It somehow seems that I keep coming back to this very topic and it would be of why exactly are the people of influence so callous with their words?
Okay, before we start I would like to state that in most cases I do believe in giving someone the benefit of doubt and am in agreement with the fact that we, as the human species are perfectly capable of making mistakes.
And there is no shame in that.
For one reason or another, we sometimes say the wrong thing or are not able to say what we want to say in the right fashion.
However, I also believe that as a public personality, who has a certain influence over the public, one should be careful of what they say and at the very least make sure that their facts are correct before going on record.
I am sure no one is a stranger to this, unless you have been living under a rock that, Shilpa Shetty was very recently trending all over the world, due to some comments that she made about a very famous book called Animal Farm by George Orwell.
Now, I have read that book and have to say the way Orwell has integrated complex political agendas and the rise of Stalinism, is just beyond exceptional.
But Shilpa Shetty was quoted as saying on the topic of what she thinks of the recent inclusion of books like Harry Potter, Tintin and more into the school curriculum:
And The Trolling Starts
It is pretty obvious that Shetty had absolutely no clue on what exactly was the meaning behind Animal Farm and probably and this is purely my own theory, that she must have read about it being a good book or something and decided to include it in her answer.
Again, I do not know what the reason behind it was, but it was apparent that she did not know about the story.
Of course the twitter peeps immediately noticed this and did not leave even a second before #ShilpaShettyReviews was trending worldwide.
And have to say, some of them very extremely hilarious.
But Was This Excessive Trolling of Shilpa Shetty Correct?
Not to sound insensitive, but in a manner, yes, it probably was.
And although Shetty did respond yesterday about all this drama and admitted herself, that she has never read these books:
Whilst I admire the writers of LOTR, Harry Potter & Animal Farm I’ve “NEVER” read these books(@ the cost of soundin even dumber!)Not my kind
— SHILPA SHETTY KUNDRA (@TheShilpaShetty) November 28, 2016
..So recommending them to kids is out of the question! Obviously some misunderstanding..Don’t want to get into it.This too shall pass. 🙏😓
— SHILPA SHETTY KUNDRA (@TheShilpaShetty) November 28, 2016
However her admittance sort of even confuses me further, as if she has not read these books, then what is she doing giving her opinion on them being included into the school curriculum?
See my problem here is not that she does not know about Animal Farm, it is perfectly fine, but my contention is then why is she giving her opinion on it like she has any kind of knowledge on it?
And she didn’t even just stop at saying sure Harry Potter could be a good addition, no, she gave specific reasons on how this as well as Little Woman and Animal Farm can contribute to a child’s education.
Also I cannot really get with the whole argument that she is celebrity, she must have thought it would look bad if she didn’t include it in. I mean no.
No one really specifically said anything about Animal Farm, she wasn’t asked about that particular book, then why add a book about which you known nothing of?
I would like to couple this with the last recent controversy of Ranvir Singh in which he was seen in a sexist ad.
After there was major outcry out it, the company took the ad down and Singh apologized.
Same as with Shilpa Shetty who has also sort of apologized.
What? They think they can say anything, do anything and just afterwards say a meager sorry through a tweet or FB post?
Is that what it has come to?
Signing off I would like to say that on some level I do agree with the trolling of Shilpa Shetty, but I know this still won’t be a learning lesson for other public personalities. They will still keep saying stupid shit and then covering it up with a convenient ‘sorry’.
Image Credits: Google Images
Other Recommendations:
http://edtimes.in/2016/10/stupid-things-people-say-under-the-garb-of-opinion-and-free-speech/
