We are just inventory?

Asteroid City (2023)

Director: Wes Anderson

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296207471307

This film received mixed reviews. One either loved it or hated it. The trouble is that it needed to be viewed more than once to grasp the essence of the story it attempts to tell. Even most film critics conceded to watching the film multiple times before putting pen to paper to share their two cents' worth.

Wes Anderson films have cult followings. As with all Wes Anderson movies, the most striking aspect is the deliberate choice of comforting light colours, which evoke specific emotions and imbue the story with a nostalgic feel. The images presented on screen are symmetrical; the colours selected come from a particular spectrum; the characters are quirky; and the scenes are interspersed with moments of awkward silence.

This time around, the film centres on two concurrent sets. One, presented in black and white, is a play as narrated by the screenplay and director. The second is set in the present (i.e. 1950s), where nuclear tests are taking place in a remote desert town, Asteroid City. Meanwhile, a stage announcer is seen, seemingly breaking the fourth wall, and perhaps the actors do the same. The actors move between sets, as if everything is merely a continuum, blending the past and the future. This leaves viewers wondering about its true meaning. One must make one's own judgment about the narration. 

The present set features a fictional town in the desert, with its landmark icon being an asteroid allegedly left behind by an alien, hence its name, Asteroid City. It serves as a stopover point for science enthusiasts eager to view a particular constellation in the sky. Coincidentally, a junior astronomy award presentation is also taking place there. 

Angus Steenbeck, a recently widowed war photographer, arrives with his prodigy son, Woodrow, and his three young daughters in Asteroid City. Woodrow is to receive an award. Their car breaks down, forcing all five to stay behind. Although their mother passed away three months prior, Angus has not yet told his children the bad news. Their neighbours at the chalet are Midge Campbell, a weary star, and her teenage daughter, Dinah. Dinah is also to be honoured at a grand ceremony, which will be attended by renowned scientists and high-ranking military officials.

During the event, something strange occurs. An alien spacecraft hovers over the town, and an alien descends to collect the asteroid before disappearing into the night’s darkness. A quarantine is imposed, and a media blackout is enforced, treating the city as a danger zone.

Nestled within this narration is the 'black and white' stage play, where the director recounts the story.

At the end of the day, the key lessons from this film include managing grief, the uncertainty of life, how people often dictate to others how life should be lived, perhaps the question of what is truly presented to us, and likely the question of divinity. We convince ourselves that life ought to be lived in a certain way, as if we possess that knowledge. As if someone has crossed to the other side and returned to tell the tale. What the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us is that nobody truly knows anything. The loudest and most charismatic among us lead, while the rest simply follow. Sometimes, the truth is suppressed to further their personal agendas. The person who controls the news controls the world. No matter how much the truth is buried, it has a way of resurfacing.

Lest remains the unanswered, burning question: Why are we here? What is the plan? Are we merely to create the inventory?

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

Before and After...

Dear Zoe (2022)
Director: Gren Wells

Just the other day, my wife wanted to get some prayer stuff to commemorate Vinayar Sathurthi, a day dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the elephantine one and remover of all obstacles. I was shocked by seeing so many people buying things like there is no tomorrow. The streets around Little India were swarming with activities. The traffic was at a standstill with people double parking. The footpaths were blocked by shopkeepers stocking their premises with goods, overflowing to the streets. The loudspeakers were up blaring devotional songs in keeping with the spirit of festivities. The shop owners are sure they are going for a kill this time around because they know the masses have been suckered into believing that God needs these condiments and that it is the worshippers' divine duty to fulfil His needs. Their desire to outdo their neighbour is good for the National economy.

I do not remember Vinayakar Sathurthi creating such a rave when I was a kid. It used to be a non-event in most households. Nobody wished each other Sathurthi salutations or publicised the day. It was something personal confined to the four walls and entrance to the abode. Now, even those non-celebrants who quite nonchalantly label them as heathens and devil worshipers go out of their way to wish Sathurthi wishes. Is that a recognition or respect? 

All that changed, in my guess, after 9/11. When the world was sliced into two halves - 'those with us and those against us - essentially demarcated by the desert religion, people started wearing their religiosity on their sleeves. It was a survival strategy to delineate themselves from perceived suicide bombers. Through their algorithms, social media further helped create exclusive zones where birds began cherrypicking their own kind till the last barb of the feather.

The world we live in is the sum of all these. Just like how a single eruption of Mount Tempora in 1815 transformed the summer of 1816 to cause crop failure, famine and poverty, the 9/11 episode changed how people looked at each other forever. On the cultural front, however, the Lost Summer bred the horror genre Frankenstein and later Dracula. 

The film is centred around the 9/11 incident. Drawn by the hullabaloo of jet planes crashing into the Twin Towers, the protagonist could not take her eyes off the TV. That single action changed her life and her family's forever. Her younger sister was playing in the yard, and she was supposed to keep an eye on her. Amid that mayhem, the sister was run over by a passing vehicle. She died. 

This sort of coming-of-age movie describes how the 16-year-old protagonist comes to terms with tragedy. Her strained relationship with her mother and her stepfather adds to her misery. She moves in with her estranged father, who leads a too-laid-back life in the not-so-affluent part of Chicago. Love blossoms with a neighbour who is not a parent's idea of a son-in-law. 

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