Of sex, mobiles and videotapes

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">In a survey of television viewers in the US, 81 per cent of adults thought reality TV shows pander to our worst nature: taking pleasure in seeing others frightened or humiliated.<br /><br />Yet, reality TV is the most widely viewed in the US - and becoming popular by the episode here - and accounts for four out of the five most expensive shows to advertise on for the 2005-2006 season.According to US magazine <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Advertising Age</span>, the results episode of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">American Ido</span>l is the most expensive show to advertise on, replacing <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Friends</span> - at $ 658,333 for 30 seconds. Survivor gets $ 412,833 per ad, fourth in the rankings.<br /><br />Moral of the story? Nothing sells like someone else''s story. It''s the age of living publicly and nothing sells like vicarious pleasure. Especially, if there''s sex involved as well. And closer home, it''s the inverse: we have ''live'' versions of reality TV.<br /><br />In Delhi''s seedy underground market Palika Bazaar, the ''four-in-one'' VCDs are selling like hotcakes for Rs 40 - explicit clips of two class XII students, Miss J&K Anara, two GE employees caught in the act and one other equally titillating couple act. ''DPS Dhamaka'' - a two-minute, 37-second clip - is also available separately in almost all VCD shops for Rs 100, and on mobiles for Rs 500-700. "Reality maal hai," urges a shopkeeper. <br /><br />Honeymooning couples in cheap hotels, lovers in parks, unsuspecting young women bathing in the privacy of their bathrooms - most of the ''reality'' stuff is shot either through hidden video cameras by struggling photographers or by youngsters through their camera mobiles. And without the knowledge of the woman, or sometimes both. "<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ladki ko pata nahi hai</span>" (The girl doesn''t know), the same shopkeeper says.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">There''s hardly any cost involved in making them, but each can fetch anything between Rs 50-500.<br /><br />Is it all just pandering to our basic instincts, and our fascination for pornography? Have we become a nation of voyeurs? And everytime a sexual escapade comes out in the open why should it - or our interest in it - be so scandalously shocking? After all, sex always sells and it is one of our most basic urges.<br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The Great Indian Middle Class Theory</span><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><br /><br />"We know these things are happening - and it''s been happening right from the beginning - but when it comes out it does have shock value," says Renuka Singh, sociologist at JNU. It has less to do with the fact that we are a sexually repressed society, and more to do with the middle class, she says. "If you look at America, they don''t have a repressed society, but the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair was the top story for two years."<br /><br />But while in liberal US, sexual peccadilloes of normal people don''t make news - only that of the President - in India it surprises and shocks only if the middle class is doing it. We are more concerned about our masses, not what the P3P or lower classes do, says Singh. <br /><br />"There is a whole lot of expectation from the middle class: they are supposed to epitomise all our values and traditions, to be the repository of our cultural values. They are supposed to represent the pure ideals in life." <br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The Sex-Always-Sells Theory</span><br /><br />Such incidents would always be titillating in any society, says Delhi-based psychotherapist Vatsala Subramaniam. "People are interested in sex. Sex is a huge part of our lives. There''s nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to hide." <br /><br />Ajit V Bhide, Bangalore-based consultant psychiatrist, agrees. "People will always be curious about such things."<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal">There is always a part of us that gets a kick out of watching pornography, says Subramaniam. "Pornography is not any less even in the West. Whenever we travel abroad, many Indians do visit sex shops."<br /><br />Anything that hints at the S-word is bound to become instantly popular, agrees adman Alyque Padamsee. Especially if it''s forbidden. "Human beings like to pretend not to like sensation, but in reality we all enjoy the shocking. And worldwide, forbidden fruit has always been more appetising."<br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The We-Are-Sexually-Repressed Theory</span><br /><br />"Ours is a repressed society, so there is that side to it. People have sexual lives that are not satisfactory," says Singh. Even in normal relationships, 50 per cent of sexual desire goes unfulfilled, she says. And this ''surplus desire'' often finds an outlet in vicarious pleasures.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section4"><div class="Normal">In Scandinavian countries, and in tribal societies, everybody is free to sleep with anybody - as long as they are willing, says Padamsee. So sex is not scandalous. In Denmark, he points out, where there is no censorship and pornography is freely available, voyeurism is down to minimum. As is abuse of women. "I wish people would be more open here. Sex is supposed to be a natural outlet, an expression of love. But in India, lust is considered a deadly sin, but not dishonesty."<br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">The Truman Show Theory</span><br /><br />"It''s a real-life thriller," says Singh. Voyeurism is common and natural to some extent, says Bhide. But this is the age of voyeurism; the age of the Internet where nothing can remain hidden for long; the age of baring all in public; the age of blogging and posting even your most uncensored deep-down thoughts for all to see; and it''s the age of entertainment. And for a seen-all-done-all people, the more sordid the story, the better it gets.<br /><br />(<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Inputs by </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Vineeta Pandey</span>)</div> </div>