Who wants to bell the cat?

Line of Duty Seasons 5 and 6. (2019-2021)

Since writing about the TV series in 2017, two other series had been released. Continuing from the previous series, Anti Corruption No.12 (AC#12), continue in their endeavour to wipe out corruption in the police department. On the one hand, the police department wants to be seen as carrying out their duties above the board, without fear or favour and one-minded in seeking the truth to mete justice. At the same time, the department does not want to appear overtly corrupt but gives an image of having integrity. It is an interplay between maintaining the appearance and preserving integrity.

The funny thing about this whole exercise is that both arms of the regulators are from the same parent body. For any enforcement to function, it had to garner the trust of the general public. So how can it shoot itself in its foot and be able to run? But who would want an outsider to sieve through their household laundry and embarrass them of their soiled linen? No police officer worth his salt wants an independent body to go through his activities or shortcomings with a fine-tooth comb to point out their errors. 

With this balance in mind, the screenwriters of 'Line of Duty' managed to spin another two seasons with equal edge-of-the-street suspense at its predecessors. The AC#12 team races against the clock to pin down the mastermind behind the web of chicanery that goes on within the system.

All these hours of police procedural drama would naturally stir our curiosity to check our own backyard. With the constant bombardment of news of police corruption and death in police custody, it seems imperative that such an exercise is more important now than ever. The recent admission of the outgoing Inspector-General of Police of the unholy union between cops and underground elements is sufficient grounds to establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Committee (IPCMC).

There is no shame in admitting rots. The first step in correcting a broken system is the admission of failure. Many police precincts in the United States have turned themselves around after a series of misconduct. The New York Police Department has had undergone a series of scandals over the years but still functions with a check and balance system in place.

When everyone somewhat has his hand soiled with slime, how will he be the first to switch on the light? Nobody wants to leave their mark on the switchboard!

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Storm in a teacup?

Sins (Indian-English; 2005)

Director: Vinod Pande

Vinod Pande had been a screenwriter, director, broadcaster in his own right. And he is still at it. He had been the centre of attraction, sometimes for the wrong reasons. This 2005 film, done in English, set in God's own country, created a lot of hoopla in its days. Despite its adult listing by the Indian film board, the public was still livid as it painted a Roman Catholic clergyman as an abusive adulterer.

Against the background of idyllic Kerala beaches and countryside, a priest gives a student nurse a ride who was late for her examinations. What a ride it turned out to be. Little recommendations here and help there to help the nurse in her studies and employment turned into a torrid affair. Despite being an open secret, the preacher climbed the ladder of the priesthood and later became a Bishop. To appease the incessant public chatter, the parish arranged for a yeoman to marry her.

The situation became bizarre as the priest becomes suspicious that the nurse had fallen for the mock husband. He becomes abusive. The nurse does indeed see the tender side of her husband and plot an escape hatch. The plan gets ugly as the cleric, in return, plans an elaborate intent to harm her. She (with her unborn child) is killed, and the disgraced priest is convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.

It is supposed to be based on a true story. But, so what? People do not enjoy being critiqued, and the lowest point being highlighted. They rather hear the achievement than their embarrassments, but not as much as other people's lowest ebb.

The public's disgruntle on this film not just about the abysmal portrayal of a holy man and the total disregard of their religious sensitivities, but also because of the bold exposure of the female anatomy, relatively to what the Indian public was used to. The producers rebutted, showing that the film is classified as an adult film; hence it is a choice. The filmmakers would like to showcase the cinematography's beauty, the display of changing human emotions, and the destructive nature of forbidden love.

Anyway, the movie had its due screening, and the directors went on to make other movies. It may have just been a storm in a teacup. So did the leading stars.

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Honour among thieves

Bad Education (2019)


They used to say that education was the only left to us to come out of the rut that we were stuck. At least that is what Amma made us believe when we were forced to burn the midnight oil even during festivities. While others were busy getting ready to usher in the festival in full spirits, in new garments and air of celebrations, we were made to cramp in facts about biology and Newton's law of gravity. She impressed upon us that at the time of reckoning when our future endeavours were at stake, our knowledge and quick thinking that would pull us through interviews and promotions, not stories of merrymaking and feasting with friends.

Then we grew up. The years in the School of Hard Knocks showed us that Amma was only partially correct. True, education would help to lift you up by your boot-straps but 'whom you know' will skyrocket you to greater heights. Knowing people helps to cement transactions and grease you out of difficulties. 

We all understand that a good education can be bought. In the real world, we can see that not all who graduated from the Oxbridge or Ivy League got in via merits. There is, of course, donation or diplomatic connexions. 

Losers will talk about the law of Nature and how evil gets back you. A crime is a crime only when one is caught. Even apprehension does not equal conviction as one can get the best justice that money can buy. The best legal representations can ensure acquittal on technicalities. It is common knowledge that the law is no friend of the poor. The mere legal procedural process itself can be bankrupting.

This 2019 film is based on a true story that happened in a high ranking American public school district in the State of New York. Its superintendent and his assistant are exposed in embezzlement of using the district monies for the personal needs. The scheme was presented by a student reporter of the school magazine. They were incarcerated.

On another note, in the US, in 2019, another scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities by cheating on college entrance exams and fabrication of elite sports credentials. The importance of good education is evident to everyone that people are willing to lie, cheat and find the simplest way to secure a good education for their loved ones, even for their apathetic, non-motivated and intellectually challenged ones. It is just an extension of helicopter parenting.

This story also reminds me of the corrupted system that we all live in. It is filled with the spirit of patronage, serfdom but aloofness at the same time. I guess they call it professional courtesy or honour amongst thieves.

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

Peter Platter, how is the weather?

Sepp Blatter the survivor?
Sometimes one wonders who is right and what is wrong any more. Is there a divine power up there righting the wrong and otherwise, anymore?
So much of bad publicity has been given about the biggest football governing body of late of scandals, corruption and manipulation. The elections still went on as usual. The incumbent clung on to throne even after 8 years, in spite of the alleged misdoings, the competitors to the throne essentially put in cold storage and are outcast as a pariah. And it is business as usual. The victor, the 75 year old Sepp Blatter, promises of putting the house in order whilst in the same breath denied any money politics in the body's dealings of which which he was the boss for 8 years. If the house is already in order, then why bother to clean it up? Unless you have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), that is!
Of course nobody knows where the real truth lies. I guess it must be somewhere in between.
That reminds me of a somebody who denied having sexual intimacy but admitted being gratified, well, orally which was not (in his books) sex! And he survived that and had come out smelling of roses as a come back boy and a peace maker in the international arena presently.
Maybe it is my distorted view of reality or unfulfilled childhood dreams, I always taught that a leader is a model of whom his followers or subjects will try to emulate and behave. He sets the gold standard how one should act. The land owners' wives in ancient Egypt used to dress up like Cleopatra as she was their role model. When Madonna told the world that it was cool to flaunt your assets in a laced brassiere in the 80s, it caught like bush fire!
On the hand, there are people out there just to get you if you are rich and famous. Imagine an intern who decided to immortalize the special moment by preserving malodorous musky wild-oat sowed stained blue dress just in case she might need to used at the time of need for Deoxyribonucleio acid evidence. How convenient?
Hey, Big Guy, what are  waiting for? Show me a sign! You already have and I don't see it, you say?