Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses

A recent trend in television advertisement of staging unconventional social constellations includes an advertisement released by the tea brand Red Label in 2015 featuring a live-in couple facing an awkward family situation that eventually dissolves into intergenerational harmony. The one-minute comm...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud
Series:South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4371
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author Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
author_facet Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
author_sort Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
collection DOAJ
description A recent trend in television advertisement of staging unconventional social constellations includes an advertisement released by the tea brand Red Label in 2015 featuring a live-in couple facing an awkward family situation that eventually dissolves into intergenerational harmony. The one-minute commercial visualizes not only an alternative to the married couple but invites us to re-imagine the relationship between parents and children as well. Based on the assumption that society and media co-construct each other, this paper asks whether the act of rendering the unconventional visible is already a challenge to the idea of the Indian family. Further, it analyzes the conflictual online discourse evolving around the short film. In particular, looking at viewers’ comments reveals conflicting attitudes that reflect different discourses in Indian society. Apart from the obvious topic of cohabitation, viewers “see” a multitude of interconnected themes reflected in the commercial and go on to discuss gender roles, sexuality and the visual symbols of “Indianness.”
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spelling doaj.art-53cf3ab663a24ec6b8c679aa0a0967fe2024-02-12T15:38:41ZengCentre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du SudSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal1960-60601610.4000/samaj.4371Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media DiscoursesFritzi-Marie TitzmannA recent trend in television advertisement of staging unconventional social constellations includes an advertisement released by the tea brand Red Label in 2015 featuring a live-in couple facing an awkward family situation that eventually dissolves into intergenerational harmony. The one-minute commercial visualizes not only an alternative to the married couple but invites us to re-imagine the relationship between parents and children as well. Based on the assumption that society and media co-construct each other, this paper asks whether the act of rendering the unconventional visible is already a challenge to the idea of the Indian family. Further, it analyzes the conflictual online discourse evolving around the short film. In particular, looking at viewers’ comments reveals conflicting attitudes that reflect different discourses in Indian society. Apart from the obvious topic of cohabitation, viewers “see” a multitude of interconnected themes reflected in the commercial and go on to discuss gender roles, sexuality and the visual symbols of “Indianness.”https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4371live-in relationshipsadvertisingfamilysocial mediagender rolessexuality
spellingShingle Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses
South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
live-in relationships
advertising
family
social media
gender roles
sexuality
title Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses
title_full Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses
title_fullStr Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses
title_full_unstemmed Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses
title_short Contesting the Norm? Live-in Relationships in Indian Media Discourses
title_sort contesting the norm live in relationships in indian media discourses
topic live-in relationships
advertising
family
social media
gender roles
sexuality
url https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4371
work_keys_str_mv AT fritzimarietitzmann contestingthenormliveinrelationshipsinindianmediadiscourses