Past 'use-by-date' shelf life?

The Bad Guy (2022)
Director: Pierre Perifel

Covalent bonds are hailed as one of Nature's strongest bonds. Nevertheless, with the correct amount of energy and the help of appropriate enzymes, it can be broken down into its basic structures. Unlike bonds cemented by DNA or the ones sanctioned by the Elements of Nature, friendship is a convenient arrangement amongst misfits who share the same mental illness. What others refer to as self-demeaning and a sheer waste of time, they find joy and purpose in life.

Since nothing is cast in stone, friends make rules as they go on. They call it a 'bro code'. The code, a whimsical array of regulations that are made up as the friendship goes on, protects each other's interests and maintains zen in other concrete long-lasting relationships.

In the good old days, before our digital devices filled up the void of long-haul journeys or protracted stop-overs, we actually struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger who looked charming enough. We may open up knowing pretty well that the friendship would last no longer than the journey.

Do all friendships stand the test of time? Do they all have a 'use-by-date' shelf life? Is friendship as flitting as a showroom of a departmental store that has a makeover with each season sale? Since this bond is not tangible but written in the sands of time, even a zephyr can erase it. A little dent in ego, a misspoken utterance, an unintended gesture here and there, an unsaid, undone action all may crumble this loose association.

What was supposed to be like taking a bullet, sharing the joy, the cries, the sweat and seasons in the sun can just go bust in a moment.  Keeping secrets, warts, and all are, just self-pleasing dialogues that act as fillers for time-pass. Will it end like in a feel-good movie, or just one mentioned in eulogies about the good old times remains to be seen?

Five misfits, often mentioned as the scum of societies, the Big Bad Mr Wolf, the serpentine Snake, the mean Shark, the poisonous Tarantula and the meat-chewing Piranha live up to the expectation of society. They are The Bad Guys, the lean, sleek, suave bank robbers.

Their last haul trying to steal the coveted 'Golden Dolphin' award goes all wrong. They are busted and have the chance to prove that they can be reformed. Meanwhile, the goody-good two shoes Prof Marmalade, the guinea pig turned scientist-philanthrope, has some things up his sleeves. The Governor, Ms Foxington, tries to convince the gang that it pays to be good despite the bad reputation they have picked up over the years.

A feel-good, chirpy and colourful animated film.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A utopia in a woke world?

Encanto (2021)

Director: Jared Bush and Byron Howard

Something is unsettling about this Disney animated musical. Sure the animation, the colour, and the music are spellbinding; it is the story that makes me think.

When I overanalyse the story, the more I feel it must surely be a wet dream for the proponents of the woke culture (or nightmare, depending on how you look at it). Colombians running from their motherland from atrocities (which they think were perpetrated by the US) were ushered in almost magically into a land of magic. In this magical land (the US, maybe), they were all given special powers (read special preference) to help each other in a Colombian only community. Perhaps others (non-Colombians) do not matter.

The next generation all grow up expecting to have special treatment - all the siblings and their siblings. They feel entitled to be treated differently. They deserve the magic that their predecessors received, even though their circumstances were different.

When these doors are not opened, they feel cheated and refuse to do their duty to the community. The community also needs to be blamed, for when someone reminds them of the rotten system and their imminent collapse, he is labelled as a traitor, an outcast, and put in cold storage. For a bit of semblance of sanity to prevail, the whole rot has to be purged away for new building blocks to be put in.

Maybe in not so your face manner, this musical tells the story of a matriarch who flees Colombia to be saved by a magic candle that builds a house for them and nurtures her children and grandchildren. The family and the rest of the community surrounding the shape-shifting mansion just make merry and dance all day through, unaware of the decay in the house's structure. The protagonist, a teenage girl who does not get her dues, goes on a crusade to find the real gift that she duly deserves.

Of course, it is not like that. Mind my wild imaginations! Did I mention the many biracial couples and the fleet of seemingly clueless and docile male characters? They form the woke narrative - payback time for all the toxic masculinity over the generations!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Follow

 

The future is bleak!

Love, Death & Robot ❤️☠️🤖  (Adult Scifi Animation; 2019)
Season 1-2 (2019-2021)

It used to be that animation (called cartoons back in the days) were for children. It was an outlet for mindless personification of cute animals doing impossible stunts in gravity-defying postures. It was quite acceptable if a bomb explodes right in front of the character's face. It would just get off with a bandaid on its forehead. Or it could be thrown off into a mile-long deep ravine just to would crawl back up to fight in another snippet. That was entertainment back then.

Those days are over. Now animation productions are of big budgets and delve into difficult life questions. No, adult content is left to manga series for the Japanese to deal with their men's fixations in wanting their sexual partners or dolls to have round big blue eyes like their favourite manga heroines. We are talking philosophy, the future of mankind and armageddon. Since much of the presentation is animated, the storyteller and digital artists took the liberty to expose more skin than being allowed when real actors acted. Herein lies the confusion. The animation styles are varied; some are simple 2D drawings with disproportionate body parts, some use fantastic graphic designs that viewers are confused about. We are left to wonder whether the characters are played by real actors whose appearance is pixelated to appear sci-fi.

On average, the 26 short episodes, on average lasting 20 minutes, narrate a plethora of topics that carry multiple veiled messages. 

Some of the teachings that seem apparent to me, I have tried to enlist.

If consciousness and memory can be decoded and digitalised, they can theoretically be transferred. Hence, personal desires and ambitions can continue indefinitely just by changing body parts. We do not have to leave behind a legacy or need our offspring to continue our struggle. We can become bio-engineered gladiator beasts with infinite power for infinity. 

We can see that humans show more compassion to their pets than the neighbour next door. They buy the best for their pet animals and care for them as they would their child. So, it is not outlandish if they would genetically modify their cats. In one episode, the human penchant for nuking each other left a desolate world populated with cats with opposing thumbs (genetically modified so that they could sit at dinner with my masters, I suppose), menacing three robot visitors.

History has the nasty habit of trying to repeat itself. If a particular event is twisted, the sequence of events may vary, but the endpoint will be the same, albeit within a different timeframe. One episode asks, "What if Hitler was killed not in 1945, but in 1908 when his application to Vienna Academy of Art was rejected. The Hindu concept of time moving in a cyclical manner, rather than a linear fashion, is evident in the History of Man. Man becomes an aggressor at one time, and the same person becomes the victim. The aggressor becomes the aggressed and vice versa, indefinitely, in an episode titled 'Witness'.

We like to think that we are the legitimate inhabitants of Earth by default. The planet was made for us. Well, I got news for us. We just may be the invaders upsetting the equilibrium set by others who prevailed long before us.

Ever wondered why the mammoth structures that occupy this planet exist. We are awed how the Pyramids, Easter Island statues and Stonehenge came to be. And we still do not understand their functions. Well, the episode 'When yoghurt took over' may have explained all these. A mutated yoghurt solves all of the world's problems and leaves Earthlings with all their great inventions. This must ring a bell with fans of 'Ancient Alien', which posits that we were visited by aliens who try to impart wisdom, gave up on us and went off.

A subtle message goes out to sympathisers of immigrants in the episode 'The Dump'. Local council officers after officers who go to the illegal dumpster to repossess it for development goes missing. Apparently, all the long-standing rubbish has developed a brain of their own to claim their place. Settlers who had entered our country illegally will soon have their whole life earnings and memories invested here. Their base would grow roots so deep that uprooting will be a Herculean task. 

We talk about preserving nature but not giving two hoots to people living in constant fear of wildlife. We glamourise a time when animals roamed free. Yes, in a flick of a moment, we can be snacks to predators. The wild is not kind. (Episode: Fish Night) 

Like the message from 'Citizen Kane', the character in 'Zima Blue' realises the hard way, after working all his life to unattainable heights, that the things that really matter at the end of the day are the simple things in life.

We are all so dependent on our digital devices and sometimes feel paralysed without them. Every so often, we have been locked out of possessions. With so many safety protective features added to our machines, it is not unthinkable that there will come a day that the AI inserted in them that will treat us as the perpetrator. We may be hunted down like dogs.

With the advancement in our medical treatment modalities and fixation with healthy living, immortality is theoretically possible. If no one dies anymore, overpopulation would be a problem. In one episode, having children is illegal, and there is a special police squad to hunt and shoot down children.

In one of the last episodes, like a scene from 'Gulliver travels', a giant has swept ashore. People get all excited about this new find. As expected, the curious probe, prod, pose and want a piece of momento of the beached body. Their interest wane with time as nature takes its course. The body decomposes and slowly is swept away. The only thing that is left is memory.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

People kill people, not guns?

If anything happens I love you! (2020)
Animated Short Film

This 11-minutes short film won itself an Academy Award in the Best Short Animated film category. In a concise graphic representation, the storytellers managed to capture the essence of emotions surrounding the loss of a young child. This emotional turmoil can make or break a family unit. The gamut of blaming, what-ifs, guilt and fault finding missions would eventually lead to a brick wall among the living but definitely not bring back the dead.

The death of a member of a family who has not lived his full potential, however, may invoke a myriad of responses. They say an addition to the family, especially the first-born, unites families. The sight of a newborn will make everyone all jello but strong enough to cement whatever minor frictions that may have been present in day-to-day dealings. It may make or break the bonds between the close relatives, especially parents, in the case of a young child.

This short film with no dialogue but a single song, 1950 by King Princess, tells the pain that a couple of parents endure when their pre-teen is killed in a random school shooting. The couple gradually grows apart with overpowering grief. All the while, their genuine emotions, feeling for each other and worries about each other are depicted by their shadows. When the door of their daughter's room, which they refuse to open all this while, suddenly opens, both parents enter the room to the sound of their daughter's favourite song. They reminisce about all the joyful times that they had together through a series of flashbacks. Finally, they shed their tears and reached a resolution.

The film highlights the problem of random shootings in the American public space, especially schools. Over the years, the interval between these types of shooting is getting shorter, and the types of weapons used are getting complex. It is no more pistols or hunting rifles. Instead, we are talking about assault rifles and semi-automatics. Pretty soon, the general public may be walking around with bazookas as it is their right to bear arms to protect themselves as permitted by the second amendment of the American Constitution. 

So many Presidents have come and gone promising to put a stop to all this gun violence. Even though many countries, the UK and Australia included, are testimony that this is indeed possible with very tight regulation of weapons ownership, such a situation will never happen in the US. The gun lobbying groups hold the purse string to the political parties. Being the central capital of weapon provider for the whole world to fight each other to maintain American interest and sustain despotic regimes worldwide, it will bad for business to put an all right ban on guns. 

Anti guns will continue doing their thing.  Aggrieved parties will pour their heartfelt disappointments, and the world will light an occasional candle at shooting sights, but the stock owners of Smith & Wesson and Colt's Defence will continue run laughing all the way to the bank. And they justify their rights by saying, "People kill people, not guns!" But, what they do not understand is that people just get a bruised face, dented ego or at most a broken rib with physical might. A gun has only one mission, to cause severe damage to the victim with minimal effort of its user.

All the loving feelings wither over the years. A child may make or break, not only by what turns out of them but in wanting to give the best for them. Differing parenting approaches and domineering-type of parenting accentuates drift. You ask yourself, "Is this the same woman that I married? "You coax yourself telling, "No, these are just battle wounds traversing the journey of life!"

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Queen sings the blues!

Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

Director: Nina Paley

Since its first narration as way back as 7th century BCE and its additions over the centuries, it has fascinated many. The epic poem has been analysed, reanalysed and re-interpreted from so many angles. Ramayana continues to be a source of inspiration for many on Rama, the obedient son, the brother, the King, the husband, the warrior and the avatar of Vishnu Himself.

This time around, this animated production looks for the epic from Sita's viewpoint, as a wife yearning for Rama's trust and acceptance. Using 1929 catchy blues songs by Annette Hanshaw as the main background score, the movie depicts a miserable Sita who yearns for Rama's love. Through no fault of her, she is accused of infidelity. Rama, the stoic king, is depicted as the cold-hearted husband who is more interested in reputation and living up the citizen's approval rather than standing up for his wife.

Running parallel to the main storyline is the contemporary story of Nina, the director, and her relationship with her husband who deserted her in real life. Like Rama, he becomes cold after his trip to Trivandrum, India. Like Sita too, Nina is wronged and becomes the wife who is the victim of the husband's unknown train of thought.

The film portrays Sita as the innocent victim of the times who is made to prove her purity. At every juncture, she is assumed to be the guilty. Her words carry no weight, and she has to depend on the elements of Nature to prove her chastity. She has to perform the fire ritual repeatedly to this effect. After sacrificing fourteen years of princely life to stay a pauper's life because of internal political wranglings, she is banished again to the jungle, pregnant, lonely and broken. Is it all for love? How long can a lady take all these beatings?

Naturally, this film drew flak from ultra-conservative Hindu groups who perceive this film as degrading to the image of Rama, the avatar of the Supreme Being, Lord Vishnu. He is portrayed as the aloof and cold King who is more interested in living to maintain a pristine image and feeding to the public gossips rather than doing the 'right' thing. Lord Rama and His actions have been an exemplary moral code for generations all this while. To question this, they say, is sacrilegious.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/riflerangeboy/

You need tragedy in life!

Inside Out ( Animation; 2015)


Wow, Pixar is going cerebral now, dwelling into the realm of neuropsychology! After telling stories about toys, cars, sea creatures, bugs and monsters, there are literally playing with emotions now. Their latest offering is about the going-ons of traits in the mind, the little voices in the head that control our final action!

It shows this through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl as we see her grow from a baby. Life was bliss, all about joy and learning till her parents decide to migrate from icy cold hockey loving Minnesota to sunny San Francisco. The new environment, school, friends (lack of) and the shoe box townhouse proved too much for Riley, the protagonist, to handle.

We learn that the brain is controlled by 5 basic emotions - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Then there is core memory which stores up thoughts for the long term. The child’s brain builds islands of personality based on her everyday learning and other life input. Occasionally there is a train of thought. Yes, a train which transports thoughts! 

At that tender age of 11, joy (happiness) seem to be most important thing in her life. So, with the adverse turn of events after their transfer to San Francisco, and sadness takes over Riley’s life, Joy goes into overdrive to save the day.

After a wild ride to the crypts and crevices of the grey matter and beyond and the chance meeting of Riley’s long forgotten imaginary friend, Bing Bong, and Riley almost running away from home, sanity prevailed. Joy soon realised that in order for a person to function at all cylinders, all kinds of emotions need to play its role. Being happy alone is everything in life!

Dream on!

Paprika (Anime, Japan; 2006)


Since the time of Aristotle, people have been fascinated with dreams. The ability of the soul to perceive without any sensory input had drawn many theories in trying to explain this phenomenon. In an attempt to justify its existence, some philosophers had invoked the work of the Divine. It had been many a time, in various cultures, been the way the Divine Forces used to communicate with mortals. Some had taken the subliminal message or even wild dreams to heart. They would take it as a test of their faith!

Sigmund Freud placed a lot of emphasis on dreams. He often rationalised dream as an expression of the inner suppressed emotions. In modern times, it tends to be looked upon as the a rebooting of the system before it starts operating again the following day.

Anime, animation movies from Japan, typically from manga comics have been gaining popularity beyond the shores of its production. What started off as simple cartoon stories have now evolved into many genres including the adult type. Paprika can be described as a science fiction with a philosophical twist. It kind of blurs the boundary between reality and dream, just like the movie, Inception.

An experimental device used to analyse dreams which is proposed to treat mental illness goes missing. There is an urgent need to retrieve it before it gets into the wrong hands.

tumblr_o0a90dV51T1ui0dl0o2_500.gi

Too old for this!

Frozen 2013


With so much of hype singing praises of the animated film, I thought I would give it a go. Unlike 'The Lion King' that I thoroughly enjoyed, I found this a bit of a drag.

I guess I am not cut out for fairy tales. Based on Hans Christian Anderson's 'Snow Queen', this tale is a visual galore due to advancements in 3D animation. The characters are manga-like with large eyes and tiny limbs. Unlike Lion King, the side characters are annoying and lack depth in character. The reindeer and the snowman do not provide any added credence to the otherwise predictable plot.

In a tundra kingdom, the elder of the two princesses (Elsa) is endowed with an ability to create ice crystals from the tip of her finger at will and with emotion. Even though initially it was quite fun to play with, she soon realised that it was a curse as it almost killed her sister, Anna. The troll king managed to resuscitate Anna but with caution that her ability must be curtailed.

Anna grows up having lost her memory of her sister's gift, and Elsa grows as a recluse, imprisoned in her own room. The parents soon die in a boat accident, and the girls grew up by themselves in isolation, with the castle door closed shut against the citizens.

The first-ever royal ball is held in ages on the event of the inauguration of Elsa as the Queen when she comes of age. The precocious Anna wants to get engaged with the first guy that she meets, angering the new Queen. In a fit of rage, she inadvertently unravelled her cursed ability. It turned the summer into a freezing freak winter, and the attendees accused her of being a witch. In embarrassment, Elsa goes into a self-imposed exile. The rest of the story tries to tell how Anna goes in pursuit of her sulking sister with the help of uninspiring man like the iceman, Kristoff, his emotionless reindeer, a Jar Jar Binks-que character in a snowman.

I was waiting for the show to be over so that I could just write it off as something that would excite my 7-year-old niece. She would probably lose interest in Elsa and Anna come summer when Pixar or Disney churns out yet another blockbuster. Boring...

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Magicians do not exist*

The Illusionist 2010

This French animation film is about over the top Parisian illusionist who, after a dull performance in Paris, tries his luck in London. Not getting much of a standing ovation in a theatre there, he captures the heart of a drunken Scotsman in a private dinner. He performs high up in the Highlands on the Scotsman's invitation in a simple pub. For a short while, the going was good until a jukebox took the lime-light.
A simple minded young washer lady befriends him and follows him to Edinburgh for his next gig. After a few uninspiring performances, his savings took a dip as he tried to keep his female companion happy by buying her expensive coat and shoes. The relationship is more of a father-daughter relationship due to the age disparity but this type of things you can never say, especially when no words are spoken - he sleeps on the couch, if that helps!
To make ends meet, he leaves her lonely in the hotel room with only his trick rabbit for company whilst he works as an illusionist to an uninspired crowd and as a part time garage attendant. It was during this lonely evenings in the chilly Edinburgh that she starts getting fancy with a dashing bloke staying across her room.
She falls for him. The disappointed magician, after sighting them together, leaves town after his contract expires only after leaving his only other creature that he loved, the trick rabbit in the meadows. He leaves town leaving a note for the girl who looked up at him believing in his magic which said, "Magicians do not exist!"
On his train trip away from Edinburgh, he keeps himself busy trying to entertain a bored child. I guess, an illusionist's job never ends....
It is a pantomime with a smatter of French. You do not need subtitles to follow the story line. The familiar brilliantly crafted animation of the detailed landscape of Waverly Station of Edinburgh, High Street and the gravel stone paved roads of the Royal Mile struck a chord of familiarity and nostalgia to me of those cold long nights that I spent in the winter of '94 trying to change the fate of the descendant of Sungai Pinang and F-Block!

The Royal Mile

Simpson Memorial Hospital, Lauriston Place.

North Bridge - Waverly Station, Edinburgh

Waverly Station, Edinburgh.