Passionate and Perilous crowd: Vijay's Stampede through Shakespearean Lens.

The Birth of a Leader is quite a process.  I wasn't a fan of Vijay as an actor but he got me fascinating since his decision to enter politics. It is obvious that Vijay as a leader will be highly charismatic, hugely popular. Considering the recent stampede, the significant question that lingers around his political future is how will he organize the collective energy of his fans and further navigate the passion of the mob to suit his career, as the recent horror proved that unchecked collective passion is dangerous. 

    This reminds me of Shakespeare's depiction of Roman crowd during the assassination of Julius Caesar. The play presents the roman crowd as fickle, emotional and easily swayed.  In the opening of Shakespeareian play Julius Caesar, the crowd jubilantly celebrates the victory of Caesar. Ironically, the same crowd accepts Brutus rationale for Caesar's death.  After the talk of Brutus, the crowd believes that Caesar was ambitious and he deserves to die. Yet moments later, listening to Antony's rhetoric the crowd outrageously laments Caesar's death. The crowd breaks into a chaos, burn and even kill an innocent man (Cinna, a poet) because he shared the conspirator's name. Shakespeare presents the crowd as highly unstable and easily persuadable, a massive force that changes the direction upon force without reason or restraint. The tragic stampede around Vijay echoes the same, fans united by devotion lost individual caution leading to chaos. 

    Crowd psychology presented by theorists like Gustave Le Bon and Elias Canetti state that individuals in mass lose their individuality and take over a collective highly emotional identity. The crowd can easily become volatile, swayed by rhetoric or charismatic figures. While Shakespearean play dramatizes the volatile  Roman mob,  the contemporary tragic instances of RCB victory parade or the stampede that surrounded Vijay exemplifies how collective passion blinds individual caution. The enduring lesson is crowds- be it in Rome, cinema fandom, politics or even sports - the pattern is similar: if crowds are not organized and channelized properly, admiration can easily turn into danger. Leaders, organizers of such collective forces must guide the mass more responsibly avoiding destruction. 

    Similarly, on an individual level this devastating incident must have been an insurmountable source of trauma for Vijay, Dr. Shalini, the psychologist' post on this issue offers a deep insight into the mental state of Vijay. she writes in her Facebook page, 

 

               She states that Vijay must be in freeze mood due to the trauma and the blame game. People look up to him as a saviour placing their expectations and she describes the cycle of saviourhood -  trust → adoration → crisis → downfall → recovery → elevation. 
    Just like Shakespeare's roman mob placing their emotions of grief, anger, loyalty onto Caesar and then on Antony, Vijay's fans place their hope on him. The immense psychological weight Vijay has to bear for him to become the leader he aspires to be is enormous. 

    Collective admiration be it in sports or politics is subject to change and the fickleness has to be handled efficiently and responsibly. I believe a significantly strong leader is in the making. Hopefully, learning the lessons and navigating with caution, Vijay will march forward in his own pace.