Romance In & As Cinema
- A Valentine's Day Special Column by Meera Chithirappavai
Once in a while, right in the middle of a mundane life, love gives us a fairy tale
Romance has always been fantasized to be something extraordinary from the regular course of things. It is often compared to scripture or a form of scripture that is popularly consumed by the people in that particular era.
Sculptures, books and cinema are some popular scriptures that have influenced the art of romance for people for years now. While an individual with a creative and expressive persona defines romance in a particular way and chooses a medium to communicate it, another individual consumes the message through that medium and is influenced to explore that in real life. Like all other aspects of life, romance in cinema is made by society and for society.
From a forehead kiss, sharing space inside the same large size shirt/sweater, collecting the used item of a partner, eating/drinking from the partner's plate/glass, writing a letter with a lip mark at the end, planning a grand setup for proposal, tattooing a partner’s name to making a sunny side up on a partner’s belly, cinema shows it all and we’ve seen audience apply it all in real life. Cinema is an alarmingly influential medium that has now become the ultimate guide for romance.
Every youngster yearns for a love story like that of Mani Ratnam’s and stimulates many acts from different popular films to have the most “filmy” romantic life. Why does it become so important to do so? As humans, we are animals that constantly need validation for our acts, we tend to use cinema and its popularity for the same. This also reinforces the fact that on average, men constantly try to upgrade their capability in satisfying their partner in all aspects of love and love-making. The recognition and appreciation a film receives becomes their assurance.
Having analyzed the approach of a human brain to cinema and romance, it's only obvious to see how even some negative acts portrayed in a film could have the same impact. This is the reason why stalking and rejection handling should be portrayed better in our cinema. Our onscreen heroes must learn to take “No” for an answer and cease from the glorification of pursuing a girl against her will.
Drawing inspiration from mass media like cinema could be a safe move but to introspect the inspiration and make it suitable for the normalcy of one’s lifestyle makes it a smarter move. However, the actual poetic nature of romance stands out when it is real, raw and original. Here’s to making your own kind of a fairy tale this valentine’s day!