Source: Stills from Made In Heaven (Amazon Prime)
In this article, we will review the episode ‘Beauty and the Beast’ from the series ‘Made in Heaven’. The storyline is about the marriage of Anik and Adhira. The theme of the episode is narcissistic abuse.
“Anik is a life coach.” This was the first reaction both Tara and Karan had when Bulbul told them he is abusing Adhira. People will think twice before expecting “abuse” from him.
Anik is a case study on Grandiose Narcissists. He’s the confident guy who truly believes that he is above everyone else.
Let’s look at some of the traits of Narcissists using Anik as an example and learn more about narcissistic abuse.
Narcissistic abuse dynamics highlighted in the show
1. The positive, loving, and supportive facade
To the outside world, he appears as the guy who considers himself fortunate to be with Adhira, the one who gifts her a palace and holds her purse.
It’s all about maintaining appearances. This makes narcissistic abuse difficult to detect. From the outside, the relationship will either look normal or extremely good.
2. His career is more important than hers
His career takes precedence over hers. She revolves around him, only permitted to work with him and often touring while taking care of him.
She serves as a trophy wife or girlfriend, meant to be showcased to others.
Narcissistic abuse also sometimes involves financial abuse. Controlling someone’s career is a form of financial abuse.
3. Undermining your achievements to make the narcissist feel better
Adhira mentions that Anik’s proposal is the best moment in her life, to which Kabir asks, ‘Even better than winning the pageant?’
She replies, ‘The ring beats the crown.’
Her phone has her pageant-winning photo as wallpaper. Even in her house, we can see a life-size image of her winning the pageant.
She definitely considers it one of the best moments of her life, yet she has to feed his ego.
4. Isolating victims from their social group
Isolating Adhira from work and friends, making her life revolve around him, moving to a house on the outskirts of the city, and ensuring she only works with him.
5. Cannot stand hearing praise of others (especially their victims)
A designer calls her ‘beautiful’—he feels insecure that she will look way too gorgeous compared to him—so he asks her to choose another dress.
When she disagrees, devaluation and shaming begins.
6. Gaslighting
Gaslighting Adhira about her talent – He calls her a bad actress, but her casting director tells her that her audition was good.
Sometimes, one person’s validation is enough to change your perspective. This is the first time we see her standing up for herself and telling him that she got the part.
He continues the gaslighting by saying all good actresses must have rejected it, and she got a terrible part.
Then he gaslights her by saying that she is not Jennifer Lawrence. At this point, she gives in to the gaslighting and says, ‘I said no to the offer.
Gaslighting about lying – She kept a decision away from him, but looking at the bigger picture, he had no business interfering in her life like that.
He took that one reason to justify the abuse against her.
Using sexist stereotypes to gaslight women (Troll Culture against Actresses)
Anik also tells her that she can’t think for herself, as if she needs him to do her thinking, making her financially, emotionally, and intellectually dependent on him.
He refers to her dancing as ‘shaking her ass in front of men.’ Any woman in the public eye becomes an easy target for such narcissists.
They can’t accept that women are not inferior to them and will stop at nothing to prove it, unable to digest the fact that, by birth, they are not inherently superior.
Mistreatment of actresses is deeply ingrained in our culture. Acting requires the portrayal of a sensual side, much like any other emotion actors convey.
Unfortunately, people often seize this opportunity to demonize and troll them.
Women who have the courage to express their sexuality, whether through acting, clothing, dance, or photos, are openly slut-shamed.
Several internet platforms host pictures of actresses, attracting lewd comments and objectification.
Historically, women were frequently relegated to dancing for men’s pleasure and objectified, a perception that still haunts many actresses today.
Their talent often goes overlooked, with recognition often coming much later.
If an actress is attractive, some immediately dismiss her as a poor actor. Public perception makes them easy targets for trolling.
Furthermore, even if an actress falters in her debut film, she isn’t given the same opportunities for growth as her male counterparts, who are granted multiple chances to prove themselves.
7. Hoovering
Hoovering is done by narcissists when their victims finally leave them due to narcissistic abuse.
When the wedding was called off, Anik manipulated Adhira into believing that her decision to withhold information about the audition had triggered the abuse.
‘You lied to me—don’t forget that,’ was the line that filled her with guilt.
Anik also profusely apologized, admitting that he needed therapy and her presence. He began crying, falling to the ground, and pleading for her to take him back. Adhira fell for it all.
Narcissists exert control by sowing confusion. If they consistently behaved poorly, nobody would remain in their orbit.
So, as soon as they sense people might leave them, they make all sorts of promises.
Like some narcissistic abuse victims, Adhira fell for the hoovering and ended up getting married.
