Movies, Games, Society and Sex

Our movies are a good reflection of the society that we live in and vice versa. While Hollywood has been more forthcoming in the portraying of taboos and vices, Bollywood, though a late starter, has caught on well. The usual “You dog” or “You Scoundrel” has been replaced by “Mother Fucker” or “Son of a Bitch”. Till the late 80s, Bollywood movies showed two flowers swaying together or two birds playing with their beaks to portray love making with the final act being represented by the fire going out. The 90s and the twenty first century have been bolder in shooting steamy scenes. A smooch earlier used to be the talk of the town. It has now become so omnipresent. Sex on the silver screen is no longer a result of an untimely rainfall. And this does not come as a surprise…because Pulp Fiction sells.:-)

However, there has been a tectonic shift in the after effect of love making in the Bollywood movies of yester years and the Bollywood movies of today. Initially, any act of love making used to result invariably in the heroine conceiving. Incredible, isn’t it? On the contrary, how often do you hear about children being born out of wedlock or the actress conceiving? One of the reasons could be the fall in fertility rates among men and women (mind you that includes our alpha males and females portrayed in the movies too) alike owing to lifestyle changes and environmental issues. The other and equally important reason could be the warming up of our heroes and heroines to contraceptive measures. And I am happy about the latter. And I would be even happier if these things are discussed in more movies.

So much has been written and said about the Commonwealth Games (CWG). So, I will not write anything more. Other than India doing well in the games, there is one more thing that particularly caught my eye. Many toilets at the games village got clogged owing to condoms being disposed through these toilets in large numbers. This piece was written in continuation with the ‘difficult’ living conditions at the village. What some of the columnists ignored was that these toilets would have gotten blocked anywhere in the world, forget India. Now educating these international athletes on what’s biodegradable and what’s not is a different subject altogether. What’s important here is the use of condoms, which I am happy about.

Discussing social values may not be helpful here. I’d say “to each his own”. The number 6 billion, the world’s population, could be a mere piece of statistic for some. What’s important is that we would not have reached this number if we had been more judicious in our use of contraceptive measures. While I cheer for India and for a successful closure of the CWG, I will also cheer for those athletes who used those condoms. I am sure the world can do without some more unwanted babies. And I would be happy to see more Bollywood movies touching upon the issue of safe sex and I would be even happier to learn that someday the CWG athletes learned to be more careful while disposing off their used condoms. ;-)