Not so funny!

Crass jokes, dialogues oozing misogyny and belittling women, all in the name of humour is a standard ingredient of all comedy shows and award shows aired across the country. Malayalam channels are no different. A comedy skit showcased at a recent award night saw prominent actors throwing in a woman’s name citing her ‘immoral’ side and cracking jokes about it. Another comedy show depicted three men dressed up as women and engaged in gossip. They tease a dark-skinned woman on how she would look like a baby elephant in a circus ring if she rode a cycle. For an average television audience, which includes children, there is only a thin line separating ‘comedy’ depicted  on screen and outdated gender stereotypes prevalent in society.

Writer Suneetha Balakrishnan says, “There is absolutely no gender sensitivity. Majority of them cannot differentiate and pick out the wrong things they say about women. ‘It is just a joke!’, this is how it is justified. They do not know when the joke goes beyond the tolerable limit. There is a concept that women should go along with a particular stereotype, or else, she is feminist. All these arise from lack of gender sensitivity. People who are behind the skits or characterisation in comedy shows think this way. There is nothing we can do if a person thinks that it is a joke; that is a matter of the person’s culture and upbringing.”

Suneetha, who was a member of the censor board, points out, “There is a dearth of comic content and there are very few talented people who bring out genuine humour other than the slapstick comedy we see now.” Actor Jagadish, who is a judge of the show Comedy Stars in Asianet, says, “I cannot share my personal opinion, but the show that I am part of does not feature jokes that taunt women in any way.” Ask about content regulation for television, he says, “There are so many different channels with a good number of shows. I doubt if a system can be introduced to regulate the content of television shows, as of now.”

A recent episode of this show had a skit where a man dressed up as woman being taunted for not walking and behaving like a woman. The contestants also indulged in taking a dig at female judges on the show, all of which were welcomed with thunderous recorded applause. A shot of the audience applauding was added and the show resumed as scripted. Sobha Koshy, Chairperson of the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, says, “There is too much inappropriate content on television, most of which are aired during prime time. Kids are also seeing this and children often see this as reality. People have expressed concern. Media need to self-regulate and come up with positive messages.”

Actress Shruthi Menon, who shot to fame through television, shares her experience of being mocked at during her stint as a host. “Coming from Mumbai, I had a tough time understanding Malayalam slang. I was also made fun of because of my accent. During one of the episodes, a guest judge ridiculed my looks and my dark skin.” She adds, “I also noticed throughout the time I hosted the show that a lot of jokes were made about women — their skin colour and the clothes they wear. I don’t understand the psyche behind it. Unfortunately, women are loosely and strongly judged based on the clothes they wear. Not just men, even women do not understand that they are being mocked and shown in bad light. If anybody tries to create awareness that women should not take this lightly, I will happily join them.”