Thread by @shrikanth_krish

One of modernity's central conceits is that formal education can equip man to discriminate right and wrong

So he no longer needs tradition/prejudice/religion as guides

A line from an old movie echoing this view. Heroine says

"mA main paDi likhi hoon. Accha bura samajhti hoon"

The movie is from 1964 titled "ZIndagi"

The heroine is a poor girl from a respectable family who takes to stage-acting to earn money

The mother opposes this - "Beti tum oonche gharane ki hai. Theatre se door raho"

The line in the above tweet is in response to that

The heroine becomes popular in the theatre touring party as a dancer, actress

But as one would expect, theatre life has its association with low-lifes of various kinds

And this hurts her marital life eventually

The movie predictably toes a liberal line and chastises the "samaaj" for its prejudice against actors and artists.

But the narrative itself somehow makes you wonder if the aged mom's prejudice is warranted and might've saved the female protagonist a lot of trouble?

The movie is excessively melodramatic, with very unfunny comic reliefs in the middle.

But is made watchable by the rhetorical flourishes of the lead actors.

One sympathizes with the liberal narrative of the film. Yet it reminds us of the usefulness of prejudice ironically