Feminism in tamil movies

Disclaimer: I don't claim to be a feminist. I don't claim to uphold any values, and I don't claim moral superiority. In fact, I don't claim anything at all. But I reserve the right to have opinions, and opinionated is how I will be :)

Non-existent company loyalty aside, Yahoo! news has become my only source of news. Thier supercilious attitude towards what happens in the third world is extremely interesting. Consider the following news article for example:

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Indian forced to 'marry' her father-in-law rapist

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian rape victim is being forced by village elders to "marry" her rapist -- her father-in-law, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Community leaders in Charthawal village, backed by local Muslim clerics, believe that by being raped, 28-year-old Imrana's 10-year marriage has been nullified under Islamic law, The Asian Age newspaper said.

Holding a special council on Sunday, village leaders ordered the mother of five to leave her husband, Noor Mohammed, and live with her parental family for seven months and 10 days and make herself "pure" again, The Age said. It did not say how she becomes pure.

After that, she must "marry" her father-in-law and live with him, along with his legal wife.

"She... will then be like a mother to Noor Mohammed," the paper quoted local cleric Shamim Ahmad saying.

Her four brothers have agreed to the edict. She has not but in India, victims of crime often have nowhere to turn and with even her own family supporting the edict she may have little choice.

Police are now investigating and say they plan to arrest the father-in-law. They refuse to comment on the village elders' ruling, saying it is a sensitive religious issue.

The village is in Uttar Pradesh, one of India's poorest and most backward states and its most populous, with more than 165 million people, more than Russia's 145 million.

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Pudhiya Paadhai, a purportedly revolutionary movie in tamil, released in mid 80s was based on a similar, disgusting theme. Those were the heydays days of pseudo-feminism, when the likes of Visu and Balachander ruled the roost.

Tne stifling poverty of the 70s had forced the men to allow women to work. Visu's films dealt primarily with poverty and gender equations, with a housewife trying to get a job, her otherwise good husband seeing it as a bad trait, and finally giving in to the woman, which will involve a lot of appeasement over the bed. Balachander dealt in women as victims of circumstance, yet preserving their feminity, and the associated dignity. These two directors brainwashed an entire generation of tamil men and women, and effectively killed feminism in tamil nadu. I haven't seen a single feminist in TN, and lets not talk about Suhasini and Revathi, shall we.... Not that i care, just my observation.

Tamil movie's potrayal of feminism:
a. A strong-willed woman shouldering the responsibilities of the family, with all the usual doses of compassion, humility and servitude associated with a woman
b. A headstrong cruel girl tamed by the hero...

P.S: This was a totally pointless post...