Bollywood justifies rape jokes again. Why do so many women laugh at them?
Jim said the video clip is out of context
A day before Cannes 2018 comes to an end, Bollywood has woken up to strong criticism after a video of Padmavat actor Jim Sarbh apparently cracking a rape joke surfaced on the social media. What unsettled Twitter users was the presence of actress Kangana Ranaut in the video, clapping and laughing over the joke.
The video was part of a party on the sidelines of the ongoing film festival.
"I’d rather be raped by 12 prostitutes than touch alcohol and the Punjabi says ‘Me too, I didn’t know that was an option’..." is how joke ends.
Following vitriolic attacks on social media for making fun of a serious crime like rape at a time when the nation is still in shock over a spate of rapes, Jim Sarbh clarified that his action was video-recorded without his consent and produced out of context.
“Sexual violence is a serious issue and I treat it as such. It is unfortunate that my comments were taken out of context. I do not now nor have I ever condoned any form of sexual violence,” he said.
In an interview to a website, Jim broke it down saying: “The joke that I made is about a priest blowing a very casual question completely out of proportion, condemning alcohol, prostitutes, and rape all simultaneously. The Punjabi (or whichever ethnicity, depending on the audience) responds to the situation by consenting to it and expressing his sexual proclivities. I personally do not find it to be about a desire to rape, or to inflict sexual violence upon another, but a subversive and comedic response to an extremely volatile sentence.”
The joke was also laden with a mockery of #MeToo, and the Punjabis (or whichever ethnicity, depending on the audience).
An apology on Sarbh's part would have been appreciated.
Rape is not a joke
The debate is age-old and many Hollywood artists and shows have got away with cruel rape jokes. It has also triggered a discussion about whether there is a clash between such jokes and comedians, also whether these jokes are punching down the "rape culture", or victims themselves.
In 2012, US comedian Daniel Tosh made a series of jokes about rape at a comedy club in Hollywood. Someone from the audience interrupted him and said that rape jokes are never funny. She was told, “Wouldn’t it be funny of that girl got raped by like five guys right now?”
Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa was accused of an insensitive comment during a panel discussion at 2011 Comic Con in California. Talking about extreme scenes in Game of Thrones, and the sci-fi/fantasy genre in general, he had said: “But as far as sci-fi and fantasy, I love that genre because there are so many things you can do, like rip someone’s tongue out of their throat and get away with it and rape beautiful women.”
Dave Chappelle’s Netflix specials The Age of Spin were filled with similar Bill Cosby jokes.
Back home, rape similes are plenty
In 2016, describing the physical challenges of playing the role of a professional wrestler, Salman Khan resorted to using an insensitive rape simile. "During those six hours of shooting, there’d be so much of lifting and thrusting on the ground involved. That is the most difficult thing... when I used to walk out of that ring, it used to be like a raped woman walking out," he had said.
Journalists present at the event could be heard laughing.
Maharashtra Commission for Women demanded a public apology from Salman. His father Salim Khan apologised and said that the statement was wrong, but not intentional.
On a web episode of East India Comedy, the group cracked jokes on maids and referred to one of its co-comedians as “Shiney Ahuja”, who was convicted of raping his maid.
Pink actor Taapsee Pannu was present on the show — and seen laughing.
It is pathetic that such remarks that treat rape casually are plenty and never-ending. And the immediate reaction to such a situation is not an unconditional apology, but various attempts to justify the situation.
Social media teaches Kangana, Jim Sarbh a lesson
Social media — at least a part of it — reminded Kangana Ranaut that she had been one of the staunchest critics of Salman's "raped woman" analogy. "We all agree that it's a horrible thing to say, something that is extremely insensitive... But let's not encourage that mentality where we want to point fingers at each other and want to feel greater by running people down by trolling them... So, like what Salim uncle says is right, that we are all sorry about it. It's not about an individual. We all collectively feel sorry for that thought process," she had said.
Rape is a dark word. Let’s not water it down to describe a brutal gym session or a bad day at work or with a joke.@jimSarbh #KanganaRanaut have some sense before cracking such jokes !!
— Dhruvesh Shah ✨ (@dhruveshshahz16) 17 May 2018
After Bashing #SalmanKhan #KanganaRanaut laughs on a rape joke by Jim Sarbh These almost ppl...think it’s okay to joke n laugh about rape.We live in a society that teaches women to defend themselves from rape, instead of teaching men not to rape women n they laugh!Shame on u! pic.twitter.com/CmH21MQaAg
— Samy Gioia (@SamyGioia) 18 May 2018
Dear Jim Sarbh/ Kangana Ranaut Rape jokes are not funny. Rape is NOT a joke. If you tell or laugh at jokes about rape you are a part of the problem. https://t.co/Pk5bSB9zCr
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@karishmau) 15 May 2018
Even if Kangana Ranaut not been part of the controversy, the situation would not have been any less worrying.