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The world we live in


I am Fishead (Documentary, 2011)
This documentary is currently being shown in Kuala Lumpur as part of their EU film festival. The surprising thing about this entry is that even though being a Czech offering, it was short mainly in US and is narrated in English. It tries to find a simple explanation and solution that we are in right now - financial turmoil.
Following the Chinese saying that the fish rots from the head, they are suggesting that the people in power or who control us are psychopaths who manipulate us into submission.
The first half of this documentary film dwells on characteristics of psychopathics. It explains that psychopaths are not necessarily the typical ones depicted to us by Hollywood film but very much around us, throughout history, promising us wealth, power and false sense of security. They also introduce the concept of corporate psychopaths who do the same in the corporate world with their own agenda and no remorse.
Hitler, Mussolini, Bernard Madoff and even Bush Jr is included in this list. Sociopaths infiltrate into the society with their self fulfilling agendas.
The second contributor to our woes is the introduction of 'happy pills' which is consumed by 30% of Western society. What started as Valium has now graduated to Prozac as the panacea to all our perceived problems (which are not problems in the first place). Grieving during loss of a loved ones is a normal response. Anxiety of meeting a new challenge is accepted. these do not need treatment indiscriminately!
It numbs our emotional response which would otherwise be present in us, which is good to react to situations.
Our society which is becoming a consumer society which is essentially an unsatisfied society. It can be blamed on our egocentric upbringing, one taught to care for himself alone.
The writer proposes that each of us influence at least three others in our branch of tree of social interactive networking (not internet type). A good deed by us may influence another and a third who does not even know us (but our friend). Like that it spread the cheer and will eventually the goodness will come back to us. This is the same aspect preached on morality and good conduct.
They interviewed many psychiatrists, psychologists and also the former President of Czech Republic and playwright Vaclav Havel for this film. Havel through his work was instrumental in the regime change in Czechoslovakia in the 80s.
One should not look up to celebrities and leaders for inspiration but rather look sideways and try to influence the base of the pyramid so that the goodness would also spread upwards.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." Albert Einstein
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