‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ has been running as a mini series in Star world for more than ten years now. For a period of time I followed its episodes and was amused by what it had to offer. There’s Brooke who gets married to a man with a wife. She’s young and he’s aged. She then falls in love with his young son, marries him and falls out of love with him. In due course of time she also falls in love with his brother and the time I left watching the show she wasn’t so intimate with the brother but was having an affair with her daughter’s fiancée who already had a child with her. The show made it seem simple-What could people do when they were in love? But could something like this really happen and if it did what would be the consequence? Is having an affair with every person from the same family tree possible, realistic, without remorse?
‘Oedipus Rex’ Sophocles greatest tragedy being staged in Gurukul gave me the answer –it’s not. Media has washed us with so much escapism that even incest could no more be a taboo. Morality and determinism however have more of a say than media in our real lives. We seldom act as characters out of a serial. We deal with problems as ourselves. Our reactions are guided by societal norms and values. Although written centuries ago, Sophocles’ tragedy is a revelation. Its Nepali adaptation is commendable. Saugat Malla steals the show with his superb performance.
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