George Lucas is probably one of the very few storytellers who redefined the way villains are portrayed in cinema. He took someone as dark as Dearth Vader and molded him into a character we are still in awe of, clearly dominating the male lead of the series, Luke Skywalker.
In the story, Vader went through an evolution to become one of the most dreadful baddies in film history. From his innocent beginnings on Tatooine as the young Anakin Skywalker to his Jedi training with his mentor Obi Won – with whom he falls out owing to the strong pull of the dark side – Lucas builds an intricate road of Anakin’s journey from a podracing kid to the most revered Sith Lord in the galaxy. Ironically, we now live in times where villains are more revered than heroes.
Moving on from Star Wars 101, I just couldn’t help drawing some strong parallels to the Pakistan media personalities, especially the anchorpersons (a moronic term) appearing on the countless TV talk shows, and the journalists that usually get hosted on their programs. They too, like Anakin, started with an innocent journalistic spirit years ago. They worked on their well thought out, researched, and investigated articles in the print media. The opinion pieces were also well articulated, with a deeper sense of objectivity built around them. This was a time when the journalistic aptitude and attitude both rode with a dignified gallop, shrouding the person behind an aura of mystery, yet gave more credence to what they wrote and represented.
The relaxation of TV and radio channels during Musharraf’s tenure gave impetus to various business owners setting up a media shop. The bandwagon resulted in the number of channels rising from three state owned TV channels in 2002 to a whopping 105 – and counting – today. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_channels_in_Pakistan).
The Sith Lords of the Pakistani TV channels however, have become the scorn of the nation in my opinion. The quantity-over-quality and license earning policy of the regulators have encouraged anyone with some money to start airing a news channel. Onboarding parameters for presenters comprise of their ability to have insanely strong vocal chords, a knack of creating something out of nothing, hypnotizing the guest speakers within 30 minutes to become violent killers, and dancing to the tune of the channel owner, to name a few. Couple this with the alleged blackmailing culture these channels have exploited against the governments in power, has created a juggernaut so powerful, it’s virtually impossible to overpower it.
A few years ago, seven to be exact, a live breaking news on one of the leading channels of the time reported that there has been a terrorist attack on one of the markets of Lahore cantonment. I called my brother straightaway to enquire, him being a resident of the locale. My brother was incidentally at the same location being reported, buying groceries, and according to him, there was no attack, no mayhem, nothing. I stopped watching any of these channels thereafter. The simplest explanation for this being that if there are more than 100 channels out there reporting the same thing, then what differentiates one from the other? Easy, let’s just start lying off the bat and actually create something. Who is there to question?
And then there are the talk shows.
Setting the stage is a tried and tested formula. Get an obnoxious anchor, who forged the skill in the dark arts of illusionism and suggestibility, devoid of any noteworthy academic or professional credentials, gather a few emotionally driven guests with differing opinions, take a hot topic of the day, and start playing the guests against each other. Well planned and well delivered. The channel gets their viewing numbers up, adverts subscribed, and the audience at home get their daily fix of gossip and rumour mongering injected straight into their grey matter. The only poor souls who come out of the TV station totally disoriented after the show are the guests. They scratch their heads, trying to trace the last hour of their lives, fail in the attempt, and go home. The blitzkrieg was over before they knew it. The anchor however, becomes more powerful than ever, sucking the energy off the attendees and the audience, akin to a sith lord. He gets more entangled with the dark side, sacrificing and succumbing all his ideals, morals, and values.
Someone please tell these people, they are not supposed to thrust their own opinion but to promote a culture of healthy discussion, tolerance, and constructive criticism.
Having an opinion is different to reporting about facts. Opinions generate debate and argument, while facts (should) provide the basis of such discussion, using the power of interpretation. And healthy debate is of course always welcomed, if based on objectivity of arguments being presented. In our case unfortunately, biased opinions of these anchors are all there is. If you want facts, do your own digging. You want a balanced opinion? Dream on.
But among all this, the power of the force I do see growing, albeit slowly. Independent journalists, not subscribed to a media house, are using the power of social media to raise their voice. A prolonged battle ensues this paradigm shift, fueled by the deteriorating quality of the dark media, counter blackmailing attitude of the governments, and rise of the streaming culture versus corded channels. These media moguls have had their hay day, made their billions, and fooled us enough. Their long term survival is not guaranteed if they continue their attempts to maintain the status quo. Forego the dark side I say to them and be the force you once set out to be.
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