I would like to start this letter with a question, are you consciously aware of what you are doing in the name of Television Programs, especially with Children and Women? If there could be a tool like T.R.P to measure the contributors of betrayals to the society, then it would rate Television Channels as the first cause. It would state the consequences of your television programs, the kind of ideologies and discrimination it sows in the society and also how it deceives the society from knowing the actual struggles in the next door. The way you use Children and Women to market your program is excruciating and is repulsive.
We have reached a state that we are afraid by the way our Children are made commodities of fame. We plea to you to allow them to be Children. Do not poison them with the poisonous teeth of your Camera and lights. You are snatching them of their innocence and egalitarianism. This is heartrending. If the purpose of the Child Talent Reality Shows is to expose the skills of the Children, why is it only reflecting the singing and dancing skills of Cinema? This is disseminating a wrong ideology amongst the Children that to be famous is to be a Cinema Personality. With this connotation they are mutated to compromise anything in life for fame. Do you think you this is reasonable?
You may not be aware or even if you are aware you may be least concerned about the psychological dilemma that a Child or even Parents go through. You are also hammering a wrong perception that Children who posses the skills of Singing and Dancing are the talented ones and they are the one to be on limelight. Because of this indoctrination, today most of the Children are forced to learn music and dance than the sports activities. Moreover the challenges of getting an opportunity and fame in the Sports Arena are far far lesser than appearing on Television. With your courteousness, nowadays once a Child attains 5 years of age he / she is put in music or dance classes and then he / she is consecrated to Television Channels.
Children who are assured of three meals a day and throught the year are the ones who can explore these opportunities. Moreover the Children who are born in Brahmin families are the ones who have better reach on this because from those days Music and Dance (the so called Classical) are in their clutches only. Any Music competition is judged only through the regulations of the Carnatic Music and Carnatic Musicians, mostly of the Brahmin Communities. You may voice that non-brahmins also get opportunity in these competitions, but they are Children of the Upper Class / Rich Class /or of the Capitalists. Here Economy wins over Discriminations. Is there a market or program for the Children of the Marginalized Communities? In case you telecast some programs about such Communities it is portrayed in such a way that it tries so hard to dig sympathy in the minds of viewers, but does not help to understand the cause behind this state of theirs. (So far in any advertisement no women or child has had a darker complexion, in case there appears one, she will be fair skinned but made up as dark skin for cosmetic advertisement or she will be servant maid, if it is He then he will be a mechanic).
If the Reality Shows are the arena for real Talents, why there is so much of ruckus made about it? Why the participants are made to dress like a fancy dress competition? In the name of expression, why are Children made to emote seducing movements with seducing voice? Why do you give exposing dress to those young ones? Why are posters put up on Public walls and why haunt for votes? So far you have been exploiting Women’s breasts and naval for your survival now your target is Innocent Children.
To emote realistically, a child is made to show sexual expression on face and with voice to the opposite sex who happens to be the partner. Is this going to develop skill or will develop sexual discrimination and sexual urge? In order get the attentions of the viewers you play with the emotions of them by putting slow motion trailers in which the Children sing such double meaning filmy item songs, which look like a call made with sexual desires.
In the male chauvinistic society one can only expect male chauvinistic films, male chauvinistic lyrics with double meaning and mocks made against women. You are encouraging a male child to sing such vulgar songs and inculcating Male Chauvinism and Cheap ideologies about women right from childhood. There are tamil song lyrics which mean that “Come to my entrance and take my smell”, “Where will you go and sleep on those 3 days” etc., and it is disheartening to see the kids singing and dancing to those songs with those vulgar filmic expressions. (At this juncture I would like to check if you allow your family Children or your Children to participate, sing and dance such vulgar songs in anybody else’s channels. Also could you please explain the importance and benefit of being famous, to the society).
In recent time we come across stories where a girl child is raped even at the age of 2. So far Male Chauvinistic Literatures, Male Chauvinistic Society have been the main contributing factors to indoctrinate ideologies about women, now Media hits the list. In the name of Posters all public walls are bedecked with Women’s breasts and buttocks and with great heart you Capitalists have contributed your best in triggering the sexual urge of a man (who posses lesser control over their senses) and thus contributing to the increase of Rapes and sexual harassments in the Society. We are highly thankful for this worthy contribution of yours to the Society
My reverent plea to you is that please do not captivate our Children to become slaves of Globalization, Vulnerable Slaves of Materialism and Slaves of Popularity for the benefit of a Capitalist need. If you intend to honestly promote the skills of Children, then please provide a stage where there is no competition, you may do a basic scrutinizing behind the screen and telecast every child who posses interest and skills. Let the Honorable Judges stop acting smart and stop bullying the Kids with their great skills but encourage Children to sing songs other than Cinematic, Carnatic Songs and Dance too. Let there be programs where they can expose their Skills with their actual Childhood Components rather than imitating the Vulgar Cinema Songs. If possible please exclude Children from the Idiot Box, because the World of Children is much much bigger than the idiot Box and it is outside the walls. Please do not shrink their world inside four walls.
Incase if you can survive only by conducting such Child Slavery Programs please provide equal opportunity to Children of all class and all communities but keep them away from Cinema. This will help in creating an egalitarian Society in the future. Please do not apply your Capitalist Tactics amongst our Children. For years together the Capitalist Society has been insisting that a Human Being is worth his or her life only if he or she is famous. This politics is only helping in uplifting your economy and not ours. On the contrary it only contributes in creating soulless, heartless human Machines in the society. Until recent times your Capitalist Male Chauvinistic politics was devastating Family Institution now its target is Women and Children.
We have a choice to approach the Court against you but we as poors do not have the Economical, Political and Social Strength to win big powers. Anyway that will not help because there is always a point to say if it is the Child’s will then it can not be considered as Child Slavery. It’s all about papers and rules and not about the Objective. The Capitalists produce goods targeting the Upper and Rich Class people and hence you also target those class people and use their Children and Women tactically in the name of Reality Shows or Talk Shows, which is of no use to the society.
If honestly you can build Social Consciousness amongst the Children you should be taking these Children to the Schools in most backward, marginalized communities and encourage them to see the other side of our State, the struggling class. They should also be exposed to the hidden History which is not taught in the Schools governed by the Ruling Class. You should be identifying such Field Workers and conduct workshops and seminars for Children. With this current Political Trend we have lost hope about an egalitarian society and our hopes are only our Children who are the ‘future pillars’. Please do not transform them into selfish adults and contribute to further divisions and transmutations. Are you not contributing to the destruction of the society?
The Famous Children produced by you are mere puppets sucked by fame and money. They become insensitive to class struggles, Social Problems. They do not even know how paddy is sown and grown, the struggle of Independence, the loss of lives, Political manipulations nothing. You may ask why they need politics. In future they could be one of the Rulers, Governors and at that time with their insensitivity they may even encourage Corruption in the Society. You may also stop addressing these Kids or Young Generation as Future Historical Pillars, because you are only promoting today’s upper Class or tomorrows Capitalists, they are not the real representatives of the imbalanced society like ours.
Even if there is no assurance for three meals a day, this current political system has provided Television in all homes and thus made it easy for Capitalists to brain wash the minds of the people. Before you convert us mere commodities for your financial growth please let us free.
