Robin Hood complex?

Hustlers (2019)


Look around you. It is no brainer that the divisions between the haves and the have nots are increasing as we speak. The price of essential goods only goes one way - up. There will be many justifications to raise the price of a commodity. It could be the weather, artificial shortage, the hike in petrol price, the value of our currency, you name it. Interestingly, when the offending factor is relieved, the price stays the same. Minimum wage barely changes but the lure to buy, purchase and spend never ends. 

The members at the lower end of the economic spectrum always seem the target of these baits via subliminal advertisements in the media or movies. In this cruel world of punishing the poor for being poor, it appears like the wealthy have it all too easy. We get to keep their cake and eat it.

A case in point is the 2008 and the many similar economic meltdowns that the world frequently experiences. The poor need to tighten their belts and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The big conglomerates, investment bankers and the Wall Street hotshots instead get fat bonuses and a chance to run away with their obscene stash even though they singlehandedly were the cause of the mishap.

The law seems impotent to be dealing with all these shenanigans. It takes a lifetime to get the legal system to mete acceptable justice. The only beneficiary of this exercise is the legal fraternity itself. It pats itself as it assumes a demigod status displaying pristine honesty, laughing all the way to the bank.

Hence, the alternative strategy would be an ala 'Robin Hood' method, to rob from the rich to feed one's own lifelong desires. Unfortunately, society does not receive this kindly. Perhaps, they want a piece of the action. They want a share of the loot in the form of taxes. Robin Hood becomes the bad guy while the greedy wealthy bankers become the victim.

In a nutshell, this film tells how a group of exotic dancers (in everyday language, striptease) during the 2008 economic downturn, use their entrepreneurial skills to outwit the members of the financial market. The effort is nothing more than to live the high life that they always dreamt and to improve the lives of those around them. It is based on a real-life story where high-flying executives were cajoled into partying with them. They were drugged with a concoction of ketamine and MDMA (date drug) to max out their credit card and not having any recollection of it the day after.

The story is not new, but the moviemakers sex it up with the continuous flow of naked ladies in different stages of undress engaged in various unlady-like postures. Understandably, it proved too raunchy for screening in many Asian countries. Meanwhile, the media, parroting the voice of liberalism and freedom of expression, screams praises of the story and the acting. They even suggest it as one of the best offerings of the year to be churned out from Hollywood.  

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OK Boomer?

Once upon a time in Hollywood (2019)
Screenplay and Director: Quentin Tarantino

It is funny that every young generation feels that they have been taken for a ride by the generation before them and that there is a dire need to put things in order. Invariably, they all fail miserably. Look at the timeline at which this film is based. It is the late 1960s. The world is in chaos, yet again. After getting the world crippled with two world wars, the baby boomers got the world upon its feet again. But that was not to last. Within a decade, the world nestled back into two camps yet - the 'good' and the 'bad', and the whole imbroglio of violence and killing is to repeat. The youngsters see this as the failure on the part of the adults to set a just world. They venture into the realm of the unknown to set into motion a new world order. 

Just like Greta Thunberg and the angry kids around the world in the 21st century, the 60s had their share of anti-establishment. The anti-Vietnam demonstrator, the hippie culture and the flower power movement are examples of the above. Unfortunately, they chose many self-destructive avenues to mull their pain of an unknown future. A group of them built a commune in the middle of the Navajo desert with an ambitious plan to plant crops. The plan failed miserably, and they end up having free sex, booze, illegitimate children, drugs and crimes under their belt to support their sustenance.  Their dreams of living in a free world never saw fruition. They ended up in the same world that they abhor, of subjugation, control, dominance by one party and victimisation. The ladies thought they were liberated by burning bras. They felt they attained women empowerment through contraception. They got neither. They found themselves getting unknown diseases, unshakeable baggage and answering to the dominant force they were trying to shake off.

We are angry, and it is your fault!

It must be the curse of mankind. They are forever trying to find the best way to find peace with themselves and their surroundings. They have trying multiple economic modules with the same disastrous results. Trickle-down economics, fountain effect using the market forces or a utopian leftist agenda, it gives the same answer -disappointment.

Coming of age around the mid-70s and early 80s, we are all too familiar reading of Marilyn Manson and his occult cult. The tabloids kept us informed of the pretty Natalie Wood and the mystery surrounding her yacht accident and the gruesome murder of a gravid Sharon Tate in her exclusive Hollywood home.

Not knowing what to expect but deciding to watch it anyway after finding out that it is a Tarantino movie, I was wondering what the movie was all about. At first it about the story of a struggling actor and his stunt double. Then it moved on to 1969 Hollywood, the commune of hippies, Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski and the murders towards the very late part of the show.

The author took the liberty to give a totally different twist to the course of history as we know it. The three members of the Manson cult/family end up having a duel with the actor and his stunt, as well as dying in their hands. Tate is nowhere nears the assassins. In fact, at the end of the movie, she calls her neighbours over for drinks. 

Maybe Tarantino is hoping for an alternate universe where Tate becomes a big star, and the world would come together and sing Kumbayah! 

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In the spirit of colour red and Christmas

What colour reminds you of Christmas? Some smart alec would attribute the colours green, brown, silver and gold combinations found on a Christmas tree as quintessentially the spirit of Yuletide. But what is the season without the red hue of the tunic of Saint Nicholas, you say.

There is a long-standing conspiracy theory that it is no mere coincidence that Santa’s ‘Father Christmas’ costume has the same hue as that of Cola-Cola advertisements. 

Coca-Cola did start using Santa in advertising in 1933. Santa had been portrayed almost exclusively in red from the early 19th century, and most of his modern image was put together by the famous American caricaturist, Thomas Nast, in the 1870s.
Thomas Nest is well known to have drawn the Elephant for the Republican Party. He popularised the Democratic donkey, Uncle Sam and Columbia, the female personification of American values. This man, dubbed as the American father of cartoons, is honoured for portraying the modern Santa Claus with a red tunic. 

A Thomas Nast Santa from 1881,
wearing the modern Santa suit

Before that, Santa was depicted in tan. Nest also drew in green. It was Haddon Sundblom, working as an advertiser for Coca Cola Company in 1931 who immortalised Santa's costume to remain forever red. How convenient, Coca Cola's corporate colour also became red; reminding potential to stock their homes with the red beverage which corresponds to the spirit of the Season of Christmas. This must have been the time Edward Bernays, the nephew to Sigmund Freud, who incorporated psychology into the retail business. 

The colour red also worked just fine to highlight the spiritual significance of X' mas. Red denotes blood, and for the celebration of a figure who would have to die to wash the sins of mankind, it fits pretty well. 

Think celebration, think red, think Coca Cola. 

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Overconsumption is the problem.

The Game Changers (Documentary, 2019)

I grew up trying to ward off suggestions from animal-loving vegans who tried their level best to convince me that structurally humans are supposed to be herbivores. They justified their assertions, with seemingly scientific support about our dentition. I would tell them that if we were born to eat just plants, our facial structures would look a goat's. And that I loved my animals too much that I eat them every day. 

In the late 19th century British India, Sikh and Muslim soldiers were favoured over the Hindus to serve the Crown. Apparently, the Hindu soldiers, being mostly vegetarians, lack the prowess that made a bloody thirsty sepoy. Meat consumption had always been linked to muscle power, athletism and aggression. Now what this documentary is saying is that we have got it all wrong. All the things that we thought about being vegan are actually just the opposite. Consuming plant-based products and avoiding meat, fish and eggs are the sure way of health, endurance, recovery and even building muscle bulk in athletes of all categories including wrestlers, footballers and weight lifters. When compared to meat-eaters, plant-eaters are claimed to be more virile.

In the documentary, the gladiators are hailed as the ultimate warriors, respected for their dedication to the blood sports. Archaeological discoveries found their bones to have high strontium levels indicative of them living on nuts and cereals. And they had solid bones. Of course, they had strong bones because their lifespan was extremely short. They were not fearless warriors bur rather fearful captives fighting for their dear lives. These slaves were not fed on a special diet but were hurled skimpy discards before being thrown into the arena to defend against fearsome soldiers or jungle beasts. Their life expectancy was less than 30, hardly any time for osteoporosis to set in. 


This is the first sign that something is not right in the delivery of the facts. The rest of it had to be taken with a pinch of salt. There are plenty of cherrypicking in highlighting the agenda that they are putting forward.

The film goes on arguing the merits of staying vegan, i.e. avoiding animal products altogether - no meat, fish, poultry or eggs. The plant kingdom has it all, nutrients, vitamins, proteins and all. There is no need at all for animals in our food. Towards the end, the film refers to many highly controversial studies. To put the seal of approval to these, they resort to name dropping. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a bodybuilder who won all his medal as a meat-gobbling athlete, now calls to go vegan. Jackie Chan and James Cameron appear in the credit roll. To support their hypothesis, they showcase the performers of many renowned international record-breaking athletes, ultramarathoners, Grand Prix racers, weight lifters, cyclists and more.

For every point that they put forward, there are as many counter-arguments against it online. 

The documentary seems to postulate that glucose is the only form of energy consumed by the brain and muscles. Basic sciences tell us that we can use energy from carbohydrates, fats and finally protein in extreme conditions. Glucose (stored as glycogen) is the primary source of energy while fat is an efficient second line of defence. It is agreed in the scientific community that with the widespread of simple carbohydrates and sugars in the modern diet, our body's ability to burn ketones as fuel is dwindling. We are addicted to sugars for the instant rush. Hence extreme sportsmen like triathletes have to train their bodies via intermittent fasting to prepare the body to burn fat and not to depend too much on glucose. The brain also uses ketones.

The excessive carbohydrate intake regime, as advised by the film, will only build up visceral fat. That is a marker of morbidity which may predispose individuals to coronary artery diseases, stroke and metabolic diseases. Never in the film is fat discussed as a form of energy.

Endothelial damage is assumed after observing a cloudy blood sample. It is a too simplistic an indicator of ill health. Conclusions cannot be made after short intervals of change of meals.

It is suggested that our digestive tract is too long for us to be carnivores. Carnivores typically have shorter tracts (as compared to the body height) and herbivores longers ones. But the acidity of our gastric juices is high, just like carnivores. In my mind, it explains perfectly why we should stay omnivorous. 

Anti-oxidants are high in plants. Some researchers posit that the anti-oxidants are to protect plants, not us. Regarding the controversy about plants being able to provide all forms of proteins that we need, the meat camp disagrees.

Heme iron (of animal origin) is portrayed as the bad guy responsible for a myriad of ailments including coronary diseases, stroke and cancer. The counter-argument to this point is that anaemia, caused by iron deficiency is a bigger problem affecting the functionality of millions.  

With the labelling of Alzheimer's disease as Diabetes Mellitus Type 3 as a result of insulin resistance, perhaps we should relook at their suggestion to increase carbohydrate consumption. 

Finally, environmental degradation perpetrated by cattle farming is proposed as a good enough reason to be vegan. Meat eaters, on the other hand, blame big companies for the blatant use of synthetic hormones and mismanagement of wastes for the pollution. They quote instances of smallholder rearers who have zero carbon emission in husbandry and cattle industries. Even in the cultivation of crops, mega conglomerates are guilty of indiscriminate use of fertilisers and failure to rotate crops for soil health.

We must be very wary when celebrities with little scientific knowledge recommend certain products. They probably have more to hide than their botox-treated crow lines. When they rekindle the story of a 'long lost treasure cove' as the panacea of our woes, I would be worried. I smell a business pitch here.

I wonder if all the virtue of being vegan has anything to do with the laboratory-grown cultured meat that was seen in the media recently.

Rather than concentrating on the type of food that we consume, we should instead try to curb overconsumption. Just about 50 years ago, during our schooling days, we noticed that there used to be one oversized student in the whole form. Now, it is almost impossible to find a normal-sized child in any class. Overeating is the problem. 

It is the converse of the Malthusian theory. Malthus, the English scholar, had predicted, in the late 18th century of a world of famine as a result over exponential growth of population overgrowing its arithmetic increase in food production. Time has proven him wrong, but now, we are stuck with a different set of problems.

Dr Sten Ekberg reacts to 'The Game Changer'. His is one of the counter-arguments against the proposals in the film

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It is pre-determined!

Merku Thodarchi Malai (Westward Continuing Hills, Tamil-Malayalam; 2018)
மேற்க்கு தொடர்ச்சி மலை 


Vedantha teachings told us we are all the same, part of a bigger consciousness that is the Universe itself. We were told to treat each other as brothers as indeed our Athma (souls) are all part of the Paramathma which is Brahman itself, the Creator and the Created.

We have all been sold a broken dream. We were told that the path to happiness is through economic improvement. Like in Martin Luther King's cheque in 'I am a dream' speech, we were all given a bounced cheque. A cheque took naively at face value only to discover a little too late the stamp 'Return to drawer'! When we improve our socioeconomic standing amidst a life long struggle of sacrifice, we realise that the goal post has been lifted. We find that the separation between the haves and have nots had widened many folds over. We are to be, still, the mouth-agape child that once was yearning to be like his rich neighbours one day.

The farmers in India are having it bad these days. For centuries, they had had their own way of farming which kept with the local demands. With their meagre income, they led their simple lives, contended with the peace that they had. For recreation, they had Nature games, folk music and songs. Bullfighting was their way of promoting strong bulls to impregnate cows to produce resilient farm animals suited to their environment. Recycling was practised even before it became fashionable in the modern world. Fertilisers were eco-friendly. They did not need the Haber process to increase the nitrogen content in their soil. The sun grows the rice, rice is harvested, stalk in fed to cows, excrement goes back to nature to start the cycle.
Modernisation spoiled all that. Multinational companies, using local businesses as their proxies, moved in to press for sky-high yields, mixed crops, genetically modified seeds and introduction of foreign cows. Using their influence and lobbying skills the world has been hoodwinked that their way is the way to go.

The joy of acquiring a property.

Colonialism never really left our shores. It has come back in economic colonialism. With new rhetorics like environmental pollutions and the need to conform to new legislation, farming is no more profitable.

The recent air pollution over Delhi recently that cancelled flights in and out of the city was partly blamed open residue crop burning in Haryana. On the farmer's side, they complain that their animals do not want to eat the genetically modified stalks as they are unpalatable.

This award-winning artsy film is reminiscent of the 80s Tamil movies where an outdoor shooting was the norm and day-to-day living of common man was the theme. It tells its story slowly, setting the mood for viewers to grow fond of the characters, until... WHAM! the movie hits high gear. Renga is a porter who transports cardamom over the hills bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He is a nice person whose life-long ambition is to do what his father failed in his lifetime, that is to own a piece of land. He is an affable chap who gets around with people and go out of his way to help people. A day in his line of work shows us the miles that we walk, the breathtaking paths that he takes daily and the mountain people. On the other side, we see estates, workers' exploitation, the union movement and the communist party of Kerala.

We are not all the same.

The world clearly favours some and discriminate others.

All under the watchful eyes of the Maker? Are we accidents

of Nature or made in handpicked to assume His mould?

To cut the long story short, he acquires a piece of land, becomes a farmer but his first harvest is damaged by torrential rains. Meanwhile, Renga gets entangled helping retrenched workers who were sold out by the Communist Party leaders. He is implicated in the leader's murder and is imprisoned. His wife and young son are left to fend for themselves. Due to financial difficulties, he has to sell off his land to a conglomerate.

The last scene of the film, which was executed so poetically says it all. Renga is employed as a security guard by the same company to guard his land. Coincidentally, his land is used as the site for a giant windmill, not farming.

Renga was seen dressed in a guard's uniform. In sociology, the uniform is viewed by a sign for exploitation and enslavement. A person in uniform has no identity. He is just an extension of his employer, doing things for the benefit of the State or MNC in this case. A human is just a tool of the system; a dehumanised coolie dancing to the tune of others.

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Dharma is doing what is necessary

Aaranya Kaandam (ஆரண்ய காண்டம், Tamil, Jungle Chapter; 2011)
Story and Direction: Thyagarajan Kumaraja

The Jungle Chapter refers to the third chapter in the epic Ramayana where Raavana deceptively uses a deer into tricking and kidnapping Sita. Here, the storyteller uses characters with animal names to symbolically represent our animal-like behaviours in a world that has jungle rules. 

It starts with a purported dialogue between Chanakya, the Mauryan master strategist, a kind of ancient Machiavelli, and a student in 400 BC.

Student: "What is dharma?"
Chanakya: "Dharma is doing what is necessary."

With that one line, I was hooked. The film is a gangster fare, but not the usual gory senseless machete-branding South Indian style. It is the characterisation and storytelling that kills. It is labelled as the first neo-noir Tamil film.

In life, we are faced with many obstacles. What is the determinant that decides the right course of action? Do we use society-determined code of conduct as the yardstick? Is it about survival and self-interest? As it is a noir movie where poetic justice takes a backseat, the story is quite revolutionary, and the ending is entirely unexpected.

People follow the rules not because it is a noble thing to do. They do it because of the shame of being caught. Given a choice, people want to be left to their own devices. Jungle law will take over. The mighty, the brave, the cunning and the heartless would prevail. This must be the hidden message behind the movie -the jungle as the title and how the character names resemble that of animals. (Singaperumal-lion, Pasupathy-cow, Gajendran-elephant, Subbu-fox, Sappai-rat, Kasturi-deer). Guilt is momentary and forgotten when they experience pleasure. The end-results justify the means.

The Lion and the Rat

The plot revolves around an insecure ageing don, Singaperumal (Jackie Shroff), whose erectile dysfunction is an open secret. His lieutenant, Pasupathy, is itching for a lucrative but dangerous cocaine deal despite the boss' disapproval. Don tries to trap him and kidnap his wife. In an error of chaos, the cocaine gets into the hand of a destitute and his precocious son. He tries to blackmail Don for the return of stash.

Don's abused young mistress has an affair with Don's helper boy whom everyone thinks is an idiot. In reality, he is bedding the mistress and plans to elope with her.

Things get really complicated with everybody killing everybody either through brute violence and through wit. There is no right or wrong. The correct thing to do seem to be one that benefits oneself at the point of reference. One cannot shed off the idea the director must be a Tarantino fan. Nobody else uses a piece of merry Spanish music as background score as two rivals rush towards each other brandishing machetes. Again in a pure noir finishing the characters engage in soliloquy and a femme fatale rides into the sunset as the final victor. In this film, Subbu turns up as the winner. She utters, "the best thing about being a woman is that it is a man's world." She had outwitted the dumb helper, killed him and was the final benefactor of the loot. The Don was shot dead by Sappai. In her last dialogue, she said, "Sappai was, after all, a man, and all men are Sapppai."

Sappai also could mean limp/impotent. Hence, denoting that Men, despite the machoism that they seem to portray, are actually weak and can be manipulated by the fairer sex with wit and their sexuality.

The film had to undergo 52 cuts for profanity and unPC jokes about Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth.

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Will go on, with or without you!

Marriage Story (2019)

You start a family appointing yourselves as the nucleus and the other appendages as equal partners and essential requirements of the cells. You do your part thinking that they would do the same. You assume that even though the nucleus is the first pre-requisite, the others would take their place and do their part for a balanced multifunctional cell. 

You think that everything is fine until it hits you one day. The nucleolus, which is an integral part of you starts telling you that you are evil. That you are gaslighting her. That you think that you are the only one that matters. 

Before you can realise what hit you, you are bamboozled with examples of your so-called ‘misdemeanours’ as if you did it for your own selfish reasons. You thought it was for a harmonious internal milieu, but it did not appear so. You thought every organelle was in concert with that - to maintain zen. Suddenly your every action is against you like you are some kind of evil bacteriophage that takes the bejesus out of every living organism. 

You relent. You think of other occupants amongst the cytoplasm. Is it a temporary hiccough in the differentiation process? You procrastinate. You assume everything will revert to normalcy. 

It does not. You find out that every member to pointing accusing fingers at you. You try to fight, but you would not want to hurt your own fluid and membrane. You relent. Everything changes. The dynamics that you had dreamt are now but a terrible nightmare. You do not matter anymore. You are redundant. The cell can still function without you, apparently.

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