So this Sunday night, I was awake
a lot longer than I am supposed to do before a dreaded Monday morning. I caught
an episode of MTV Troll Police. It had old MTV hand Ranvijay, and a host of
props, both electronic and human, that stood in for the process of tracing out
a troll; in this case, a garden variety, unemployed and unemployable,
bhaarateey sankriti with a dash of modernism-when-suits-me, Hindi heartland
dwelling troll who had been harassing the actor Tapsee Pannu online, in badly
spelled monologue, making up with parochial virtuosity for what was lacked in
grammar. The most interesting part was where the team was playing with this
guy; who was pretending, in the hindsight, only to himself, to be a progressive
modernist, while everyone, including the audience, knew what he really was - a
true reflection of a majority of the digitally empowered Indian youth. The
chase was too tacky with all that computer imagery of "tracking", and
the denouement was too hurried, and by far not what the show claimed - that is
inducing a change in the "hearts and minds" of the troll. I guess, if
it was not the, suddenly very real, possibility of getting prosecuted for
sexual comments on a female, then surely it was the angry mustachioed visage of
a six footer Ranvijay standing a foot away, which portended an equally
unpalatable possibility of getting the sh*t kicked out of oneself on camera,
which subdued the troll! Ah, the innocent late 90s, when trolls could be subdued by the flick of a wand, and "Wingardium Leviosa"! Anyway, the show was good, but it would be interesting to see what it offers when the
novelty of it wears off.
However, if you are really
looking for a "hearts and minds" story about a troll being
transformed, you can follow this piece about Sarah Silvermann. Ohh, I am a huge
fan of hers, since I saw her in 'School of Rock' or 'School for Scoundrels'. I
can't recall which one I watched first. For someone who speaks sarcasm as her
mother-tongue, what she did with her troll was a surprise comparable to the tigress that spared that neonate fawn on the viral Youtube video. Seriously, she
responded to pure abuse with kind words, and pin pointed the "root
cause", and even arranged pro bono Medicare for the destitute troll,
converting him in the process and making the internet go a collective awwww! If
I was a fan before reading that, now I positively worship her. For, not
belittling the very good show the MTV people have put up, her feat was
inestimably greater - for she actually brought an internal change, without the
threat of draconian gender laws, or that of a menacing hulk!
Trolling is a part of the mass
social media today. The feeling of impunity because of being a part of a ready
made crowd commenting online, coupled with the anonymity that the web offers (more than
anonymity, it is the lack of physical access between the participants) lowers
the inhibitions people have against saying out aloud their worst thoughts.
Plus, it is a part of the socially tolerated, if not accepted, online
behaviour. A study of a contrast between various online fora is illustrative. A
couple of years back, Quora used to be an exclusive preserve of the well read
and articulate intellectual crowd. Present day, it has gained a sizeable chunk
of whose educational and social-intellectual profile does not really match up
to the standards. Still, Quora remains free from trolling. Yes, the troll-view
point finds mention, and even up votes, but the language employed remains civil
and courteous. Not so on facebook, or twitter. It is some how socially acceptable
to abuse on facebook and not on Quora, just the way people would spit on and
deface the DTC buses, but leave the Delhi Metro clean!
Trolling in itself is not an
isolated phenomenon. It is a part of the deepening democratic tendency and
empowerment of the masses, which has led to things like the election of the
incumbent US President, the exit of Britain from the European Union - also
known as Brexit, and, closer home, the hardlining of the political discourse.
All these things are rather unpalatable to the 'intellectual brigade', but
ironically, they are the products of things most valued by the brigade -
democracy and human free will. Apparently, freedom of choice includes the
choice to self destruct. While true intellectuals may wring their hands and
despair, like the character Bruce, in Bruce Almighty, and say that free will
cannot be controlled, and certain Indian intellectuals may opine that it is infact being controlled through electronic mechanisms(!), the fact remains that
such anti intellectual and anti establishment trends are on the rise. If we had
a measure of quantifying the subjective feeling of "shrillness" of
the trolling we see, and we plotted it against time, it would directly
correlate with the frequency and intensity of such events. In fact, we might be
seeing the first worldwide revolution which is truly mass sourced. Think of it.
Till now, in almost every revolution that happened, it was truly the cerebral
clique taking advantage of the sheep crowd. The great religions and the political
systems (usually monarchies) supported
by them were obviously in this mould. The Magna Carta, which is treated as the
first step towards the rule of law, was basically a compromise between a
monarch and his disgruntled aristocrats. Equally so, in the English Civil War,
which first uprooted the monarchy and installed the Protectorate, the
opposition wasn't the true commoner, but locally strong representatives with
the requisite heft. The American Revolutionaries were big Estates Holders (and
Slave holders!), and those who brought the Bourbons down in the French
Revolution perpetuated a dictatorship of their own, no less tyrannical as far as
the man at the bottom is concerned. The people's paradise promised by the
Bolshevists remained a paradise for party cadres at most. Closer home, the
whole leadership of the National Movement was basically the elite, although it
was purveyed as grassroot inspired, a bluff which Churchill called very well
in his 'seditious middle temple lawyer now posing as a half naked fakir'
description! In fact, till the recent
boom in Web 2.0, with its social media portals and its army of trolls, even
democracy was largely about the masses choosing within the pool of available
establishment figures. The unspoken consensus was – you choose one of us to
rule over you. It took some time to change that – different periods of time in
different democracies – but in the end, it was quite synchronized. The
realization dawned that they did not need someone from the establishment to run
their affairs, and they were well within their rights to do so themselves.
There was a transition period, where either the establishment people
masqueraded as commoners to retain power, or demagogues from within the ranks
were co-opted into the establishment. However, the social media revolution ensured
that this charade does not continue for long – it was no longer possible to run
with the hare and hunt with the hounds. A major part of this was achieved by
the resonance of the trolls. The social media served as a gigantic echo chamber
cum tuning fork – and precluded any further proliferation of those who had a
hidden agenda. Of course, demagogues may still emerge in this chaos, but they
are just transient blips, and the mobs are not in their control, as in they
cannot make the mob do their will. Unless their 'will' keeps coinciding with
what the mob was already intent on doing. We shall no longer be witness to true leaders, like this scene from Invictus.The era of the truly popular has truly
arrived.
Just because something is popular
does not mean that it is good or beneficial. As has been previously argued on this very blog, popularization or pandering has led to dumbing down – not just
of the political debate and public discourse, but also of the popular art such
as music or cinema. This is what has made Discovery Channel turn to flash and
bang shows or plain slap stick, and the History Channel turn to Aliens and Pawn
Stars! Not only is it cool to be stupid, it is now even something that can be
(and is) celebrated! What can be its implication? No one can predict, but it
cannot be anything good, for sure. Throughout human history, as we have seen it above,
smart, if not well meaning, people have led the rest of us. It was by the ear
for the most part, and by “hearts and minds” for the small ‘democratic’ end.
However, now there is no true leader, and no true path. The path is shaped by
the momentary fluctuations that give some vague direction to the stagnated
public discourse. Any conscious effort to channelize it; any loud voice of
sanity is immediately shouted down by the trolls. Churchill had been prophetic
in saying that the best argument against democracy was a five minute
conversation with an average voter!
Is there a way out of this? Well,
for the well being of our future generations, I pray that we have a way. Even
if there were a way, how do we make ourselves heard above the din of the
trolls? Surely, the troll police way, even though it appears seductive on TV,
is not a very effective way. Isolating a troll, extricating him from his
natural habitat, and badgering him out of being a troll is not a cure. Devoid
of his internet mask and his place in the crowd, he does not remain a troll,
but a simple simpering idiot. It cannot be a practical solution when the
majority of the population has turned into trolls. Is the Sarah Silvermann way
of ‘killing with kindness’, the way to go then? There seems to be some hope
there. At least the troll who has been converted harbours no resentment in such
cases. It may also (if we may be extra optimistic), trigger a chain reaction.
However, there is only so much of pro bono livelihood to go along in this world
- a significant limiting factor when the ranks of the trolls are generally
filled with citizens with some or the other deprivation. However, before making any attempt in that
direction, there is a need for introspection by those who claim to be out for
curing the world of trolls. I would again like to point out to the works of Manu Joseph, where some efforts have been made to bring out the innate hypocrisy on the side of the ‘non-trolls’. There is a need to climb out of the
ivory towers of liberalism, and engage, however slow and tiring the progress
may be. There is the need to understand, that, from his own view point, the
troll may be logically right. There is a need to find what additions to his world view would
change his logical equations for the better, and then we must strive to add the same, very patiently. For that, we need empathy, and not the smug sense
of entitlement which is being peddled as the liberal point of view. The physicians
truly need to heal themselves first.
