The impact of these serials cannot be ignored. If we are able to keep a balance between the positive and the negative, then the benefits of these serials to our youth would be endless
Sana Gulzar
Pakistani serials have a long withstanding audience because of its story, the way they portray the issues of our society. They target an audience of all age groups from children to adults. However, with such a diverse group of audience it is difficult to make something that is appropriate for all age groups. There are both positive and negative aspects to them. In some serials, the good overrides the bad while in some it is the opposite. First let’s talk about the positive impacts.
POSITIVE IMPACTS
CULTURAL PRESERVATION
These serials play an important role in preservation of our culture. In this age of globalization, where the western influence is increasing day by day, these serials are a great way to teach the younger generation about our culture.
HIGHLIGHTING SOCIAL ISSUES
These serials are also responsible for portraying the issues and problems of our society. These issues include gender discrimination, domestic abuse etc. Serials like “Bhaaghi” and “Udaari” shed light on issues like child abuse and women rights and sparked nationwide debates and conversations.
FAMILY BONDING
Many families of our nation bond over their shared interests of watching television as they spark conversation between people. All the members of the family come together to watch their favourite serial which results in precious family time and such important memories that they stay with us for a lifetime.
EXPANSION OF ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
As the trend of series and long drawn episodes is rising it creates a variety of jobs, people make their favourite stories or characters hashtags this in turn results in creating a loyal fan base, as they reflect our society’s culture people all over the world come to know about it. As we can now find multiple digital platforms to watch serials anywhere and anytime.
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
As these serials use the native language Urdu so it becomes easier for our youth or anyone else who’s trying to learn our language. By listening to the characters speaking in Urdu and using regional dialects they not only become aware with the correct pronunciation but also become familiar with the context of words. As it’s easier to learn by listening.
EDUCATING MORALS AND VALUES
These serials are responsible for teaching us good morals and values as the youth see the characters acting in a good way. They start to copy the characters whether it’s in the way they speak, the way they live, and even the way they carry and dress themselves. It even becomes a trend to copy famous actors in any way possible.
CAREER INSPIRATION
In many serials the characters are seen pursuing careers in medicine, journalism or social work. When people, especially students, see such strong and independent characters particularly of women, they also aspire to be like them. This way not only they get more insight about various fields but they also become so passionate about their career paths that they are compelled to do as much work for it as possible. In this way our youth gets encouragement to be the best version of themselves.
These were some of the positive impacts of these serials on our youth now let’s move on to the negative impacts.
NEGATIVE IMPACTS
PORTRAY STEREOTYPES
Many of the serials portray such stereotypes, such as highlighting that women are shown weak as almost 90% women in our serials are shown as the damsel in distress. Similarly, showing toxic masculinity gives a negative lesson to our youth. As it will be a huge problem if they implement this behaviour in their lives.
RAISES UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Many dramas set such unrealistic expectations about how our life, our relationships, and our appearances should be like. They portray that relationships should be ideal and happiness can only be found if we have material success or an abundance of wealth. This gives a negative image to our youth as they start to think that only materialistic things can provide them with happiness and success.
REPETITION OF STORYLINE
From such a long time there has only been a certain few types of stories in almost all of our serials. Our stories and the way they are told lack diversity. All we can see are love triangles, evil in-laws, scheming family members or the rich boy and poor girl troops. This repetition not only causes lack of interest in the audience but also results in reduced TRP’s and makes our youth move towards platforms like Netflix, YouTube. Where they show interest in the serial of other countries where such values are shown which are completely different from our society and culture.
ADVERSE EFFECTS ON MENTAL HEALTH
The way these stories portray betrayal and schemes results in our younger viewers to develop a sceptical mindset about life and relations. Continuous exposure to such themes may result in increased anxiety, lack of sympathy towards others, and may make them less sensitive to other people’s feelings. The fresh minds of our youth are corrupted by these themes in such ways that they might start implementing it in their lives.
CAUSES ADDICTION
With the rise of digital platforms like Netflix, YouTube results in our youth spending hour’s binge watching serials. This way they are unable to fulfil their responsibilities. Their studies, as well as their social life are greatly affected by this. Due to this behaviour there is a lack of productivity and instead of studying they start to daydream in their free time.
CONCLUSION
These were some of the negative impacts of these serials on our youth. It can be argued that the responsibility lies with the parents or the guardian that they should monitor the content that the younger people are watching but to some extent it’s also the responsibility of the content creators, the writer, and the publishing houses that they should make such content that is appropriate for all. They should write such things that they challenge the stereotypes and the negative aspects of our society and culture. The impact of these serials cannot be ignored. If we are able to keep a balance between the positive and the negative then the benefits of these serials to our youth would be endless.
Read: Digital Age: Social Media Analysis
________________
Sana Gulzar is a student of Mass Communication Department of Karachi University
