the fame game
Mental health problems are caused by a variety of things including biological, interpersonal, family, and socioeconomic and cultural factors, including crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Around a billion people worldwide, according to a global study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), suffer from mental health problems. Despite the heavy burden caused by mental illness, it often remains taboo to talk about it due to the stigma associated with it.
The media and entertainment industry can play a critical role in breaking this silence and shaping affirmative views and discourses on mental health, but sadly, portrayals of mental health issues in the media are often superficial , inaccurate, sensational, insensitive, and sometimes even violent.
According to Dr. Aparna Joshi, iCALL Project Manager and TISS Assistant Professor, with the advent of streaming services in India, a variety of less talked about topics, including mental health, have found expression in the digital medium. Issues that people were grappling with behind closed doors are now being shown more and more on screen and this can have a cathartic effect when handled delicately.
A recent example is the recently released Netflix series, ‘The Fame Game’. While focusing on the glitz and glamor dark side of celebrity life through Anamika Anand’s journey, the show has also featured pertinent topics related to mental health issues and underlying struggles, including the self-harming behavior of the Anamika’s teenage son, Avinash, or Manish Khanna’s struggle. with bipolar affective disorder.
The series attempts to portray Avinash’s struggles with his sexuality and Amara’s (Anamika’s daughter) feelings of inferiority about her body image. As Anamika deals with the abuse and violence in her marital relationship, her mother’s control over important aspects of her life makes her feel alienated from her own family. The Fame Game not only showcases each character’s individual struggle, but also their path to redemption. It also offers a commentary on family dynamics of control, patriarchy, and intergenerational transmission of patterns that contribute to these concerns.
It is not only the portrayal of characters with mental health problems, but also the reactions of significant others to them in media portrayals that can shape viewers’ attitudes towards mental health and illness. A sensitive reaction to people with mental health problems can shape a new response and encourage others to offer support. Anamika’s empathic reaction to her son’s self-injurious behavior and her accepting and affirming stance towards her sexuality are some good examples of dealing with this with sensitivity. And so are her efforts to guarantee the freedom of her children, something she was deprived of in her own life.
In addition to depicting the supportive reactions of others, the show also offers a positive message about seeking help. It has given voice to some of the critical realities of Indian families and society, including mental health challenges, domestic violence, patriarchal control, invisibility around LGBTQIA+ issues, and gender power and domination. The audience, struggling with similar challenges, can relate to these situations.
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