Shakura Ka Chakravyuh

The idea of the concept of being or not being deserving to do something never really existed in my life until my stay in Bihar. My supposed home culture of Purvanchal and culture of Bihar are closely associated and I would give Bihar its due in me getting illuminated about the political reality of this country. It gave me an idea how people are prevented and gatekept from things like reading, learning and even basic things like food items. This rotten culture exists from Bihar to Purvanchal and other places too to some effect and it is insidious, it's done from inside you. Though the main topic of this post is not this, it's just a primer. Being gatekept from literature and western media only appeared in my life during my days in Bihar. I have been reading literature whole of my life so this change was easily noticeable. The reasons appearing were numerous, from nationalism to not deserving to read western or even eastern literature. I was respectful to the "entity" so I slowed down a bit but ultimately it turns out that Bihar and Purvanchal are run by a criminal syndicate (like all places, just more pathetic) and by individuals who are village rapists and extortionists, and this is also true at the neurological and consciousness level. As far as things go, this shit could be true for the rest of the country as well. Let me come to the main topic though and it is how to navigate hatred when consuming literature or media. When I was a kid, during reading comic books and watching movies I never really saw the caste, nationality, or race, it was only as noticeable as it was obvious, nothing more. My superheroes were not white or black, they were just superheroes, and in case of Indian superheroes the creators tried their best to keep them casteless but even when it was not, it didn't matter to me. Today's game, not only in India but the world over, is identity politics, race, gender, caste and whatever else. I love Lovecraft, I love his writing and I love his stories, but he has been cancelled long back for being a racist. I have actually learnt to seperate the art from the artist. If the art or literature doesn't have any evidence of racism why would I stop consuming or reading it? Superman, is a superhero for most of the world's children and nationalism isn't going to stop that, a better option would be to give the children an indigenous alternative but that these motherfuckers won't do because of reasons unknown to me but I suspect it is related to empowerment of people. Strong characters, even if fictional, empower people and that wouldn't help the exploitation that is going on in this country at the psychological plane. The extreme situation in which I would have to reject Superman or Batman or any other American superhero would be if India goes to war with US. Still, I like the American superheroes or comic characters for the values they represent and the values they represent are universal. Neil Gaiman recently got embroiled in sexual misconduct cases, I don't like the content of Neil Gaiman's writing in particular, but I do like very much his writing, the flow of it, the mechanics of it and I'm not going to cancel Neil Gaiman the writer due to Neil Gaiman the predator. It must be a controversial stand, but it becomes way less controversial when we realise that we are literally being ruled by child rapists and child murderers upto our nerves and bones. I don't like race swapping characters, like Ariel as black, or Professor Snape as black, I am in favour of developing original empowered characters for minority or marginalised communities. I wouldn't like Blade to be race swapped too. But these bastards don't give a fuck about that, it's just a sort of dark humour for them. They just want to incite psychological reactions from people. Why can't a black spy be developed instead of a black James Bond, heck make him a spin off from a James Bond itself, but then you get the drift of what I'm saying. I didn't mind Sam Wilson taking over the mantle of Captain America as Captain America is symbolic title which shifted from Steve Rogers to Sam Wilson, but then at the end of the day it is a fictional character and a corporate property no matter how attached since childhood you are to a character, and the same goes for Professor Snape and it doesn't really matter. If you are aware you can tell the artists who have the right intent and do not not bother about race or identity politics, characters are just characters for them, they are aware, yes, but their personal intent is not ugly. Tarantino is one such guy. You must remember movies like Rush Hour from the 90s, diversity without identity politics and hate peddling. I have casually shifted to pre-2000s literature and media, except for superhero movies and I watch wildlife documentaries and sometimes I order a pizza and a croissant too not truly knowing if I deserve to eat them or not.