Man, it’s like the older generation of Bollywood actresses are on an absolute roll when it comes to the Me Too movement. First Priety, now Rani Mukherjee.
I mean, remember when Priety Zinta showed up to an interview where she said she wished she’d been harassed.
Disturbing opinions coming from Preity Zinta on #MeToo movement. Highly insensitive the way she's going about mocking victims. "You are treated the way you want to be"- Sure @realpreityzinta, you wanted to be molested by Ness Wadia, right? That's why you filed an FIR against him? pic.twitter.com/AHvpEbF0jv
— హిమాలై🌈 (@Oxynom) November 17, 2018
I’m sorry, no one says this shit sober. Anyway, she blamed the editor for the train wreck of an interview. This was her version of an apology, I guess.
Really sad 2see how the interview Is edited to trivialis& be insensitive. Not everything is traction & as someone being interviewed I expected decency & maturity froma journalist @iFaridoon. I did 25 interviews that day & only yours turned out edited like this #dissappointed
— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) November 19, 2018
Now, imagine. You used to be a top Bollywood actress. You’ve seen other actresses make the mistake of victim blaming. You’re old enough to educate yourself on the matter, but more than that, you’re literally surrounded by other women trying to tell you not to blame the victims of sexual assault for sexual assault. The only man on the table is agreeing with these women.
What do you do in such a case? Common sense would dictate you take your point back and humbly try to learn.
But common sense seems to have escaped Rani Mukherjee in this absolute cringefest of an interview. Please watch her make an absolute fool of herself here:
Deepika, Anushka, And Alia really were making great points while Rani here makes martial arts noises. You can’t make this shit up. pic.twitter.com/sceqsEj71N
— Doe (@doepikapadukone) December 29, 2018
“You have to have the courage to protect yourself.”
“Those are the women we need to talk that you guys need to change yourselves”
“We have to take responsibility of our own selves. Before saying that you take this responsibility, what is our responsibility.”
Actual sentences uttered by Rani during the course of this interview, despite Deepika and Anushka interrupting and trying to explain things like “not everyone can fight back” or “why not hold the perpetrator responsible.”
Y’all, Alia Bhatt had to interrupt and legit talk slowly for her point to get across to Rani. (It didn’t.) Imagine getting schooled by Alia Bhatt. Alia’s seen the world a lot lesser than you, Rani. Banda thori sharam kar leta hai.
Also, this is the exact moment when Alia realized that Rani done fucked up.
Can’t make this up, folks. Just watch the whole video. I’m not going to lie, I had to stop watching it the first time around because of the second-hand embarrassment I felt for Rani. But I also wanted to release my anger through this piece, so I guess it was worth it.
Anyway, people who have been scarred by this video are reacting in ways I expected them to react. They’re ripping Rani’s “discourse” apart:
Learning self-defense etc is great.. but what Rani is not addressing is.. that a predator is a predator.. and they don't care whether you have learnt to defend yourself or not.. many times mind games are played.. personal space is violated.. there are many forms of harrasement
— Aneeta (@AneetaRadoja) December 29, 2018
Rani Mukherjee’s response on #MeToo and her insistence on placing the responsibility on women is so problematic and almost victim blaming.
“If they don’t want it to happen it will not happen”
“Those are the women we need to talk to and say yaar you need to change” pic.twitter.com/04lpxpfCWg
— Saniya (@touche_always) December 29, 2018
Like…I can’t even. How does one think like this? How privileged do you have to be?
But more than anything, her approach that ALL women should change learn to be tougher is the solution rather than making those predators stop preying is mind boggling
— Doe (@doepikapadukone) December 29, 2018
I can’t believe she said “you can’t tell mothers how to bring up their children” like….. that’s the whole ass point?
— Doe (@doepikapadukone) December 29, 2018
Reeks of privilege when she says women must learn krav maga and schools should make it compulsory because education is still a luxury to many in the country.
Ugh! pic.twitter.com/OFGBMmN5jz
— Saniya (@touche_always) December 29, 2018
HOW, as a woman, do you place the blame on victims? How?
She put more responsibility on mother’s and victims than grown men
— 𝖆𝖒𝖊𝖑 ❁ (@sleepyamel) December 30, 2018
This person pointed out how Ash is the most sensible one out of the lot. I just want to know – why?
First Preity, now Rani.
Ash seems to be the most sensitive and intelligent of them all in her generation. She was also one of the torchbearers of #MeToo in Bollywood. So proud to have been her fan.— Simi Brahma (@simi_tweets) December 29, 2018
Why does only experiencing a certain level of trauma guarantee empathy? I love Ash for being strong and vocal, but why can’t women like Priety and Rani learn? Especially when Me Too is putting forth narratives and stories that help you understand victims better. Hadh hai.
Anyway, people also called out Rani for prioritizing her movie’s promotion.
Rani is here to promote mardaani 2 which is about Martial arts and rapes she doesn't care about actuality metoo or crime against those who can't even learn Martial arts like wt about rapes of toddlers or babies
— Divyani Anand (@DivyaniAnand1) December 30, 2018
If this is legit, it’s just sick. Movies do not trump sexual assault movements, Rani.
And well, most people are pretty much calling Rani out for her toxic AF views.
i wish i could unsee all rani mukherji movies. her opinions are such a toxic contribution to the minds of the world. i can’t believe a woman is saying these things on such a big platform. i pity the daughter’s mind that she’s gonna mould
— archana.c (@chefmontysux) December 29, 2018
Dudeee wtf was rani doing.. U know sometimes even if i know karate situation Mein aap aisa hote ho ke u can't react.. Dp alia anushka were on point and this rani wasn't even allowing anushka too speak
— Samaira❣️ (@Samairakhan7991) December 29, 2018
Anyway, I am both Alia and Deepika as I watched this interview unfold.
Let’s get some stuff straight. When a victim is being assaulted, they may not necessarily be in a position to fight back. Despite years of training and learning all forms of self-defense, sometimes, you freeze. Athletes get assaulted. Everyday folks get assaulted. And it’s ALWAYS the perpetrator’s fault.
I can’t believe it’s almost 2019 and this needs to be explained, even to women like Rani Mukherjee. Anyway, let me know what you think of the steaming pile of garbage that this interview was.
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Cover image via News 18