Good ‘Bad Movies’ and Bad ‘Good Movies’

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Give me over-the-top action, loud punchlines, and logic-defying plots, and I’ll probably still have a good time. What I can’t stand is when a film tries to act all deep and meaningful but ends up being blind.

Here’s the thing;

I might whistle at an awkwardly rhymed ‘build up’ dialogue of a regional hero but can’t stand a sentimental monologue, with a ‘social message’ which mistakes oversimplification for insight.

The films that use assault or gendered violence merely as plot devices (Lazy tropes!), often with graphic visuals, only to glorify the male lead as a savior, take the crown. These narratives show little to no intention of empathizing with victims or treating their trauma with humanity. They are nothing but exploitative. Even when the screenplay is gripping and the story telling extraordinary, overlooking this exploitation is irrational. I would rather watch thrillers with zero logic and exaggerated acting. They are a safer bet for my sanity.

I would be fine watching a movie with cringe-worthy dialogues as long as it doesn’t oversimplify and downplay complex issues like caste, class, gender politics, or race. But a pan-India movie, that markets itself as an unhinged cinematic masterpiece, ‘the first of its kind in India’, with dialogues that sound like a misogynistic lad of 14 on the internet trying too hard be nonchalant (probably after getting rejected by his crush); nah! Indian cinema can do better.

 I can’t consider a movie that claims to ‘uncover hidden truths’ worth a watch if it gets something as crucial to representation as accents and costumes horribly wrong. ‘No representation’ is better than ‘lazy representation’. Works like this demand praise it hasn’t earned. Films with bad and lazy representation often weaponize guilt. They gaslight the viewer into thinking, “If you didn’t like this, maybe you’re the problem.”  And don’t even get me started on those period dramas. All the glitter and glamour can't cover up the lack of proper research, representation or any real sensitivity to the history they claim to portray.

I’ll enjoy a good bad movie but not a bad ‘good movie’. I’m okay with a movie being dumb. I can enjoy a mindless movie with a ridiculous plot that doesn't pretend to be profound. What I’m not okay with is a movie being lazy, exploitative, or manipulative while pretending to be noble. Honesty beats hollow moralising.

 

 

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