Ranveer Allahbadia is just the tip of the iceberg! #digitalworld

 In a recent incident, popular podcaster and YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia faced widespread criticism for making an inappropriate remark that was deemed unacceptable by many. Thank God for that, or else we are now a society where everything under the sun is rather normalised. I wouldn’t repeat the remark here, I can’t, it's out of my scope to write anything like that. Anyway, after that so-called remark on a show run by a popular comedian, Samay Raina was aired and shared, the internet was set on fire.

I casually opened my Twitter on Sunday and was taken aback by the clip which was being circulated. It looked something like this:

Some people, popular in the world of the internet sitting on a panel and roasting a contestant that stood in front of them. A highly vulgar remark was made by Ranveer, and the rest of the panel members along with the audience joined in laughter and applause.

‘Ah! Isn’t all this becoming rather common nowadays!’ was my first reaction, following which I too posted two tweets expressing how I felt. However, when I revisited my Twitter the next day internet was filled with only Ranveer Allahbadia.

‘Maybe I am seeing all these tweets because I posted on that hashtag’ I thought, but oops! Facebook, Instagram and after some hours even the news was talking about it.

I couldn’t help scrolling through the endless tweets, some from popular names and others from people like me. While on day one the tweets were mostly against this man, on day two after some complaint was lodged against him the reactions got mixed.

How could people lodge a complaint against this? Isn’t there something called freedom of speech – was one kind of reaction.

Strict action should be taken so that such content does not circulate openly on the internet, it's harming our children and society as a whole – was another kind of reaction.

Added to this were discussions on parenting (by people who looked like non-parents), bigger issues that the country should be talking about (instead of policing the comedians), and the need for adult content which most people thought couldn’t be curbed.

Well, well, well! I too can empathize with how horrible Ranveer must be feeling after this; after all, people get away very quickly with the worst of statements they make and even things they do. Things did blow out of proportion and reached bizarre heights as well, but I would still say, this out of proportion isn’t all wrong. Because it isn’t just about Ranveer. Yes, he got targeted, but I think unfortunately that’s how things work. His ongoing controversy is just like the tip of the iceberg.

Isn’t the world a very different place now? I am sure at least millennials and the generations before us would say, yes.

·       We have overpowered the word talent over everything else in today’s time. In times today it doesn’t matter, how educated you are, how hard you work, or the kind of work you do. The only thing that matters is your talent to grab numbers in the world of internet.

·       The interest no longer lies in the way you are contributing to the society as long as you are getting name and fame back home. Dance, mock, strip, or get your babies on screen, if you have views, likes, and paid promotions, the world is yours!

·       We don’t want to invest in anything fruitful, we don’t want to wait for things either; there is no time for that.

·       The new-age idols have changed too. Many adolescents that I fortunately know of, thanks to my observation skills, easily look down upon their parents for being regular office-going people. (Their parents may not afford the luxury hotel where the influencer that they follow had stayed. Furthermore, can their normal parents who are hardworking and office-going ever take them on so many trips abroad as the internet heroes go.)

·       Irrespective of who you are, if you are away from the world of the internet you will fail. Be it doctors, architects, politicians, civil servants, hospitals, and so forth, you have to show your presence online or else, sorry who are you?

·       Our attention spans have gone down like never before. Reading books is a rarity now, and forget that, even Bollywood struggles to make people sit through a three-hour movie. Make a reel and finish what you want to say in one and a half, or I guess three minutes now. If you can’t convey anything in that time, then don’t say it, or get swiped. This doesn’t apply to just us, it applies completely and rather more to our children too, whose brains must be struggling to grow to their complete potential.

 

In this new world where we've created an intense need for people to constantly show up digitally as content creators, isn't it natural to expect a daily decline in standards as they strive to grab attention by any means necessary? This is exactly what Samay Raina’s show, India’s Got Latent did. Taking the freedom of speech by the neck, it stooped as much as it could. While the show has created countless controversies many times in the past, Ranveer Allahbadia/beerbisceps was just the channel through which it all got highlighted like never before.

And does the problem lie with just these creators who are nothing but hungry for attention? No, as per me it’s the incentivization of these creators that is responsible for the storm. Why wouldn’t one want to grow in numbers, when what follows it are endless paid collaborations? Why would any child want to invest in education, when degrees are paying far less than all this drama? Stop incentivizing and see how the world turns better.

Since changing the way the digital world works, and changing this entire influencer culture is like a far-fetched dream for me, I will share more practical thoughts for the current scenario. I acknowledge that freedom of speech is a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. However, another equally important word that entertainers should consider before speaking freely is responsibility, especially if they are followed in large numbers. As Uncle Ben says- ‘with great powers come great responsibility!’ I wonder what would have happened if Peter Parker failed to listen to him and got adamant to use his powers irresponsibly, just because he had them. With kids inevitably exposed to the digital world today, don’t you think that the responsibility should increase even more? (For the non-parents who have been criticizing the new-age parents for not controlling their children's exposure to the online world—please become a parent first before giving advice or passing judgment.)

And by the way is abusing each other, talking inappropriately about private parts, or applauding obscenity adult-appropriate content too? I leave it to you!