Why Do Indian Movies Treat Violence Against Women Differently Than European Shows?
Watching Berlin made me realize something about differences in storytelling between a lot of Indian cinema and European shows.
When Cameron got caught, my immediate thought as an Indian viewer was: “They’re going to rape her.” But instead they just threw her into the water. That surprised me because in many Indian movies, whenever a woman is captured or vulnerable, sexual violence is almost treated as the default outcome.
I’ve noticed Western/European shows often separate romance/sex from violence. Violence is shown as murder, betrayal, torture, crime etc. But in Indian cinema, rape is very frequently used as the main way to show evil, raise emotions, create revenge plots, or make villains look dangerous.
Sometimes it feels like so many stories revolve around rape that audiences subconsciously start expecting it in every danger situation involving women. Instead of awareness, overuse can normalize that association and affect how young viewers think about violence and women’s vulnerability.
Not saying Indian cinema alone does this, but the contrast really stood out to me while watching Berlin.