The State has its responsibilities too?

Janaki V vs State of Kerala (J.S.K, Malayalam, 2024)

Written & Directed: Pravin Narayanan

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23458804/

I heard about this film even before its release. Thanks to the free publicity generated by its legal entanglements, even those least interested in watching the film found themselves eagerly awaiting its launch. Sometimes, one wondered whether these legal disputes were self-inflicted. With so many films being produced in India nowadays, without such spicy elements, some movies might simply go unnoticed. There are only so many hours in a day!

The main issue the complainants had with the film was its title. It was initially called 'Janaki vs State of Kerala'. In the story, the protagonist, Janaki, is raped. Therefore, naming a rape victim after the revered goddess Sita is disgraceful, according to the plaintiff. Janaki is another name for Sita, Lord Rama's consort and an avatar of Goddess Lakshmi. To make matters worse, the officer who helps her navigate an uncooperative police system and formalities is Muslim. The legal expert who carefully examines the facts to prove her innocence is Christian.

The courts considered their plea and chose to insert a 'V' after Janaki, the character's father's name, Vidhyadharan. That move soothed everyone. So simple.

Every Hindu has a name that may be linked to the 330 million gods in Hinduism. How can a person bestow a name without invoking any of the deities?

An IT professional visits her hometown to attend a religious festival. She is sexually assaulted by an unknown individual and cannot remember the incident because she was possibly drugged. When her father tries to report it to the police, he gets caught in a stampede at the station during a separate protest related to another case involving a Bishop. The evidence is inconsistent, suggesting a possible unseen influence from above. Janaki became pregnant, likely as a result of the interaction.

The film highlights a very relevant point. Law and order services are established in the country to protect its citizens. Citizens, through the democratic process, periodically elect their preferred government to maintain peace and order. When the State fails to provide the promised adequate protection to its people, is the Law responsible for addressing or fixing the consequences of their failure? Just as the State endeavours to defend the voiceless and marginalised when they are wronged.

Towards the latter part of the film, when her case finally reaches court, Janaki is already seven months pregnant. The perpetrator is eventually identified. Through her solicitor, she demands that the State of Kerala absolve her of all mental trauma and public humiliation of being an unwed mother, all due to their incompetence. She requests that her fetus be surgically removed and placed under the care of the State from the neonatal stage until the child reaches 18. The courts agreed, which I thought was quite far-fetched. But that is poetic justice for the masses.

P.S. In my twisted mind, I wonder. Just because the rapist turned out to be a lowly loafer who is a nobody, did Janaki demand the termination of the pregnancy? If he had been the son of a millionaire or someone with deep pockets, would she have decided to keep the baby? Just thinking.

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Blame it on the State; nobody takes any responsibility anymore!

Mare of Easttown (Miniseries, Season 1; 2021)

HBO

Even though this miniseries has been showered with praises and accolades for its outstanding storyline and exciting characterisation, I cannot stop thinking of the society it depicts. Sadly, such dysfunctional families are the norm and maybe a prescient occurrence in the near foreseeable future.

Mare @ Marianne Sheehan is a detective in the local police department in a small town in Pennsylvania. So many things are playing in her mind. Her adult son had recently hung himself. His toddler son, Mare's grandson, is under her care as his mother, Mare's daughter-in-law, is institutionalised for drug addiction. Mare's teenage daughter is angry with her for her brother's death, while Mare's ex-husband, living just behind her home, is getting engaged. Meanwhile, Mare's mother, who stays with her, breathes down her neck, critical of her every move.

At the work front, things are not looking too rosy either. A one-year unresolved case of a missing girl is making its rounds in the media again, and a new murder of a young teenage mother takes centre stage. Since it is a small town, many of the people she knew were somehow implicated or have to clear themselves in the murder inquiry.

On a personal level, her close friends become murder suspects one by one. There is so much of falling in love, out of love and affairs in the town that it looks like everybody is or has been linked romantically at one point or another. Many youngsters there are psychologically disturbed and yearn to find an outlet for their perceived 'stress of modern living'. Even Mare, a grandmother, is hot on the trail of the dating scene as two men woo her to be their beau.

I could not help but wonder what brought society to this - a culture so confused and struggling with its day-to-day handling of life. It is not just Tinseltown's picturisation of an imagined family. It very much portrays reality. Someone was commenting on this topic recently. 

Between the beginning of the 20th century all through the 1960s, the  USA was considered the most powerful nation in the world. The country was endowed with very working citizens and immigrants who were one-minded in wanting to progress in life. They followed the mantra of holding his ambition as his sole purpose in life and work towards this end. He had his set of rules to follow, and he took responsibility for all his actions. The State did not interfere with his day-to-day living. A man's failure is his own, no fault of others, and nobody is going to bail him out. At the end of the day, this man did well. Even if he did not reach the stars, he did at least the Moon.

A few things derailed this arrangement. Firstly, it is the demand for rights. Everybody felt that it was their divine right to the entitlement of some basic needs in life. The desire to do whatever they wanted was enshrined. And the State became a Nanny to ensure it is carried out. If one wants to have a child outside the confines of marriage, it is her right. The State will intervene to offer financial and social support. The enforcement arms of the State will ensure it is done.

Secondly, contraception liberated society from the hustle of worrying about the sequelae of coitus. They had been freed sexually. They were in control of reproductive power. So they thought. They did not realise that contraceptive failure was a reality and had to be dealt with. Again came the State to help out. But what about emotional support when needed? Society's morality code that fit an agrarian society had changed to accommodate of industrialised one.

In 1950, when Ingrid Bergmann was riding high as the silver screen diva, known for her fabulous screen presence in Casablanca, was denied a visa to the USA. She was Swedish, had just done 'Stromboli' and had an affair with her Italian director, Roberto Rossellini. The illicit union produced offspring. Bergmann was denied entry on this account - a person of such stature, potentially influencing the doe-eyed fans with had dressing and morality, was a bad example to the then conservative American. The American Movie Industry had strict moral codes after the Roaring twenties, which led to the Prohibition Era. 

Things have indeed changed now. Look at the public rallying behind Britney Spears fighting her Conservatorship. In that case, her father had petitioned the Courts for guardianship. Because of her bipolar disease, he feels she is incapable of controlling her finances and making appropriate decisions of her fecundity. See the rallying cry behind Spears; they say it is her life. As if the elements of Nature are dutybound to bear the brunt of our follies!

With the human rights movement and the need for individual expressionism came feminism. Rather than toeing in line with the preset social mores, they demand rights. The right to stand alone, without the significant support by their side, plays victimhood for all society's past bullying and demand reparations. Unfortunately, the Universe does not work that way. It is indeed the union of the Male and Female cosmic energies that maintain the equilibrium of the celestial bodies.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.