away lost his mother at a young age, hence he had “nobody really to guide him away from substance abuse” since that is primarily a mother’s job. That the said person was youngest of five siblings and still had his father around is immaterial, apparently. That got me thinking, when we lost Heath Ledger to a drug overdose, why weren’t we wondering where his mother was? Another family member was quick to label the girlfriend as “an obvious gold digger since she is anyways a flop actress” , based on the girlfriend’s interview on a news channel where “she didn’t look sad or remorseful, but she looked like a calculating and manipulative kind of woman”. Really? How does a calculative and manipulative woman look? I mean, if looks are that dead a giveaway, wouldn’t anybody steer clear of such women?
Then there were the gems on my social media friendlist, which actually had me thinking- what are these kind of people doing in my friendlist, in the first place? A fraction is convinced it is a brutal murder and not a suicide, some refute allegations of depression and drug abuse on the basis that he was academically brilliant and was probably a person with an above average IQ who cracked many engineering entrance exams. I wonder what they would say if they were to enter any professional college (even the topmost institutes) hostels in India today to see what a rampant reality substance abuse is. There were a few who chose to “boycott” the girlfriends interview on a news channel because they didn’t even want to hear her side of the story. Why bother, since you already have the full truth by listening to one single perspective that is systematically being fed to you?
Then there were the ones who pretended to want to listen to the other side of the story only so that they can widely diss it on social media and also ridicule the person who bothered interviewing her and label him to be a blatant liar and scoundrel. He may be lying, and his move may be part of propaganda- sure, but isn’t it possible that is true for the opposite side too? But the most heartbreaking of them all, I actually happened to come across doctors justifying their prejudices and judgement on this case by shutting up people who countered them with tales of how they work for hours in PPE kits during the pandemic and hence after such stress, it is their choice who and what they want to follow. Sure it is, but is it correct to call people names publicly only because you think they are part of a propaganda? Why then, do they get all flustered when the favour is returned to them?
The biggest eye opener, however, has been how people largely view mental health issues. I lost count of how many people were surprised, and still unconvinced, when I told them that depression doesn’t necessarily manifest as a person crying for hours. That a seemingly successful person, who happens to be a public figure, can also be suffering from depression inspite of all his pictures in the public domain showing him smiling impishly- is still a bewildering concept at best to most. What do they expect? A person suffering from clinical depression must be depressed literally- with his pictures showing him banging his head against walls or him bawling his eyes out? The fact that depression can also be a deeply internalised struggle and a battle that these patients fight with themselves everyday is a truth too nuanced to capture the imagination of an audience dumbed down by some stupid soap opera-ish ideas about mental health.
So the coverage of this case doen’t surpise, shock or sadden me. What deeply saddens me is that it has made me realise that even for those people who are close to me and whom I thought to be evolved enough to be somewhat “woke”, it is easier to get convinced about the guilt/innocence of an individual on the basis of what is nothing less than propaganda driven coverage from both sides rather than let the law of the land take its due course and let the deceased soul truly rest in peace and dignity. There is no point in blaming primetime news for dumbing them down, as consuming this brand of “news” is a choice that this audience has made for themselves. The channels are merely catering to this naked, voyeuristic demand for sleaze and slander.
At the end of the day, among all the memes and posters that are doing the rounds concerning the case, one rang true like no other – “It is easier for a country like ours to believe a woman to be a slut, a gold digger, a drug addict, a social climber and a murderer rather than believe a grown man had mental health issues.”
Rest In Peace, Sushant Singh Rajput. I am glad you aren’t around to see what a circus we have made of your passing. I am sure you shall find your peace in another world, because this one sure as hell makes sure you don’t have any, even after you are gone.
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