by Sneha Rajaram and Poorva Rajaram
Jiah Khan’s suicide is still very much a hot news topic. A lot of the media coverage of her death has been beyond cringeworthy. Here is a list of responses we found vaanthi.
1. Blaming her mother.
As if telling your child repeatedly to love themselves is a guarantee against suicide.
2. Blaming her playboy boyfriend.
If one goes by these letters (their authenticity is still being confirmed), Jiah certainly had a complex love-hate relationship with Sooraj Pancholi. If there is no proof that he directly harmed her, he can’t be held solely responsible.
3. Beatifying her playboy boyfriend.
Spurts of the internet have launched into an impassioned men’s rightsy defence of Sooraj Pancholi. Lots of vigilante and misogynistic mud-slinging has resulted. Here is a response to the male outcry.
4. Blaming any one thing.
This is the all-time favourite for anything people don’t like. It could be a combination of societal factors, brain chemistry and life events. Perk up and smell the complexity!
5. Latching on to her aged ex co-star.
At one point, every Jiah Khan obituary acted like Amitabh Bachchan was the best (or only) thing that happened to her.
6. Dragging Salman Khan into it.
This goes for anyone’s suicide. Salman Khan is built-up and presumably heavy. Let’s not drag him anywhere. Besides, it was a trumped-up media crap shoot anyway.
7. Making her smaller than life.
When suicide dictates the entire story of a life. Not cool.
8. Spewing truisms.
Like “Life is precious.” Or “She threw it all away.”
9. Bestowing Parveen Babi’s legacy on her.
Suicide is not one-size-fits-all.
10. Disparaging depressed people.
News flash: Suicidees are not weaker than you.
Photo: Raindrop Media