On YouTube
Market-driven comedy: Make fun, nothing is sacred || Acharya Prashant, Advait Mahotsav (2021)
8.6K views
3 years ago
Comedy
Sacredness
Consumerism
Value System
Market Forces
Frivolity
Vedanta
Iconoclasm
Description

Acharya Prashant responds to a question about comedians using satire to criticize India. While stating he has not seen the specific show mentioned, he finds little in the quoted lines worthy of condemnation. However, he addresses the broader phenomenon of making fun of India, calling it the "cheapest thing to do." He explains that this trend caters to a "frivolous audience" that enjoys "flippancy," which is a hallmark of the current age marked by a lack of respect for anything sacred. The speaker argues that the intention behind such comedy is to turn the holy into a joke, which allows people to continue living their "petty and ugly" lives without feeling the need to improve or rise. He connects this to the age of mass production and consumerism, where a market must be created for the exponentially increasing output of factories. To achieve this, people's value systems must be changed by destroying the sacred and making them believe nothing is worth looking up to. This process turns people into consumers. Acharya Prashant asserts that this phenomenon is market-driven. Comedians are not idealists or driven by truth; they are motivated by money from corporations like Amazon and Netflix. This money ultimately comes from the audience who subscribes to and watches this content. He describes this as the "hegemony of the evil," which people tolerate. He concludes that these individuals are not ideologically driven and would sell anything for money, including their nation, God, or mother. The solution, he suggests, lies in Vedanta and knowing one's true reality, without which one is attracted to nonsense and lives a life that harms both oneself and others. The destruction of the sacred through comedy is a tool to promote a value system that suits consumption.