It is true what people say that your childhood plays an imperative role in shaping and carving the person you grow up to become. Besides everything that we, as a child seek inspiration from, our parents top that list. Rightly so, through popular evidence in literature art, pop culture, movies and psychological experiments, we have known the role our childhood plays in building the life of our dreams. With gender roles split in Indian families like categorically placed books in a library, we tend to learn life through the lens of our first friends, our parents.
Young girls use their mothers and boys their fathers, as an anchor to know the person they want to be. Whether they love them or end up hating their personas, parents play an imperative role in outlining the characteristics of their adult child. Evidence of which is more so, accurately wrapped within film scripts and characters, that turn out to be our favourite on the big screen. It was just yesterday when cinephiles paused and watched a life-size image of Ranbir Kapoor, banging doors, fighting goons on swiftly changing his hair lengths, as per what “papa” would love. Yes, we’re talking about the Animal trailer.
Through this close to two-minute-long trailer, what most people took home, was Kapoor’s character and his violent projection of daddy issues. Something, that Kapoor has often played in his almost two-decade-long career. With daddy issues at its core, this problematic plot line was embellished with deafening BGM, guns, gore and tons of facial hair, welcomed with thunderous applause. While I was busy swimming in the sea of Kapoor’s magical eyes, what caught my attention was his years-long bond with daddy issues, on the big screen.
Be it Ved in Tamasha or Siddharth Mehra in Wake Up Sid, this man now, who is glorified as a “red flag,” clearly gets it from his onscreen dads. Behind all that jazz and noise in the trailer, was a deeply rooted subject, that needs our attention. A villain or a hero, is how young boys picture their fathers. As rightly mentioned by the popular theory, coined by Sigmund Freud and the Oedipus complex–”A child forms a strong attachment with a parent of the opposite sex and has feelings of competition toward their same-sex parent.” So, if your papa isn’t a man you look up to, he becomes the guy you’re fighting to chase in a race that you hold in your head.
Kapoor’s struggle throughout movies and selection of characters have often found a closely tied relationship with their dads, who seem to have failed them as a child. Picking from his filmography, we learnt how his characters, who are smoothly touted as a “red flag” for potential dates, are actually battles between him and his dads. Learning the complexities of daddy issues, my quest to know more, took me to Jasmeen Kaur (Clinical Psychologist (A) and Founder and director of EHSAS Health Solutions and Services.
Miss Kaur, rightly pointed how the role fathers play in a boy’s life, and charted out the importance of parenting, “A father figure is a young boy’s primary source of understanding the world around him. Many attitudes, beliefs, and emotional expressions, that often persist into adulthood are learned by modelling their father figures in the early developmental years. A stable and positive father-son relationship can create a sense of security that fosters the potential for healthier personality development through the course of life. Conversely, an absence or lack of a good role model may lead to a lifelong pursuit of validation and approval often from primary caregivers or interpersonal relationships. Hence, cultivating a strong father-son relationship in formative years is pivotal in nurturing boys capable of internalising positive values and healthier interactions with their surroundings and the world.”
Also Read: Animal Trailer: Ranbir Kapoor Paints Our Screens Red With Blood, Gore, Gun And Smoking Hot Bobby Deol. But Where’s Rashmika Mandanna?
Not just through the choices these men make in their lives, but their daddy issues often pop up in vulnerable environments, when they share the same air with their potential partners. Like Ranbir choking and aggressively countering Rashmika in the trailer, or Ved jittering when confronted by Tara, dating a man with daddy issues can reflect a serious lack of emotional availability, and heightened substance abuse, often leading to abusive relationships.
Through Ved, Kapoor fights the internal battle and leads a life of mediocrity, instead of choosing his passion for dramatics. And as Sid, he tries hard to fit in a cubical, in exchange for a swanky car and some validation from his dad, until he stumbles upon his love for photography. In a quest to get a tap on their backs, men turn to their fathers, but fight a series of conflicting emotions, when they fail to receive so. His upcoming project–Animal, also projects a childhood trauma through a violent Ranbir in his adult life. A man, when questioned about the “ghosts in his head,” chokes Rashmika, fights a hefty but hot Bobby Deol, and does everything in his capacity to save his “papa.” While the film is yet to hit the big screens, we’re excited how this hyper-violent approach to displaying a fractured childhood is going to impact our Dear Zindagi.