I saw this video online a few months ago where a
couple of guys – north-Indian looking from what I can remember of the hazy
footage – were harassing a girl from the northeast on the street. They were
actors hired to do that, while a whole bunch of non-actor real life people
walked past, most of them busy not caring about the racist remarks being thrown about with a few turning around to check
what was going on (out of curiosity more than concern). I don’t remember if
there was a hero in the story who stood up to the fake bad guys, but the
purpose of the video was to either highlight the searing apathy of the average
Indian citizen to injustices being doled out on the streets, or bring out the
spirited sense of humanity and compassion that some people still have in this big, bad world. In any case, I
watched part of the video – it was really long – and moved on with my life, not
learning anything new, just reinforcing the fact that some people can be
assholes and that the bystander effect is a very real thing. The headline for
the video went something like “This Girl from the Northeast was Getting
Harassed on the Streets by the Fine Gents of Delhi. You’ll Never Guess How
People Passing by Reacted”. As sure shot a way of getting eyes as any.
This concept has seemingly become a legit thing to
do as, in the coming months, I saw a spate of similar links. One was where a
couple of actors re-enacted part of the Delhi gang-rape from a couple of years
ago, playing the parts of the victims to gauge how people passing by in their
big shiny cars would react. I didn’t watch the video but, judging by the
headline, I think most people just ignored the whole thing and didn’t stop or
bother to help. Another was of guys surrounding a girl at a bus stop,
presumably in a threatening manner. Again, didn’t watch it. But the headline
seemed to suggest that someone did actually
step up to help the girl. After which (I’m speculating), they told the guy that
it was all a prank and he looked disbelievingly all around, looking for the
hidden camera, and then they all laughed and hugged it out. Because it would
have been a great victory for mankind and a touching moment, right.
Well-intentioned it may be, since it’s probably
designed to highlight the inherent flaws of the average human being of India
while still hoping to discover a feel-good angle to the story through a Good
Samaritan moment. But this whole sting operation business, or “Social
Experiment” (many thanks to The Dark Knight for popularizing that particular
nauseating gem of a phrase – although, usually, it’s not the phrase itself but
the tone in which it’s used that’s revolting), wherein hired actors enact some
kind of tragic or loathsome situation on the street, and the reactions of the
innocent bystander or passerby are gauged and scrutinized, is a misguided sham
of an exercise at best, while a worst-case scenario could have implications in
the real world. It is literally just an elaborate prank, designed
(unintentionally perhaps) to make everyone who’s not acting look really stupid,
regardless of whether they step up or not.
For instance, if I see a battered-looking man soaked
in blood begging me for help on the street, my initial reaction would normally
be either to help the guy by calling the cops/ambulance or actually helping him
physically (whether I, or anyone else, would do any of those things or not is a
different thing), or to assume he’s a con-artist who’s going to mug me and may
threaten me with dire consequences so I leave. Unfortunately, having watched at
least one of these lovely viral videos doing the rounds, a third option has
been added to my list. Am I being punked? Should I search for a hidden camera?
Is Cyrus Broacha hiding behind the bus stop in a wig? Should I quickly hide my
face so that when the video inevitably hits the internet, no one can recognize
me? Should I smack the actor in the head for his woefully misdirected
enthusiasm? (By “I”, I obviously mean a generic I for the sake of the argument,
and not me specifically.)
Admittedly, I could also get scared of the potential
online shaming that would come my way, and that fear may just propel me into
action against the perpetrator or assisting the victim. Or the very apathy
highlighted in those videos may just inspire me to step up to the plate, and
those are legitimate ways of looking at it too. Then, this essentially becomes
a way to highlight the downside as opposed to rejecting the entire premise of
the concept.
Again, with these videos, I do think that the
intentions are, if not pure, then at least positive – they’re coming from the
(somewhat) right place, which is why I’ve tried to refrain from calling them
exploitative or opportunistic. There’s some marketing acumen in there too, I
suppose, since the guys producing the Social Experiments would have some
expectation of hitting the jackpot of Likes and Retweets and Shares and Clicks
and Hits followed by Hype and Buzz and Ads and Lots of Money while still doing
the Right Thing. They’re not trying to fuck things up deliberately, I don’t
think they are. And obviously, this is not something to joke- or be snide about,
or trivialize – even the most seasoned of anti-feminists know that (unless
they’re politicians). But, ultimately, all they’re doing is appealing to the
voyeuristic, vicarious side of people online. The appearance of doing the right thing while not actually doing anything
productive at all. It begs the question of whether they're inadvertently making things worse by trivializing the issue or adding further variables to an already fragile system which has comprehensively re-wired itself against the victim in need of assistance. Sure, it leads to outrage on the internet, and outrage can
just as easily lead to real, tangible change (not always, not necessarily). But
equating outrage to actual change does seem to be a slippery slope.
