Breaking role stereotypes

Swaps have been admired by many a thinkers when it comes to doing something out of the box. Today, several social media memes also have swap based jokes in parallel universes and upside down worlds. The concept of role reversal or swapping is not anymore confined to thinkers. 

Be it movies or novels, the idea of swapping roles of two characters or beings have always excited the viewers and readers alike. Novels like those of Malorie Blackman’s ‘Noughts and Crosses’, Gena Showalter’s ‘Oh My Goth’, Ally Condie’s ‘Matched’, and movies like 17 Again, It’s a Boy Girl Thing, She’s the Man, Freaky Friday, John Carter and The Man Who Wagged his Tail or even the web series Man’s world and many more have not only served the purpose of entertainment but also educated people on the importance of every individual’s role in the society.

With ‘Noughts and Crosses’ swapping roles of Africans with the Europeans, the story deals with an alternative thought when the Pangaea was intact and was host to the human race, where the dark skinned people of Africa enslaved the Europeans.

It’s a Boy Girl Thing, is a movie which shows the tragic but hilarious confusion of gender swapping, where two neighbours who absolutely hate each other transform into each other overnight and have to deal with their new situation until they can find out the cause of their transformation!

Freaky Friday is another swapping story between a mother and a daughter who complain of not being understood and neglected by each other. These kinds of stories not only induce fun and slapstick but also often come up with simple or comic solutions to the widely discussed problems of not acknowledging one’s importance in life or the society.

It’s a Wonderful Life may not fall under the exact category of role reversing, but one may call it a role-disappearing movie! The story deals with the regrets George Bailey has, who wishes that he was never born, and an angel is sent down to Earth by God to make Bailey realise his important role in the society.

When it comes to swapping gender roles or role of one being with another, not only does a lot of responsibility heap on the author/ director but also the constant tryst of making the end product loved by the mass, prick the person to achieve perfection. Questions on logic and science often arise in such situations, where the author or director is required to answer the questions meticulously and satisfactorily. Similarly, with Ki & Ka releasing this Friday, one must not go to the theatres with an empty mind to experience role reversing, but with the aforementioned novels and movies one should acquire enough experience on what to expect and what not to expect from the movie. 

The movie’s name has been selected quite precisely, with the element of classic confusion among non Hindi speakers with the matters of gender attached to every word! It is only expected that an equally intelligent movie comes out as the finished package of entertainment and information like the efficient name.