In the movie “Kathal,” streaming on an OTT platform, there is a scene where a young woman cop, belonging to a scheduled caste, responds to an upper caste man’s derogatory comment by normalizing the idea of lower caste people as thieves. This scene can be seen as an example of reification, a process where an abstract concept is turned into a fixed belief.
Reification occurs when people start believing in the concreteness of a concept that actually exists in an amorphous and abstract form. It is often the result of socio-economic processes and can perpetuate existing hierarchies and prejudices. In this case, the young woman cop, by not countering the stereotype, inadvertently reinforces the deeply hierarchical caste system and the associated prejudices.
It is important to note that the caste system in Hinduism is a socio-religious construct that has historically favored a small minority of upper castes while marginalizing and oppressing lower castes. By accepting the caste system and reiterating the stereotype that lower caste individuals are thieves, the cop reinforces the existing power dynamics and inequalities.
The concept of reification has its roots in the influential work of the Hungarian Marxist thinker Georg Lukacs, particularly in his book “History and Class Consciousness” published in 1923. Lukacs used the idea of reification to explain the growing influence of technocratic, bureaucratic, and capitalist relations on the legal system during the early twentieth century. He argued that belief systems and social relations derived from larger capitalist frameworks were being normalized as common, concrete, and inevitable.
In Lukacs’ framework, the reified individual, such as the worker, becomes an automaton, aimlessly operating within the normalized socio-legal setup of capitalist society. This normalization prevents the working class from challenging and transcending the existing system. To break free from this framework, the working class needs to develop de-reification, which involves a realization of self-consciousness or class consciousness.
In the context of the movie, the cop’s acceptance and normalization of the caste system can be seen as a form of reification. The character’s failure to challenge the stereotype perpetuates the social and economic structures that benefit the upper castes. To foster social change and dismantle such hierarchies, it becomes crucial for individuals, especially those belonging to marginalized groups, to develop a critical awareness of these systems and work towards de-reification.
It is worth noting that the reframing of content involves analyzing and interpreting the given information from a new perspective. The above reframed content seeks to explain the concept of reification within the context of the movie “Kathal” and its implications for reinforcing the caste system. It highlights the importance of de-reification, inspired by Georg Lukacs, as a means for individuals to challenge and overcome the normalized social structures that perpetuate inequality.