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| Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash |
The recent suicide of the famous Indian film star,
Sushant Singh Rajput, has triggered a massive online debate about nepotism in
Bollywood, the biggest (though far from the only) film industry in the country.
Since the late SSR did not leave behind a suicide
note, I don’t presume to know the reason behind his actions. But the national
outcry against Bollywood nepotism had been – for many years – a time bomb
waiting to go off.
And now it has.
So here’s the problem as I see it. The more
popular an actor gets, the more directors, producers, and other film stars want
to work with them. Hence, they make more and more powerful connections in the
industry, while also making a substantial amount of money in the process.
By the time their children are old enough to start
their own careers, these yesteryear film stars have the connections and
resources to make sure that their offspring, the so-called ‘star kids’, get
leading roles in movies from the very start of their careers. Even if their
initial movies bomb at the box office, they keep getting new opportunities,
because of the friendships their parents have forged in the industry over the
years.
After all, how many of us can bring ourselves to
tell a close friend that their child is a talentless hack who needs to
reconsider his career choices? Even when it’s the truth. Especially when it’s the truth.
These are advantages that most certainly aren’t
available to newcomers in the film industry. To those budding actors and
entertainers who didn’t have parents who spent decades building up connections,
to pave a smoother path to stardom for their kids.
Talented actors and performers go unrecognized and
underutilized while the aforementioned ‘hacks’ get overnight fame and success,
rewarded handsomely for the achievement of being born with the right surname.
Hence, the long-awaited public outcry against
nepotism in Bollywood. Late in the coming, perhaps, but sizzling with
suppressed fury and bitterness, now that it’s finally here.
Bollywood – A Microcosm of the Society at Large
It is true that nepotism is entrenched and
pervasive in the Hindi film industry. The list of ‘star kids’ who keep getting
acting opportunities despite multiple flops in their resume is ridiculously
high.
However, Bollywood is not so much an exception, as
a symptom of a larger societal problem that we are all a part of. We all
participate in nepotism and systemic discrimination – both as victims and as perpetrators.
But it’s hard to see when it is a part of our regular, humdrum, everyday life.
Everything’s more glamorous when it happens to a
‘hero’, including discrimination.
While complaining about the advantages the ‘star
kids’ get over other actors, how many of us stop to consider that our own
career successes are, in fact, the result of educational and career
opportunities that people from the lower classes never had access to? People
who probably were far more talented than us; who probably could have surpassed
us in every way if given half the opportunities we were?
Consider this: how many of your colleagues come
from a completely different social class?
When questioning why the children of bank managers
so rarely become film stars, how do we never question why the children of
domestic servants so rarely become bank managers?
What nepotistic advantages are the kids of white
collar professionals getting, that allow them to follow their parents into
middle class professions so effortlessly, when it’s nearly impossible for the
kids of a slum-dweller to get those same jobs?
We benefit from the same systems of nepotism that
we criticize when we are the victims of it.
There are, of course, exceptions to every rule.
There are famous movie stars who hailed from middle class families and there
are middle class professionals who began life as slum dwellers.
But you shouldn’t have to be the exception to the
rule, in order to have a shot at a better future.
A big, star-studded launch facilitated by daddy’s
connections may be a star-kid’s ticket to instant fame. But so is an expensive
professional degree a ticket to instant career upliftment among the middle
classes.
Plenty of private colleges offer admissions (and
degrees) to anyone willing to pay for them. Naturally, those who aren’t able to
pay have to work much harder for that salary hike. As do outside actors in
Bollywood.
Which is not to say that you cannot succeed
without an expensive degree; or that you will
succeed with one. But then, plenty of outsiders succeed in Bollywood and plenty
of ‘star kids’ fail. Like I said, exceptions only serve to prove the rule.
How to Deal with Discrimination?
We haven’t even scratched the surface of this
nepotistic abyss, so far. Because I’ve just touched upon class discrimination.
And that’s by no means the only type of discrimination we live with, day in and
day out.
There’s also racial, sexual, caste-based,
linguistic, and neurological discrimination left to talk about. And those are
just the ones I can think of, off the top of my head. I’m sure there are others
you’ll be able to come up with, as you read this.
So, perhaps the most important question in this
discussion, is how do we deal with this? There are primarily two schools of
thought:
i)
Fight it
ii)
Ignore it
Essentially, this perennial debate rages between
two distinct worldviews. The first is that you should always protest
discrimination and unfairness whenever and wherever you encounter it. The
second is that you should mostly ignore larger societal ills and try, instead,
to become that exception to the rule we just spoke about – the actor with no
connections who becomes a superstar, the woman who rises to the top of a
patriarchal society, or the homeless kid who grows up to become a bank manager.
Societal dynamics are entrenched and hard to change, especially over the course
of a single lifetime. Far better, then, to try and change your own destiny
first.
In my opinion, there’s merit to both arguments. The
ideal course of action will vary from one situation to the next. However, to
me, the final determinant is whether I’m dealing with the problem on a personal
or a societal level.
When dealing with discrimination on a personal
level, the second school of thought is often the most effective. Although,
ignoring it doesn’t mean you pretend to not see it. Rather, it’s about
analyzing it, understanding it, and finding creative ways to work around it.
You cannot overcome something you don’t understand. But you can embrace your constraints and find
ways to turn them into a springboard for success.
This isn’t easy, nor is it always possible. But if
there’s something you want to achieve that’s just beyond your reach because of
systemic discrimination, this is the fastest way to get there (without getting
murdered on the way). Societal systems are inflexible, deep-rooted, and hard to
change on a fundamental level. Bending the rules to get around them, while
hard, is still the easiest path to the finish line.
Besides, privilege and discrimination are not
unidimensional concepts. Even the most privileged people have faced
discrimination and even those discriminated against have certain privileges,
whether or not they realize it. Very few people are solely the oppressor or the
oppressed. Most of us play both of those roles, in different situations.
From my own experience, it’s hard to get
international rates for freelance work when you come from a ‘third-world
country’, as many clients tend to have preconceived notions about how much
someone should be paid, depending on where they live. But if you live in a rich
country and don’t have many specialized skills to distinguish yourself, you’re
at constant risk of being replaced by someone in a poorer nation, who’d do your
work for half the price and live a comfortable life with that pay.
You don’t get to choose not to have problems, just
which ones you’d rather have.
Some advantages, like money, beauty, and social
connections are more visible and ostentatious than others. A common complaint
on social media these days is that nepotism causes talent to be smothered by
financial or social power. This is true. But talent is also a privilege.
Much of what we call a talent – an innate ability or
‘gift’ – is genetic. Of course, it can be developed with practice and
dedication, just as inherited money can be enhanced with smart investments. But
you need to have some money to invest in the first place. And you need a
certain degree of inborn talent to be able to develop it into a world-class
skill.
Moreover, you need a talent that corresponds well
with your external circumstances. A talent for figure skating won’t do you much
good in a South Indian village; and a talent for fashion designing would be
hard to leverage in one of the mountainous Bhutanese monasteries.
Intelligence, mental and physical health, and
emotional resilience are some of the other advantages that are, at least to
some extent, based on luck. Health problems, either mental or physical, can
counteract the most profound social and financial advantages. And a stable,
charming personality, combined with above-average intelligence, can help
individuals overcome many external drawbacks. But these privileges and
handicaps are hard to see, so we often don’t understand how to leverage or
overcome them, as the case may be.
Some people are luckier than others, but we all
have things working for us and against us. On the personal level, instead of
bemoaning our lack of privilege, the trick is to objectively analyze the cards
we have been dealt. And to then leverage what we have to get what we want.
Would my life have been easier if – all other
things being equal – I’d been born in a richer family, a richer country, or
even a richer neighborhood? I don’t think there’s anybody who doubts that. But
since I don’t spend much time being grateful about the fact that I wasn’t born
in a slum or a warzone, there isn’t much point spending that time wondering why
I wasn’t born to a tech-billionaire in Silicon Valley.
Building a Better World
When dealing with discrimination on a societal
level, however, the approach needs to be the opposite. We need to understand
where and how systemic discrimination is being perpetuated, and speak up
against it. Not just when we’re the victims of such discrimination, as is the
case with Bollywood nepotism, but also when we’re the perpetrators of it.
Many private schools refuse to accept students
without conducting an in-depth interview of the parents. I’ve seen people
boasting about how their kids’ school grilled them as if they’re the ones
seeking admission. Somehow, this is a mark of the ‘quality’ of the institution.
In reality, it’s just another form of nepotistic
gatekeeping, keeping first generation learners away even when their parents can
pay the school fee (which can be hard enough for many people).
Does a child not deserve quality education because
his or her parents were illiterate or semi-literate, even if they’ve managed to
scrape together enough money to pay for that education?
To many middle class Indians, the ‘pedigree’ of
their child’s school is more important than the education of other, less
privileged children. Those of us who have a problem with their kids studying
side by side with the children of an illiterate (if prosperous) fishmonger,
have no right to complain about the nepotistic practices of Bollywood
producers.
It is easy to see discrimination when we’re the
victims of it, much harder to notice it when we’re the perpetrators. Which is,
in fact, quite often.
This is not an accusation I’m leveling at others,
but rather a (disturbingly common) experience of my own. I never fail to notice
it when a freelance client asks for my location before disclosing their rates,
but it took me years to realize that schools conducting ‘parent interviews’
before granting admissions to students was effectively a ploy to keep first generation
learners from poorer (or nouveau middle class) families away.
I have relatives and acquaintances who always complain
when they fail to secure government jobs because of affirmative action programs
(the much vilified ‘quota system’), but never take a moment to appreciate the
fact that they have the resources to continue studying for the civil service
exams year after year, while many others in their position have been forced to forget
about their professional dreams and take up fulltime employment just to
survive.
And I’d be lying if I said I’ve never felt that
resentment myself.
I’m a brown woman living in a relatively poor
country. I’m also middle class, able-bodied, and part of the linguistic and
religious majority in the city where I live. I have advantages that many could
only dream of.
But somehow, that first part is always easier to focus
on than the last. Comfort is easy to get used to, pain is not.
On a personal level, we can afford to ignore
nepotism and discrimination; bend the rules without breaking them to get what
we want. You’d be better served filling out the application forms for
government colleges than thinking about the fact that your family can’t afford
to send you to a private one.
On a societal level, however, discrimination needs
to be protested and reforms introduced, because we’re not the only ones being
affected. Millions of people currently alive, and millions who will come after
we are long gone, will live with the impact of the decisions we make today –
whether it is to fight or to remain silent.
There will always be exceptions that the
establishment points to. Some street urchins will overcome poverty, some women
will break the glass ceiling, and some outside actors will achieve stardom in
Bollywood. And on a personal level, it behooves us all to try and be that exception to the rule.
However, while systemic discrimination may not be
able to stop an exceptionally talented, determined, and lucky individual from
achieving their goals, it does beggar the society wherein it occurs.
If a lot of children are left without access to
quality education because their parents were illiterate, some of them will
still grow up to succeed in their chosen field. However, the society as a whole
will remain backward, as most of those kids will never reach their full
potential, nor be able to contribute to national and global development as much
as they could have.
A disproportionate amount of societal resources
will be spent on a small group, many of whom might be incapable of making the most
of them. While those who could have made the best use of those resources will
never have access to them.
Many great movies will languish without a producer
and many path-breaking discoveries will remain unmade because we couldn’t give
our children a level field to play on.
And that truly is something to be outraged about.
