Anatomy Of A Fall (From Grace): How The RG Kar Rape Case Revealed Social Media바카라�s Worst

A man lies near a gravestone with the picture of the deceased doctor from RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata, allegedly raped and murdered on August 9. Melancholic music plays in the background. A public service announcement (PSA) shows a state police바카라�s SOS feature allowing officials to track someone바카라�s phone [with their permission] and take action if the passenger stops responding to calls, messages. Captioned 바카라�Every Woman Should Watch바카라�, the clip, shared by R Madhavan, predictably puts the onus of women바카라�s safety on바카라� women. Twitter accounts and Facebook pages are liberally circulating screenshots of rape-revenge, vigilante films like Simmba (2018) and Maharaja (2024) that echo and endorse the emotionally charged sentiments of our society. Dozens of influencers have uploaded cleverly worded 바카라�explainers바카라� on what happened at RG Kar Medical College, each claiming to have 바카라�exclusive바카라� facts and some of them reeking of political bias. 

Welcome to India바카라�s social media in 2024, where 바카라�rape바카라�, 바카라�RG Kar medical college바카라� and 바카라�Kolkata바카라� are Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) keywords, mining and milking a tragedy. Despite some sincere, nuanced coverage around the incident and its aftermath, there바카라�s enough noise not just adding to the hysteria, but also feeding off of it. 

Satshya Tharien, a former-journalist-turned-content-creator, discovered the reel of the man lying near a gravestone with the victim바카라�s face on it, and couldn바카라�t believe her eyes. 바카라�It바카라�s so tasteless, ridiculous and dramatic that you don바카라�t understand its purpose. It바카라�s not about the issue but them trying to gain followers from a certain kind of content that will get more engagement.바카라�  

Tharien calls it 바카라�shock entertainment바카라� 바카라� something we also saw when most TV news channels covered Sridevi바카라�s death in 2018. 바카라�You remember those re-enactments of how someone could drown in a bathtub? We don바카라�t have to re-enact someone바카라�s last moments; it바카라�s very insensitive.바카라� According to Tharien, when a news channel runs these things, several checks and balances apply to them. Creators should be held to a similar standard. Some might say it바카라�s tricky, seeking regulation for a medium that has democratised public discourse. But it바카라�s also true that many users are irresponsible about their platforms, sharing the most provocative, sensationalist 바카라�content바카라� to get traction. 

This includes graphic cartoons of the victim depicting her on the morning she was discovered, as per the accounts of family members. Some claim to be tributes, but their inherent crassness suggests the opposite. Author AM Gautam, who's recently published Indian Millennials: Who Are They Really?, explains: 바카라�You know how Milan Kundera said that eventually everything turns to kitsch and kitsch is the stopover between being and oblivion? Well, in our times cringe is the stopover between being and virality.바카라�  

Filmmaker Devashish Makhija doesn바카라�t recollect any imagery from the last couple of weeks, but what he has found disturbing is how liberally the victim바카라�s identity has been shared. 바카라�We바카라�re so used to consuming the aftermath of violence in the news daily. We바카라�ve gotten numb. We바카라�re talking about the victim바카라�s identity in a callous, offhanded way. I think that is the most insensitive thing in such a case.바카라� 

While social media has made it easier to discuss social issues, it has also made public discourse much more volatile and immediate. 바카라�The democratisation of social media platforms also brings with it desensitisation on a mass level,바카라� says Makhija. 바카라�But this medium has protracted the conversation for so long, so it바카라�s definitely worth something바카라�given we tend to forget and move on quickly.바카라� 

Gautam, whose book features a collection of essays on Indian millennials (born between 1980 and 1996), contends that generation overestimates the impact of social media on grass roots. Often, an Indian millennial shares an Instagram story or retweets something and feels satisfied with fulfilling their social responsibility. Besides, social media has made it too easy to depict oneself as socially aware and, therefore, made conscientiousness that much easier to fake. It바카라�s what Gautam calls the 바카라�Millennial Hero Complex바카라�. 바카라�It바카라�s a curious kind of naiveté that refuses to learn from precedent. How many visuals from Gaza did we share? Dead kids, razed buildings, bombed hospitals바카라�did anything change? Did we stop the slaughter by sharing 바카라�all eyes on Rafah바카라�?바카라�   

Tharien is less cynical about social media, noting that it works as a platform for self-expression for people in despair. 바카라�I can바카라�t go to India Gate because because I have an infant at home. One does want the government to know about their protest, but it바카라�s not like we can personally knock on a politician바카라�s door.바카라� She suggests that since people are now aware that politicians are very active on social media, they hope that internet movements will help lawmakers gauge the public바카라�s anger level about a situation and take action accordingly. 바카라�Social media allows a sense of community, especially when you don바카라�t have it in real life.바카라� 

There바카라�s another important vertical in pop culture that dictates the quality of public discourse in the aftermath of a high-profile sexual assault case: cinema. Mainstream films have rarely pondered why rapes are so frequent in India, and what pervades the unequal power dynamic between genders. A sub-genre of films in the 바카라�80s like Sherni (1988) and Zakhmi Aurat (1988) 바카라� it has persisted and shown only little evolution in the last 40 years. Even grittier films like Bandit Queen (1994) used its rape sequence to convey little beyond shock. Films as recent as Mom (2017), Kaabil (2017), Maharaja (2024) are all guilty of endorsing and popularising the kill the rapist rhetoric.  

Makhija바카라�s debut, Ajji (2017), did something along similar lines바카라�something the 45-year-old filmmaker concedes during our conversation. 바카라�I바카라�m quite conflicted by it [the 바카라�message바카라� of Ajji]. I wanted to lay out the costs incurred in becoming that vigilante. I had no grip on my rage, and it came out in that act [when the protagonist chops off the rapist바카라�s balls]. I don바카라�t know if I stand by it.바카라� He바카라�s audibly uncomfortable with the idea that someone would use an image from the film to galvanise and endorse the society바카라�s frenzied state right now. 바카라�I wouldn바카라�t know what to make of it anymore. I바카라�d obviously distance myself from that message. And yet, if an aggrieved woman wants to send that message out, then I don바카라�t have a take on it. After all, I don바카라�t know what it feels like to live with constant dread of being violated daily.바카라� He notes how the exploitation film in Hollywood 바카라� popular in the 바카라�70s with dramas like Vanishing Point (1971) and Lipstick (1976) 바카라� initially started out as vigilante movies. But some devolved into borderline pornography. He adds, ''I don바카라�t know where a filmmaker바카라�s responsibility ends, and the audience바카라�s begins. It바카라�s obviously a two-way street.바카라� 

Gautam believes that the sentiment of 바카라�kill the rapists바카라� stems from our need for a quick-fix solution and our decreasing faith in due process. 바카라�We want to pay a cost in terms of sharing a viral Insta story and purchasing justice with that five-second effort of ours.바카라� The 30-year-old author also believes there바카라�s a reason the superhero films have flourished across the world in the last decade. 바카라�What are superheroes? Literal strongmen who are above the law, doling out quick vigilante 바카라�justice바카라�, and in whose good intentions the common people are supposed to have unshakeable faith.바카라� 

According to Tharien, we should not take the viral Insta posts literally, but instead look at the frustration behind them. 바카라�My takeaway is that people (especially women) are angry, and justifiably so. When Nirbhaya happened everybody flooded the streets, new laws were passed; we all thought things would get better. But it feels like nothing has changed.바카라� 

As much bad rep influencers get, it바카라�s also important for the public to be more discerning about the content they engage with. Tharien observes that there are many creators good at 바카라�rage-baiting바카라�, wilfully and unapologetically disseminating misinformation. Whether it바카라�s someone praising them or sharing their reels to point out their problematic bits 바카라� it all counts as engagement for the creator. 바카라�The biggest punishment you can give to a content creator is indifference. If something irritates you, [then] don바카라�t share or comment. Simply report.바카라� Makhija agrees: 바카라�Creators are not operating in a vacuum; they have their ear to the ground. They aren바카라�t fools to make things no one wants to watch.바카라�  

It throws up an absorbing question about whether social media algorithms are tools in our hands, or have they become mirrors to project our most invasive, insensitive thoughts? Gautam believes that the platforms are performing their function by keeping us hooked to them and giving us the false sense of being ideological warriors who can trigger revolutions. Makhija says the algorithms are reprogramming our individual subconscious, based on the data of what바카라�s getting more traffic. 바카라�We바카라�re getting brainwashed by these algorithms, because they reward crassness and titillation. After a point, we can바카라�t control its grip on us, and it becomes a widespread malaise of bloodlust.바카라� 

Having said that, Makhija finds himself jittery painting social media as 바카라�evil바카라�, especially after having witnessed its impact first-hand, when he organised a donation drive at the start of the pandemic. 바카라�Painting social media activism in one broad stroke will mean nullifying Tahrir Square (the Egyptian revolution). It would be incorrect to say it has no impact, but it also makes many well-meaning people complacent too quickly.바카라�