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The oscar nominated movie The Reader touches a very sensitive topic that dwelves into every individual's mind at one point of time i.e. how can someone draw the line between morality and desire? Who dictates the moral ethics in the society? Morality in simple terms can be stated as an act which is accepted in the society. Desire is what is acceptable to an individual although it may not be morally correct. This battle between society and individual has long been fought and exists as a cold war in everyone's life. Our every action is governed by society. We modify it according to the standards of the community we live in. But what about our desire? Desires are not monitored or governed by anyone. Not even by the person itself. In Freudian terms,id vs. ego is what drives a human being.
The strongest and the most "sacrilege" topic in Indian society is the most obvious three letter word SEX. It is the most desired instinct in individuals designed by the hormonal reactions in the body. But moral when you indulge in it after abiding by the rituals of matrimony. Immoral sex is like red tapism. All done under the table unless there is a sting operation and you are caught red-handed.There are also many dimensions to it. As in the movie, a 15 year old having sex with a 40 year old...not admissible; self stimulated sex [masturbation]...still not right; sex with the same sex...OH MY GOD!!But these things happen right under the nose of the society gurus and knowingly been ignored. It is at this point where the cold war is favourable towards morality as everything said and done, rules broken, desire being satisfied but we are not going to spread the word as we are "moral" members of our society and cannot see our coming generation being driven by their ids rather than ego.
You may think what is this woman writing!! Has she lost her mind!! I know its funny but this is the truth which deep in our hearts everybody accepts. The chastity of a woman and the potency of a man is questioned by this contention. We judge people on the basis of this notion. Finally the question arises,ultimately who will be the winner between the two? There is no answer to it. Rather it is an open-ended question to which further demur would be added from time to time. What we can do is just listen to it or read and write about it as we are the masters of our psyche and can judge the best.
