Breaking down the effect 'Animal' has left on the minds and hearts of the audience

“ I think the society casts a bad influence on films, not the other way around. Reform the society, so that the films can rectify themselves. ” – Javed Akhtar

I tend to entertain but not accept absolutist assertions like above. I entertain them because they shed light on the neglected side of a vivid argument. Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal has stirred such an argument—for its (anti) hero’s unapologetic violence, misogyny, and profanity. 

Specifically, not his value-system, but mass embrace of it has disturbed the liberal zeitgeist. Has society sunk into a long-lasting regression? Is this society’s signal of its readiness for flagrant fascism? Is the misogynistic hero the coveted model for youth? Bollywood craves bucks, so are more 'animals' on the horizon? Such questions seem to have perturbed the progressives deeply. 

Whether for or against, in this noise of Animal, both sides seem to have discounted the root question as if it’s already settled: Do movies mirror society as it is or mould it for a different future? `

Since movies began, this debate has been heading up till now. Examples are aplenty. From Hitler’s propagandist movies against Jews to FMCG companies promoting FOMO consumerism/lifestyle through flicks—cinema has been used for and against various agendas. 

And still, whether movies truly steer one’s behaviour has been a riddle. I daresay that only an extensive array of neuroscientific tests over a period can give a few indisputable deductions. Nevertheless, since neuroscience is still young, we'll have to make do with assumptions and observations about movies and their effects on our behaviours…  

But why just movies? Isn’t it just one of the arts?

PROVOCATION or CATHARSIS?

Potential influence of artistic works has been mulled over for centuries. Back in 375 BC, Plato in his seminal text The Republic, proposed a complete ban on poets. Why? Because it took ages for us—the social ‘Animals’—to tame our impulses, but it takes only a moment for an effective poem to stir them back up. And whether noble or malevolent, people with stirred urges can only upset an in-progress or a perfect social order. Simply put, in today’s lingo, Plato found poets to be ‘toxic’.

Was Plato practical or paranoid? Aristotle believed the latter. Four decades after Plato’s death, Aristotle hailed arts as ‘Clean-Up’ tools, essential for society’s mental hygiene. Plays, skits, poems, stories, songs, and paintings provide catharsis to curbed instincts through a safe role-play, he argued. If not purged, pent-up fantasies of public can wreck a tangible havoc, Aristotle warned further.

Is the animated audience of Animal having that catharsis without an after-effect? 

I guess it is…not because of anything else but purely because its protagonist and his world which is not imitable to almost all of its viewers. 

A SUPER(ANTI)HERO

Let’s try to see Ranvijay Singh from the common viewer’s eye. He is an offspring of one of the richest people in the world, doesn’t have a friend circle, and doesn’t work a job or run a shop as unemployment isn’t a concern for him. He doesn’t face any major obstacle of law and order while doing what he does. Except his wife, everyone obeys him blindly. He has zero contribution to his father’s empire. And even when he 'takes over the business’, he has no management issue. The list can go on. Ranvijay’s behaviour is inimitable in reality because the environment designed around him is only to serve his journey’s purpose. Nothing is organic here.

Ranbir Kapoor’s acting and Vanga’s direction have coated this elite-boy fantasy with believability, which is the primary function of artists. Dramatic problems like absentee father and emasculation of ‘Alpha’ness may be relatable to some, but the ways in which Ranvijay tackles them aren’t. 

And audiences know this as much as they know they can’t do what superheroes like Iron Man or supervillains like Joker do in reality. 'It’s only a theme park ride', like Martin Scorsese stated.

Gore, profanity, and fury played by a mainstream star against his politically-correct, coming-of-age image—in a proven tropes in both parts of The Godfather is what’s made audiences tick, I assume.

But that’s not it. While watching Animal, I heard only cheers and laughs in a packed theatre. No other expression of any other emotion. No reflective hush after the movie was over. No flared-up nostrils. No panting. No vicious faces. No glaring. Everyone was back to normal. And all of this brought me to a suspicion I have held for some time…

Movies have lost their lingering emotional effect for many years. And they won’t get it back!

NO CAVE. NO MAGIC

For decades, movies had this inherent way of hypnotising hearts in theatres. Films were furtive creations coming out of a parallel world. Back then, most folks had no clue how they were even made. Then came television to tell audio-visual stories. But they had no ‘magic’, partly because of ever-interrupting ads. So though lesser, movies still held some voodoo. 

But then, 4G hit, and boom! Suddenly, there came tons of instantly accessible ways to watch stuff. And since then, right from watching the making of movies and memes made from trailers, to stars giving interviews, you are filled up with information before entering a cinema hall.

And what happens once the lights dim? Commercials, movie trailers etc. take over. Five minutes gone. You’ve been made conscious that you have come here to watch a ‘just’ a movie. Then, the movie starts. You think immerse in it, right? But then, you spot some glowing phones around you—your eyes can’t ignore them. And even after these diluents, if you get under a weak spell, interval breaks it. Snacks, chatters, bathroom breaks—the weak spell is pretty much gone by then. No worries. There’s still half of the movie left, you muse. Finally, the film resumes. And just before you could take a moment to breathe after it ends, lights erupt (even before the credits roll). You’re out, checking your cell for texts and missed calls.

And before you hit the bed, you have already watched other audio-visual clips on your devices that don’t have much to do with the movie you just saw. Did any of the recent movies enter your dreams? That's pretty much it. No magic. No hypnosis. No lasting feelings

Whether it’s a sombre 12th Fail or raw Animal or rousing Gadar 2 or the stylish Jawaan, it's all special for just the time it's on screen. No movie, whether it fits one’s value system or not, is likely to have any tangible, echoing psychological effect. If someone says so, they have deeper problems.

Theatres are not caves anymore; just places to hang out. David Fincher called them bonfire gatherings. For these reasons alone, I don’t find it an exaggeration to say that any movie critic or a social commentator worrying about behavioural effects of movies is reacting out of an old-school analytical framework that’s not applicable anymore. 

SO WHERE is THE AUDIENCE AT?

It's pretty clear-cut, no? Nowadays, patrons hitting the big screen are after a thrill. Need life lessons? Self-help sermons are a click away. Want to be inspired? Stories of reality shows’ contestants are on TV channels. Feel the need to be in the political loop? News anchors will perform. Craving a laugh? Memes and reels are in their feed, you get the drift.

Though as an individualistic experience, if all these needs are covered on various small screens, why should the audiences go to the big screens if not only to be ecstatic?

Animal does that. So did Jawaan and Gadar 2, and so did Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story. 

The reality of this fantasy business is that after bingeing on loads of 'content' elsewhere, a movie that just dishes out a story with a solid reason behind the main character's actions and a familiar value system isn't going to cut it for today's crowd. Movies must step up their game to stand out among all these storytelling platforms to survive and thrive. 

Is shocking through movies the only way to do that? Certainly not. But to find other ways requires a re-inventing mentality. And it takes time. Just hope that, when that time comes you won’t be numbed out by screams to not hear a whisper anymore.