Catchy Beat ≠ Harmless Lyrics: Why I Started Questioning What We Celebrate

I am writing this as my first article on Mani's POV, not because I think I know everything, but because I want to educate myself.

Sometimes we watch something, enjoy it, dance to it, laugh at it, quote it, or celebrate it without thinking too deeply in that first moment. Then later, when someone explains the meaning behind a lyric, a scene, a dialogue, or even a camera angle, something changes. We begin to ask ourselves: what exactly did I just enjoy, and why does it suddenly feel uncomfortable?

That is where this article begins.

This is not written to hate any actor, singer, lyric writer, music director, director, heroine, producer, fan, or film industry. This is not about attacking one person. It is about questioning the words, visuals, and cultural habits we normalize in the name of entertainment.

Because entertainment also teaches us something, even when we do not notice it immediately.

I want to be honest about that.

Like many people, I notice the beat first. I notice the music, the voice, the dance, the star presence, the energy, and the excitement around a song. That is usually what reaches us first. It is what makes people share reels, talk about a track, and celebrate it before they even stop to think.

But after that first excitement, when I started listening more carefully, I began to feel uncomfortable.

Not because someone forced me to hate the song. Not because I suddenly became anti-cinema. But because I started understanding that lyrics are not just sounds.

One thing I am learning is that misogyny is not always loud or obvious.

It is not only someone openly saying that they hate women. It can be much more subtle than that.

It can hide in jokes, dialogues, songs, lyrics, camera angles, choreography, and the way female characters are written.

When a woman is treated like an object, that matters. When she is reduced only to body, beauty, curves, or desire, that matters. When she exists only to elevate a hero, that matters. When romance begins to sound like a bargain or a transaction, that matters.

This is not overthinking. This is trying to understand impact.