Work life balance?

Severance (Miniseries, S1, E1-9, 2022)

Director: Ben Stiller, Aoife McArdle

Apple TV

First, we were told that our vocation determines us; staying true to fulfilling the goals of our job is equivalent to being close to Divinity. But just see what it let us to - a social classification system that essentially pigeon-holes one's future by birth. Karl Marx then asserted that life is more than mere monetising one's labour. Man has to find balance in maximising time spent on Earth by indulging in things that excite him, maybe hunting, art, music, etcetera. And that led to Lenin extrapolating it to stir the working class to rise against their enslavers.

Now we are told that we should find a life-work balance. We should not bring home the stresses of our workplace home and vice-versa. We cannot let our personal dilemmas affect our work performances as well. So what better way to severe these two intertwinings? 

This is the premise of this miniseries. Workers of an unspecified company doing seemingly so much yet nothing agree to undergo this dissociative procedure. A small device is implanted in the brain, which gives no memory of their outside life once they enter the office. Essentially, they lead two individual lives, oblivious of their two lives.

Soon the workers realise that there is more than meets the eye. The latest recruit wants to resign, but she is told resignation is not an option. Pretty soon, the workers discover a way to find their outside life. This leads to many events with a nail-biting cliffhanger at season end. The miniseries is far from over and has built a cult following. Season 2 is in the pipeline as internet sleuths try to identify the Easter Egg cues that may explain the whole meaning behind the story.

On the side, the viewers also sense that the tale also takes a swipe at the modern environment and etiquette of the typical modern workplace. There are plenty of unproductive actions in the name of work, and there is a tendency to self-aggrandise one's frivolous 'success'. This 'success' motivates workers to continue their pursuit to lick the boots of higher management and the imaginative figures of 'Big Bosses'. Non-conformers are labelled troublemakers, and their career paths can be far from smooth.

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Nothing has really changed?

Rang De Basanthi (Colour me with colours of spring, Colours of Sacrifice, Hindi; 2006)

The story is the same, irrespective of the times. It is always the own people going after their kind. The people in the lowest of the pecking order are still the victims. The leaders cajole the general public to agree on something. It then becomes a decree. Failing to conform to the law is classified as high treason and death become a justified form of punishment to the lawbreakers. The modus operandi is always the same. Only the setting differs.

This movie is said to be a milestone in stirring the nationalistic spirit commonly found in modern-day India. The culture of speaking out in the open against the powers that be, candle vigils and on the spot media coverage of 'breaking news'seems to have permeated into modern day living so seamlessly.

Creatively, this film tries to portray how the general public just ends up being slaves. If we look at a time before Independence, the people are taken for a ride by the colonial masters, depriving them of their rights and dignity. 

They thought Independence would change all that; that Indians would be their own master, free to do things as they wished. They thought life would be different. Surprise, surprise. Sixty years (then) into independence things remain the same. If before, it used to be that public had to resist the tyranny of the foreign invaders, now it is the powerplay of political leaders, religious zealots and unscrupulous businessmen. The struggle is the same, the issues are the same but only the time is different. Earlier it was the Indian Imperial Police playing running dog for the British to maintain law and order, now it is the Indian Police Service doing the same for the rulers of the day. In the eyes of the public, both leaders seem to be doing the same thing - robbing the nation in broad daylight and using rhetorics, jargons and media to whitewash their actions.

Maybe it is a wakeup call to the dwellers of this nation too. People cannot depend on our leaders to change our destiny. Only we, the people can improve our lifeline and headline with changing our leaders like diapers regularly. Eventually, they would all be soiled and stink to high heaven.

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

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