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We are innately racists

He Even Has Your Eyes. (Il a déjà tes yeux , French; 2016) Netflix It is used to be that bringing u a child was 'child play'. My maternal grandfather's philosophy was thus. Mother Nature has it all for us. Like the trees in the forests and God's creations in the wild, somebody will sow the seeds, and someone else will come to water or feed them. In times of crisis, every man (and child) is on his own, scavenging and struggling towards sustenance. They soon learn survival skills and street smartness. It used to be that families with way too many mouths to feed willingly give their barren relatives their child to take care. The offspring would grow, knowing very well who the biological and adoptive parents are. Issues of abandonment or neglect and psychological scarring attached to this were unheard of. The whole village would nurture a child. Such a set up seem so alien now, like almost happening in an alternative universe. We are living in a hostile environment,...

Symbolism of a broken system?

The Overcoat (1959, Shinel,  ШИНЕЛЬ,  Russian) A Soviet film adaptation of N. Gogol's 'Overcoat.' Watching Mira Nair directed film 'Namesake' eventually brought me to this Russian movie. One of the iconic lines mentioned in 'Namesake' is 'we are all from Gogol's Overcoat'. The quote is attributed to Dostoevsky, who meant the whole Russian literary world owe their ideas and styles to Gogol, the pre-eminent satirist and literary realism.  Gogol's Overcoat had made it to the silver screen many times over. From the silent film production in 1916 to the 2018 animated version, some of it carries different storylines. This 1959 Soviet production stays true to the original short story. I also managed to catch up with a made-for-TV adaptation for 'Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents' starring Buster Keaton named 'Awakening'. Both of these movies are available on YouTube. Akaki Akakievich, the protagonist in Gogol's s...