Dark Comedy or Just Vulgar? The Problem with Influencers Today
Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina's comments create row
In the past few days, the comment by Youtuber Ranveer Allahbadia has made a row on the internet and is facing severe backlash. The likes of comedian Samay Raina and a team of India’s Got Latent are facing harsh criticism too. An FIR has been filed against them too.
Their comments show everything that is wrong with Indian audiences and such “comedians” or “influencers” themselves. Their content is full of abuses, often targeting women’s reproductive organs and sexual references.
When anyone sane questions the content these comedians use on their shows or stage like India’s Got Latent, some of the absent-minded followers back them by saying it is “dark comedy” and to chill down. I have come across some clips of the show too, and I hardly found them funny with all the abuse and sexual references. It is just pure vulgarity. Dark Comedy is what AIB did as they even critiqued some of the behaviours and trends in media or society in general through satire.
I can’t even fathom how they face their parents after making such comments.
Some people say Ranveer Allahbadia worked very hard to be where he is today. Umm, I disagree. He hails from a privileged family and has lived a comfortable life. I haven’t seen any of his podcasts, but when he went viral for memes where he silently nods his head, rather than for his content, it speaks volumes.
Unfortunately, people will forget this soon too as Ranveer Allahbadia will try to clear his image by uploading a few “spiritual” reels and people going berserk over it.
Normalization of cuss words and adult content in comedy
In my observation, comedians like Samay Raina misrepresent the Indian standup comedy scene. After analyzing his comments and his large following, I just think he shot to fame as he appealed to the young misogynist males of India who think it is cool to abuse women and use cuss words in every single sentence. Currently, people equate Indian stand-up comedy with “comedians” like him. In my opinion, comedians like Amit Tandon, Anshu Mor, Siddhartha Chakraborty, Zakir Khan, Ashish Solanki, etc should be the faces of Indian stand-up comedy. I admire Tandon’s comedy the most as he is known for clean comedy, while Anshu Mor and others use it in a very small degree and such words are few and far between.
Though unfortunately now all these have been normalized in the Indian stand-up industry. Almost every other comedian uses all these in their videos/shows, though at varying degrees. I can only put up with these if they are used sparingly. Suppose it is a 10-minute video, this content hardly makes up for 1 minute, but rest I would like clean comedy. If I were so interested in hearing abusive words, I would rather listen to a Delhi guy yap for free (of course, in a hypothetical situation).
Attacking female comics
The same audience will look down on female comics in India. They would comment under every video of female comics - “hasna tha kya?” They think disrespect is cool. Some boys will cry that all content women make is about periods and harassment. Well, a lot of comedy is anecdotal. Periods are monthly experiences for all cis-gendered women, so yes, there will be comedy based on it. And thanks to “men” like these, almost every woman goes through some sort of harassment, on which women make satirical jokes without downplaying the trauma.
Javed Akhtar on abusive language
Some time ago, when some standup comedians like Sapan Verma and Biswa Kalyan Rath were interviewing/talking to Javed Akhtar and asked him about his opinions on the use of abusive language, Mr. Akhtar gave an analogy that was a witty but tight slap to comedians who use cuss words every few seconds. He was of the view that when the food is bland (lack of good language and content), people use chillies (abusive words) to get a taste. So if you have good language and are witty enough, you do not need abusive words. I so agree with this!!!!!!!
Parental supervision
I believe that till the age of 18 or 20 (or even more if kids can’t think straight), parents need to regularly supervise the content their kids watch. All this content is easily available at a click. We do not want young children to access this content.
There is already research on social media and violent games creating apathy among kids, making them bullies. We can’t let it accelerate more.
Even when 25yo+ adults with fully developed brain get influenced, the impact will be worse on the young developing minds. As the saying goes- We become the content we consume. More content like this the kid consumes, social media and YouTube algorithms will also push the same content on their feed and explore page.
We cannot control what others post publicly, but parents can oversee what content their children are viewing and how it can impact their behaviour.
The best option would be to not give personal smartphones to kids till they clear 10th standard, and surely not ridiculously expensive phones or devices like Apple products. Australia banned social media use for those under 16, and India should probably take the same step as well. YouTube has family centre which can be used by parents to supervise the content child consumes.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the audience decides what kind of content gets traction. If people keep glorifying these so-called “comedians” and influencers, this cycle will never break. Free speech exists, sure, but that doesn’t mean we have to consume garbage and call it humor. If we don’t demand better content, this will be the future of Indian comedy—just a bunch of guys screaming abuses and calling it “dark humor.” The least we can do is stop giving them our time, views, and validation. Instead, let us support artists and comedians who truly deserve it with their good, witty content.
Good analytical observations