What’s shocking after having watched the movie after so many years is that this is still a familiar story. And then there are those like Muthazhagu who choose variants of the same. If Muthazhagu was shown another world, another way of being, I’m sure she would’ve chosen differently. There are ones like her mother who propagate it as is evident in her shrill diatribe against education and how it poisons women. For the women of Paruthiveeran including the rebellious Muthazhagu have been co-opted into the patriarchal fold. Or, the known devil - Paruthiveeran with his mockery-laced dialect and threats of dismembering her in the guise of love and affection.But it would take a lot more than love to break out of this pattern. The choice is between her ultra-casteist father who will choose her husband for the sake of propriety and glory of caste. What sets Muthazhagu apart is that she chooses the kind of violence she wants to make her home with. It peppers their everyday and is relished quite like that peppery rasam at the end of a meal by curious neighbours and onlookers, just cupping their hands out for more. And they engage in it as freely and frequently as the men do. Looking at the women of Paruthiveeran, you know that violence is scheduled in their lifestyle. Within such a stifling construct, she rebels. Or, the way the young lackey who hangs around Paurthiveeran speaks with such derision to women.īut it’s Muthazhagu who keeps me watching. Take for instance young Paruthiveeran’s lack of understanding of ‘consent’ when he kisses the girl Muthazhagu forcefully. A look at Gender Hegemony going hand-in-hand with casteism while perpetuating misogyny, and its prevalence in society. Paruthiveeran doesn’t make any pretences - this is a slice of life from our caste-steeped villages. But what makes it uncomfortable is that both the protection and predation stem from the need to possess. It’s instinct that sometimes comes in handy against the lurking perversions. Something that’s generationally passed down to us. It’s an instinct that we’re all familiar with. Maybe it’s because of the Social Media boom and how we get to hear opinions, thoughts and experiences of patriarchy being discussed openly around the world. It’s made us more attuned to such portrayals and pick up on the intention that has framed it in such a way - a woman as something to be protected and as belonging to someone. Muthazhagu ensconced among her family as she prays, says so much to me now than it did in 2007. Right from Scene 1 at the temple fair, things were unsettling.
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