The first thing I saw when I opened X (formerly Twitter) was someone comparing something John Cena did at the Oscars to Aamir Khan's PK. Now, this could be a slew of things so I dived deeper.
Turns out, John Cena walked on to the Oscars stage near-nude with just an envelope covering him. This was then replaced by a golden, I want to say, curtain.
"Would he have been able to pull this stunt in India?" I found myself thinking as I scrolled through one PK tweet after another. Technically, of course he would be "able to" but what would the consequences be? And what would they suggest? Let's take a look back and how we've reacted to similar things.
Perhaps the thing that first comes to mind now is Ranveer Singh's nude photoshoot. While a majority of people absolutely loved it (present company included), there were differing voices. Not only that, there were FIRs lodged.
Singh has always come off as a person who is deeply comfortable in his sexuality. He has constantly presented himself in a way that doesn't conform to the 'hyper masculinity' or even the kind of masculinity that is expected of him just by virtue of being a man. While some of us focused on that, others accused the photo shoot of 'violating modesty'.
The founder of an NGO claimed that he was, by filing a FIR, acting in the interest of women. To be more specific, he was acting on the behalf of women whom the photo shoot would offend and parents who are concerned of the influence it will have on their kids.
And how can we forget the eternally meme-worthy, "We can see his bum!" moment on national television?
This idea of a woman's modesty being so fragile as to be endangered by a photo shoot is incredibly silly. But the idea of a male saviour having to stand up and do the protecting for them is even more so.
The more effective thing would perhaps be to question (or even dismantle) systems that enable people to violate people's consent with little to no consequence. Maybe raise our voices against growing intolerance and fight to save the environment. Or question why women are unsafe in public spaces (instead of victim blaming and labeling people as anti-national for asking the question).
Maybe we call out people who issue rape threats against women and children (something so distressingly prevalent on social media). A nude photo shoot or poster can't possibly be bigger threats to the 'modesty' of a woman or the future of our children than these. But they won't cause nearly enough outrage.
This isn't a one-off thing. Let's talk about the movie that's come up in conversation after the Oscars – PK.
During the film's promotions, one particular poster featuring a near nude Aamir Khan led to massive controversy, pretty much on similar lines.
Perhaps this is a twisted version of 'concern trolling'. Instead of trolling someone under the garb of concern for them, you troll someone under fake concern for others – all to hide the actual problem.
There is a shame attached to the human body and 'sexuality'. Anyone challenging the idea is seen as a 'deviant'; someone that needs to be called out and shamed. This is not something limited to celebrities either – and women and queer people often feel a heavier brunt of it.
We fire FIRs against celebrities for posing near-nude (near being a major operative word too). We slut-shame women for wearing clothes they're comfortable in and doing something simple as dancing. We violently troll men for wearing make-up and bully trans people online for simply trying to express themselves.
Would John Cena be able to do this here? Of course but maybe he'd have an FIR to his name because he could say 'the Oscar goes to–'.
But this moral panic isn't specific to India. People across X (formerly Twitter) have started calling the Oscars skit a 'humiliation ritual' (a whole conspiracy theory by the way) and of course, the phrase 'real men' has been thrown around.
And so has the faux concern for children. Should we instead be focusing on making sex education more accessible to children? Maybe try to equip them with the tools and understanding that would help them keep themselves and those around them safe?
Again, I'm sure John Cena on the Oscars stage isn't posing nearly as big as a threat to modesty. But he too, is a man who has been challenging the idea of masculinity people expect from him, and above all, he's comfortable in his body. He is clearly comfortable enough in his sexuality to be the butt of a joke at the Oscars.
The audience, too, burst out laughing at the bit so clearly it worked and a netizens loved Cena for the sport he is.
And honestly, what's the outrage about? We can't even see him!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)