It seems very 2015 to like an advertisement with a social message nowadays. Such films have become a genre unto themselves. As with many templates, there is more virtue signaling than emotional resonance in their worthy messages which rarely rock any boats. I was moved after a long time though, by the new Dove soap advertisement.

The film features a number of regular adolescent girls, whose families busily subject them to flaw-fixes—fairness face packs, tight clothes to constrict your plumpness, no specs on stage.  Sensitive and precisely observed moments put weight behind its statement that society needs to stop giving young girls a beauty report card.  The subtext of so many things girls are told about how they should be, as the voice over says, is, “Padh likh ke layak bano nahin, kisi padhe likhe ke layak bano.” It’s all very well to be smart, witty or talented, but those are the side plots to the central narrative: a woman must be conventionally good looking, and must be chosen. Being yourself is never enough—but for whom?