No perfect Man!

Pint-sized power barrel

Is it not funny that eulogies tend to paint a rosy picture of the recently departed? They make it sound as if he was such a good person that the world has lost another good man (or woman) that it could do better with. The audience would feel like kicking themselves for not taking the trouble to know him better when he was around.

Whenever somebody passes away, everyone will be expressing their condolence, praising them to high heavens (pun unintended). 

A little help from the 'Hand of God'

I have always thought of this every now and then. It came around again with the recent passing of Diego Maradona, easily the best, if not the second-best footballer ever to be born. (The first being Pele). I was prodded to write this post, especially after a friend sent a Twitter post curated by a fellow Twitter user.

Like a wet blanket, whilst the whole world, football enthusiasts and otherwise, were sending condolences in their social media platforms, he warned netizens to mourn but not to canonise the footballer. He reminded people of him being a poor role model. Despite his brilliant unrooting from the clutches of poverty to shine as a soccer star, he could not escape the hydra of cocaine. Surrounding himself with sycophants, he expressed his support for horrible dictators and terrorist regimes. It became clear that he also had a brush with the law on tax evasion issues and loan defaults. Who can forget his cheats on the field, the legendary ‘Hand of God’ being one? 

With Castro

Nevertheless, there is no perfect Man. Technically, we cannot take Jesus, Mohammad or Rama as being prototypes of Man; Jesus being God himself, Mohammad is the Prophet, and Rama was an avatar of Vishnu himself.

Mortal men are bogged with the adversities and the uncertainties of life. When swayed with unpredictability, he may go astray. I think we should hail the successes of an individual rather than shoot him down with his failures. After all, only the unsinned can cast the first stone. Ugly moulds can be found in all closets.  

In the prophetic lyrics of Chumbawamba's one-hit-wonder song 'Tubthumping' (You never gonna get me down) which seems to make its round as a lockdown parody - He sings the songs that remind him of the good times, he sings the songs that remind him of the better times!

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No warranty, No guarantee!

Mookuthi Amman (மூக்குத்தி அம்மன், Nose-ringed Goddess, Tamil; 2020)

This movie is obviously a bashing against BJP's imminent entry into Tamil Nadu politics. Since the 1930s, Tamil Nadu politics had been secular (read anti-Hindu). From the time of EV Ramasamy and subsequent leaders of the state, they have always claimed to be atheists. They all fell prey to the British's devious 'divide and rule' strategy. They also subscribe to the now-defunct 'Aryan invasion theory'. They believe that the story of Ramayana is the story of Northerners (Aryans and Brahmins), of King Rama, colonising the Dravidians led by Ravana. What they fail to realise is that Ravana actually hails from the region around modern-day Uttar Pradesh, hence from the North too. He usurped the Lanka kingdom from his half brother, Kuberan.

EV Ramasamy had always been sceptical of the Hindu hierarchical order. His idea was the Brahmins were out to aggrandise themselves and vilify the lower castes. Being a social activist, he started the Self Respect Movement and worked hard towards women empowerment, caste equality, anti-Hindi rhetorics and opposition against Brahminical dominance in Tamil Nadu. Subsequent leaders in breakaway parties also followed the trend.

Hence, the idea of a Hindu friendly party working hand-in-glove with a splinter party in Tamil Nadu gets most of the politicians here hot under their collars. Even though they claim to be irreligious in their outlook, they are often seen to be wooing and appeasing their Muslim and Christian vote banks.

This film may remind viewers of Hindi movies, PK and OMG - where the gullibility of devotees and the shenanigans of godmen are laid open. It tells the depressing story of Engel Ramasamy, a freelance reporter. His family comprises his single mother and three younger sisters. His father had run away soon before the last sister was born. Ramasamy crosses path with a powerful sage, and pretty soon he realises that he needs to fight the sage to save a big plot of land that belongs to his family temple. And the Goddess of the temple manifests in front of Ramasamy to be of aid.

Many viewers are unhappy that the filmmakers decided to paint all Godmen with the same brush - of being power-crazy, devious and cheats. We get an eerie feeling that references are made to Nithyanda (of the 'me-in-you' and 'you and me' fame) as well as to Sadhguru where his Cauvery Calling collection is queried, and alleged tribal land is misappropriated. Ram Baba Dev is not spared either, for his business ventures are also mentioned. There is a scene of a possible conversion of a minor which suddenly gets forgotten in the hullabaloo of the story. A clip of a pastor engaging in spiritual healing got snipped as the director felt it would offend the Christians. What about the sentiments of Hindus, they say? Even though the Goddess proclaims Jesus to be her friend, she becomes 'jealous' when Ramasamy's mother seems keener to visit Thirupathi than her! Is it a coincidence that the protagonist's name combines Ramasamy (EV@Periyar) and Engel (of Frederich Engels who co-wrote 'The Communist Manifesto' with Karl Marx)?

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Slithering cold hearted snakes?

Ular (Snake, Malay; 2013)
Director: Jason Chong

This is a knock-off of the many Hollywood and Bollywood horror flicks. Even the film poster bears an almost near-replica resemblance to Hollywood's blockbuster 'Anaconda (2008)'. Besides that, it is a worthy effort, nevertheless. The CGI effect looks believable. It creates uneasiness; not laughs. The storyline seems credible enough. How different can a disaster movie be? As per usual, it starts with a potpourri of characters landing at a resort island, gleaming from ear to ear, hoping to have a whale of a weekend. Whale, they did not have, but snakes aplenty. The owners of the resort took great pains to keep the news of killer snakes away for the public. To ensure the safety of the guests, the owner did install an electric fence to keep the snakes at bay. As to how Murphy's laws dictate, anything and everything may go wrong when it is destined to go wrong. Thanks to a few mischievous frolicking holiday-makers, the fences fell into disrepair. So, the snakes, who were the pioneer occupants of the island, go on a frenzy to reclaim their island. 

Caduceus and Serpeants on
rod of Aslepius.

The people who rose to the occasion to try to save the day are a disgraced journalist (Lisa Surihani) and her photojournalist colleague ex-boyfriend (Yusri of KRU).

Man's fascination with snakes transcends all borders. Every civilisation, from the Sumerians to the Greeks, have had their brush with our reptilian friend. From the Caduceus to imply successful commerce and skilful negotiation to the twirling serpent on the rod of Asclepius to denote healing and medicine, we have seen Ouroboros which signify rejuvenation, cyclical nature of life and immortality.

Ouroborous

We have towns named after serpents (Nagapattinam), and we have people with snakes-honouring names (Nagaratnam, Nagma). They are amongst the many who have been worshipping snakes for aeons. From North America all the way to the Champas in Vietnam, they have built a symbiotic relationship with the ophidians in sharing the planet.

They are others who vilify our reptilian friends. Snakes, often associated with evil and negativity are often blamed for Man's misery on Earth. After all, it was the evil serpent's enticement that lured Adam and Eve to savour the fruit of knowledge and subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Snake Plissken
Escape from New York (1981)

If you are one of those who take David Icke's conspiracy theories as gospel truths, then you would realise that many world leaders and entrepreneurs who live amongst us are reptilians in human's clothing!

And to top it all, I recently heard on a Youtube presentation by Praveen Mohan, the explorer of ancient Hindu temple about the rock cutting technology and the ancient alien visitation by a race referred to by the locals in Hire Benakal in Karnataka as Moryars. The Moryars are said to be small built highly intelligent serpent-like creatures who imparted their architectural skills to humanity. Humans, awed by their wisdom, started showing their reverence by placing them on a pedestal to honour them.

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As old as history of mankind

Dukun (Witch Doctor, Malay; 2018)
Director: Din Said

In the early 1990s, the news of a gruesome murder appeared in the headlines of most Malaysian newspapers. The story of a politician chopped into pieces, of black magic, a small-time singer turned shaman with the elixir of immortality (she had claimed to be close to 100 years old), a smiling poser with something sensational to say during each court appearance was enough to excite the nation. Internet was restricted to the science fiction genre then. Hence, there was a dire need to whet the appetite of the general public who were looking for tabloid-like news to pass their time. The trial of Mona Fandey fitted the bill nicely.

An up and coming politician wanted to go places. Mona Fandey, who was a rave among certain circles, promised him invincibility through the sciences of the occult. He paid a deposit but what he got back was a severed head, his own. Enjoying being in the limelight, Pandey savoured every exposure to the camera flash. Without much fanfare, she was found guilty. Her appeals were rejected, and pardon from the royalty was denied. She was subsequently hanged in 2001.

Enjoying every minute of the limelight
Mona Fandey

The only things remaining of her legacy are her not-so-appealing songs, the memory of the murder she was convicted and this film, Dukun. Dukun was supposed to be released way back in 2007. Due to opposition from family members and the national film governing body, FINAS, it only hit the screens some ten years later with a caption that it is a work of fiction.

The fascination with Malaysians to the world of dark arts and black magic goes way back to a time before Abrahamic religions and its ideology of fearing the One God hit its shores. The National Museum realised this about ten years ago when it curated an exhibition on the 'Ghosts of Malaysia'. The board procured so many exhibits and paraphernalia towards this end. Just a couple of weeks into the exposition, it received orders from the religious bodies to stop the display immediately. The authorities were worried that the laypeople would be confused and hence deviate from their faiths as busloads after busloads of the curious public arrived in droves from the four corners of the country. That was the first and last time the National Museum had drawn such a crowd. 

[P.S. Can be viewed at mubi.com/sinema]

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The Universe does not revolve around you!

 Roh (Soul, Spirit, Malay; 2019)

A few years ago, around Kuala Lumpur, a seasoned trekker went on a solo reconnaissance look around to prepare a route for his friends to walk the following day. He wanted to make a quick recce as he could only start it at 6pm. It was still bright, not too dark but not yet twilight. It was 9pm when the family realised that he was uncontactable. A search was initiated. Many experienced hikers and firemen joined the foray. After failing to locate him that night, they deployed the help of Orang Asli master trekkers who were well-versed with the affairs of the wilderness. Scurrying up and down the path using paper markers that were left behind by the missing trekker, they were puzzled why he could not be traced. Then the Orang Asli trekkers summoned their shamans. The experienced man did some salutations to the guardians of the forest, and before they knew it, the lost trekker was found right under their noses along the very same paths that they were scrutinising all the while. The trekker was too dehydrated or dazed to remember what had happened to him. 

Though everyone was happy that the trekker was finally found, they also puzzled where did he actually go. It was like someone taken him away for a while, and then like a second thought, or cajoling, had put him back again. It sounds much like an alien abduction story, does it not? There are many things that we do not understand about Nature. Out in the wilderness, unprotected, alone and vulnerable, we make our rules as we needle our ways through the unknown. We learn the respect every living thing, and we are no longer the centre of existence. We do not tolerate but merely co-exist.

This film is Malaysia's submission to 2021 to the Academy Awards in the category of Best International Feature Film. So far, over the years, five films had been sent to compete, but sadly none had been nominated. FINAS recently announced that this Malaysian movie was chosen for this purpose. I find it intriguing as FINAS had clear cut guidelines about not approving any film which seem to go against the grain of the nation's official religion, it had endorsed this film which deals with spirituality and the occult.

'Roh' is set in an unspecified time at an isolated jungle location where life is simple, and living means working hard day-to-day depending on the elements of Nature. A mother, living with her two kids, an early teen girl and a pre-teen boy, is greeted with a wandering young girl who was picking up in the woods. Economical with her words, she slashes her neck before warning them the family would all die before the next full moon. Two other characters appear in their otherwise isolated lives asking for the dead girl. The rest of the story is a psychological affair with a lot of combustion and eerie music which would make the audience's hairs stand on end but without the lousy make-up type of gore.

The whole story is based on a verse from the Quran 7:12 & 14, where Satan claims to be superior as compared to humans as He is made of fire whilst humans of clay. And Satan asks God for time, till the day of reckoning, to influence humans!

[P.S. Can be viewed at mubi.com/sinema]

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A time for redemption?

 Capone (2020)

Many movies about 'Scarface' has been made about his nefarious activities. This one, however, deals with its aftermath. All the evil deeds that you did at the heights of youth will definitely come haunting you back, all within your lifetime. You need not have re-birth as one is oblivious of past evil karma. You would not have the urge to repent in your next birth as you would be clueless of your previous misdeeds anyway. The 'learning'  and 'punishment' are directed at the consciousness, not to the seeds of life or cells as they get replaced many times over in a lifetime. And cells keep on doing their own specialised work without changing anything, I think.

After about eight years of serving time for tax evasion, Al Capone, the man who probably coined the word 'money laundering' was freed for medical reasons. He had been diagnosed to have neurological complications due to tertiary syphilis.

The term 'money laundering' is said to have originated when the Italian Mafias like Al Capone run laundromats to sanitise their ill-gotten spoils from bootlegged liquor and prostitution. They commingled their illegal profits with that of the laundromat to 'launder' the cash. 

Capone's last years were spent in a luxury mansion in Florida. We do not if it is true or not, but, due to his organic brain condition, he allegedly spent his time in a dazed state with constant hallucinations and vivid dreams. He reportedly had abandoned his illegitimate person. The memory of this young boy kept hunting him. There was apparently a big stash of money that was hidden from the knowledge of the authorities, his family members or subordinates. The trouble is that even Capone's mind is too muddled to make out what is reality and what is not, what more to think other bigger things like plunder. To make things more complicated, the FBI is spying into his compound and tapping his telephone line; making people around him think that Capone is turning into a raving lunatic. And putting a Thompson submachine gun in his hands is just lethal.

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Between keeping the cake and eating it.

Wild Geese (Gan, The Mistress, Japanese; 1953)

They are at a crossroad; between fulfilling their traditional roles playing the second level as the Rock of Gibraltar at the home level versus their empowerment to stand unaided against the elements of Nature. On one end, they have a biological duty to perform to justify their existence. On the other side, there is an element of not wanting to be typecast. What started as complementing one another has turned out as an inter-gender competition, a tit-for-tat. The barrage of information and the bombarding of call for reform proves too confusing. The constant fear of taken for a ride is palpable. They want the cake but eat it too, and ending up losing both; enjoy the ecstasy of being put on a pedestal and the joy of accomplishing biological duties. For some time now, probably from the turn into the 20th century, there has been a perpetual struggle between individualism and the need to fall in line with the demands of society.

This conundrum is apparently relevant today as much as it was in the Meiji-era Japan. When Commodore Perry landed in Japan in 1853, the Japanese who till then had strict isolation policies were shocked. They thought evil men had arrived in their mythical dragon. After initial resistance, they relented to allow American to stop, trade, refuel and repair their vessels. Rather than risk being colonised, they thought of mimicking the enemy. Years later, Emperor Meiji started social and economic reforms. Samurais had to shed their swords for pens. People shed their traditional grabs for western clothes. There was a push to learn, excel and push shoulder-to-shoulder to other sex but, at the same time, women had to find their places in society in the midst of this confusion - between a patriarchal system that had laid rules for gender roles, of a system that brings one down versus women empowerment where one demands what is needed.

Against this background, this film is set. Otama is considered a curse for being a discard. The man she married to turned out to have been married before, with kids. She left, leading a life as a burden and a source of misery to her old father. A devious family friend, wanting to write-off her debts with a loan shark, arranges a meeting with a supposed grieving shopkeeper widower in view of re-marriage. In actual fact, the man is her moneylender. He is unhappily married with kids, looking for a mistress.

The shenanigan is soon discovered. Things get complicated when the moneylender becomes possessive of her and Otama falls head over heel in love with a cash-strapped medical student with big ambitions. Is she going to screw up the plans of a capable young man with her selfish desires? Is he going to give up his offer to work in Europe for love? Where does the arrangement with the moneylender go? Is Otama going to continue living with the dubious reputation of being 'the other woman'?

Rather than trying to outdo each other, there is a need to reach common grounds. Both sexes have their biological and functional roles in society. Their functions, over the years, much like anything in else, have been shoved down their throats. Everyone is equipped with different capacities and capabilities. The society will benefit from harnessing the best out of both parties. It is not a race.

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