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| Home > Articles > The Casting Couch
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| | The Casting Couch
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The casting couch is a euphemism for a widely recognized sociological phenomenon that involves the trading of sexual favors by an aspirant, apprentice, employee, or subordinate to a superior, in return for entry into an occupation or otherwise for career advancement within an organization. A casting couch is also less commonly used as a general term for the difficult casting process that actors and actresses go through when trying to land roles. The casting couch concept in many respects is connotative of the entertainment industry, but may apply to any industry for which entry is highly desirable and competitive. The couch connotes a comfortable and informal setting common to a casting audition, as opposed to the less comfortable chair that typically connote less desirable job interviews.
This practice is thought to be a phenomenon in careers which are highly desirable and traditionally difficult to break into, primarily the movie, television, advertising and music industries. Such trade of favors may be considered an abuse of power, and become wider sex scandals if deemed newsworthy. It is reported in almost every possible occupation and situations involving subordinates and superiors, where the superior has significant influence on the future career progression of the subordinate. It involves either the superior asking sexual favor from a subordinate in return for economic or occupational support, or the subordinate luring and seducing ones superior with the aim of bargaining career or economic progression.
The casting couch is not restricted to any one particular gender on either side of the trade-off. In its broadest context it implies all social contracts that involves the exchange of sexual contact in return for economic security or career enhancement. Casting couches are a form of game theoretic trade off in social settings. In 2005, the India`s Most Wanted show on India TV ran an exposé that accused several Bollywood figures (including Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma) of seeking sexual favors from young actresses. This ploy would not be, of course, unique to Bollywood moguls; film industry figures worldwide have long been rumored to subject actresses to the casting couch.
Those accused by the show vehemently denied these accusations, and most of the Bollywood establishment have supported them. Surprisingly, the exposé resulted in insignificant public outrage. The investigative TV show, caught Indian Idol host Aman Verma and longtime Bollywood acting legend Shakti Kapoor in a "sting" operation, and accused them of abusing their positions to force women to have sex with them. They even produced video evidence of Kapoor making advances on a planted girl. Verma, Kapoor and most of the Bollywood industry have defended themselves, calling India TV`s claims unfounded and sensational, and claim that the video footage of Kapoor is misleading. However, these are not the only cases of casting couch, several relationships between older executives or stars and much younger budding stars have raised public suspicions about possible unethical dealings.
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