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To tame the reptilian mind?

A Nearly Normal Family (Swedish, Season 1, E1-E6; 2023)
Director: Per Hanefjord


Maybe there is no one there watching you. You are just out there alone on the small blue dot amid all that emptiness.; a blob in that awful waste of space. That’s all. Above us, only sky, and there is no hell below us.

Perhaps the wise men who came long ago knew about this all the while. They also knew that an observing eye in the sky ensured conformity and obedience. Could they know about the double-slit lamp examination findings and how the results vary when an observer is included in the experiment? The reality changes when observed. Putting the fear of prancing eyes would ensure people act within social mores. That would prevent straying from the needs of the societies, sticking together against the elements of Nature and from predators eyeing the exact needs.

As time passed, things were added and amended to suit the demands of the times. A certain amount of legitimacy was sealed by infusing a divine infusion into the equation. For a while, things went on smoothly.

The great leap forward in the sciences made people question many of the so-called God-sanctioned laws they had blindly followed. Words like empowerment, personal spaces and choices began to be mentioned. Suddenly, the religious fervour lost its lustre.

The world then noticed that everyone had their own vision of the world, and they wanted to live it as they chose. Life rules do not matter anymore. Rational reasoning took precedence. Unfortunately, humans are not so disciplined. They let their heart and minds sway. Soon, they fell prey to their primal needs.

Getting into mess after mess, they soon realise that religion, whether a God existed, paved a safe journey to the destination.

This thought went through me as I watched this miniseries about a pastor, his philandering lawyer wife, and their precocious teenage daughter. The daughter, when she was 16, befriended an older boy who sexually assaulted her. The family decided not to report the rape to the police. The daughter grew up with unresolved issues, opting out of her studies but continuing her carefree social life. One day, she is accused of murdering a 32-year-old young man who turned out to be her lover.

Life takes a turn for all three. The rest of the story is about how the family stays together to resolve the issue at hand. As if realising that divine guidance is necessary for peace of mind, the series ends with the daughter lighting a candle at a church when everything is resolved.



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Location: Stockholm, Sweden

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