Where lights, camera and glamour dominated the 21st edition of Lux Style Awards, not surprisingly the evening also brought along controversy.
With awards and nominations being announced, there arose the important subject of giving awards on the basis of ‘People’s choice’ vs. taking a stand against providing a platform to abusers. The debate was sparked by actor Feroze Khan being nominated and winning the award for for ‘Best Actor Male – Viewer’s Choice’ , after recently being accused of domestic violence by former spouse Aliza Sultan.
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Earlier, objecting against Feroze’s nomination, internationally acclaimed filmmaker #SharmeenObaid returned her Lux Style Award in protest writing “As a society, we must stand together against domestic violence and we must call out those who provide platforms to abusers.”
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While the Lux team addressed backlash claiming “All shortlisted nominations, for the Viewer’s Choice Category of the LSA 2022 are a result of exclusive viewer voting without any intervention by the Awards”, Twitterati and many influential names objected, pointing out that globally @Unilever is challenging domestic violence through their “campaigns”, and so it is surprising that in Pakistan, they are silencing victims of domestic violence by honoring perpetrators in award shows.
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What is your take on this case of People’s choice vs. taking a stand against abusers. While the choice of people obviously holds value in the entertainment industry, is it fair to make it the only criteria for handing out an award, ignoring and overlooking all other aspects, regardless of their seriousness. As brands endorsing particular images, personalities and messages, should we take a little more responsibility for the ideas and ideologies we promote or should anything and everything be made acceptable. Leave us your take in the comments section.
