Don’t disrespect the “Army”

For those who know the basics of psychology, narcissistic personality disorder would not be a new word. It means a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration and a lack of empathy for others. They cannot take any criticism, whether it is constructive or derogatory, and go for counter criticism and take it to any level.

Recently self-proclaimed ‘armies with different fan bases took to social media to troll and use abusive memes against each other. Using the tag of ‘army’ to defend your favourite actor in such a shambolic way is a shame for a nation that considers the Army as a revered institution.

Diluting the stature of the army, social media channels and fans have meaninglessly used the word to show support to their icons and also slander opponents or poke fun at competitors. “This culture of using the army’s name in such a derogatory manner and to achieve some cheap thrills is condemnable. Stars should first stop encouraging this behaviour,” says Deepak DK, a banker.

According to social media expert and consultant Sunita Suresh, this is like disrespecting the soldiers. “Even the recent so-called fan fights are very pathetic, let alone using it with the tag of army on their social media accounts. We consider our army men as our protectors and I don’t know how some fans could just use the term for such pathetic abusive acts online.”   

The fans fights have been the talk of the town for a while, whether it is between different fans or fans of movie industries and it always make headlines.

Celebrities have come forward recently against it and always been subject to the online attacks of these so-called online warriors or armies.

Actor Sidharth had to face the rage when he openly criticised the fan fights and their armies on his twitter handle. The actor wrote, “What a waste of the internet! Our country really needs these youngsters to do more with their lives, and their internet data.”  While many of them retweeted it in support, he saw the rage from some fans.

Some fans have also developed an android game called ‘Oviya Army Unofficial Fan Game’ where you can destroy virtually by tapping on the available images of other contestants who were part of the Big Boss show. The app description is an indication of how far they have gone out of ‘love’ for their actress-  “#Saveoviya by tapping her enemies to destroy and make her as Queen of Big Boss house. There is the only one ray of hope of Big Boss.” The app has 4.5 stars rating on the android play store.  

Amrita Vijayaraghavan, a homemaker says, “Stars have every right to enjoy the adulation but with stardom comes great responsibility and one mustn’t encourage the usage of words like army which also in some way sounds like a gathering of force and might to defend their stars or attack others. The army has a certain standing in all our minds and all Indians have a sense of respect for the army, using it to prop up the image or build reality TV show stars denigrates the reputation and respect the army is held in. We must use words responsibly even on social media.”

Sunita asks why someone would attack the actor for having an opinion which he is entitled to.

“He had an opinion on the issue and why are they getting triggered for having his opinion? He is entitled to it.”  

Going into the legal side of fans calling themselves army and using it along with their accounts, advocate Roshan explains, “The issue has to look at in both morally and legally. No one has the authority to use the tag ‘Army’ and register it officially. They are using it online and intend to project it as those who support their idol. I don’t think it will be legal if they try to register their fan club like that. But we have to see this morally.

I think it is not appropriate to use the term and compare it with the real army. Actors should show some moral responsibility and be able to control it in a certain way that their fans are not using the term army in such a shameful way.”