Humbled by a Pig!

It was the stare between two worlds; one of the modern domesticated kind who had a fight-or-flight response limited to his autonomic nervous system versus one who had to fight to stay alive and keep his place in the hierarchy of the pecking order of the jungle.

https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/06/14/humbled-by-a-pig/

We are left with memories, only memories!

After Yang (2022)

Written & Direction: Kogonada

When we show our respect to elders and the departed, we are not offering to revere the physical body or the 'soul'. We are showing reverence for the memory of their lives. Besides reenacting the good times we had spent together, we give due recognition to the memories they imbibed through their time on Earth. At the end of the day, that is all we have or bring back, the data of events. It is assumed that we humans learn our lessons from situations. By showing our salutations, we hope some of these lessons will be transferred to us at a metaphysical level. Everybody's learnt experience is different, and we respect that. We are in no position to judge what was done or should have been done.

This seems to be the message at the end of this sombre and sedate sci-fi drama. It is set sometime in the future when humanoids do domestic help and nannying. The cloning of humans has entered the mainstream. The job of providing domestic support is done by companies delving into AI. 

Jake is the protagonist, a somewhat emotionally detached man who runs a speciality tea show which does not really have a roaring business. His nihilistic view of life worsens when his helper, Yang, an AI who had been a great help in caring for his child, malfunctions. 

Jake and Kyra's daughter, Mika, are adopted. Her Oriental features, compared to her parents, Occidental and Negroides, make her a troubled child. Yang was there to help her fit in, using the analogy of bud grafting, where a stem from another branch is transplanted upon another tree. 

Yang was a re-conditioned model. Even though he is still under warranty, the company that sold him went bust. The franchise holder suggests trading in for a newer model. Jake wanted to keep Yang as Mika was yearning for him. So, Jake had to source clandestine avenues to fix him up. Unfortunately, Yang was beyond repair. A chip suspected to be spyware from China was, however, found implanted in him. 

Long story short, spyware was a banned memory chip developed to improve humanoid performance. Due to privacy issues, or was outlawed.

Interpretation of the chip revealed an avalanche of fond memories that Yang had accumulated throughout his existence, even during his previous stint as a carer.

We forget how much so many people in our lives help us in our day to day. We also forget how much we make up our helper's life as much as they did ours. Those umpteen days and nights they spent with us cannot mean nothing. It is not merely a business transaction. The human touch and care that is transferred mean more than that.

The small things that we do in our lives, no matter how trivial, when crystalline in the moment of time via photo images from a pillar for us to appreciate the life and times that pass us by.

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Sins of my Father?

The Batman (2022)

Director: Matt Reeves

Long ago, easily more than 30 years ago, when we were a newly married couple, I had the privilege of living a few doors away from a retired postmaster. Looking at us, just married and waiting to embrace life with all its vigour, he felt compelled to dispense his dose of unsolicited wisdom to us, to me especially, like to son he never had.

I remember him telling me that I should evaluate everything I did in life very carefully as its repercussions may reverberate not only during my lifetime but that of my wife, children and my next birth! In other words, my deeds spiralled to catch on to my linkages. I kept it stored in my biological memory bank for future reference.

Some years later, I heard of someone who had her past life analysed by a holy man in Tamil Nadu. She approached someone in this town which is reputed to have storage of palm-leaf inscriptions (olai) of all humans, Indians or otherwise. She wanted to know the reason for her stormy relationship with her beau. It was not too long later that her inscription was found. She was told it was a miracle they found hers quite so soon. (sure!) In her previous life, she and her partner were illicit lovers who had masterminded her then-husband’s murder and eloped to live apparently not-so-happily ever after. Hence, they have to endure punishment in this birth to repay back payments!

Batman these day are no more the comedic

slapstick kind of the 60's TV series. These days,

Batman movies are dark and deeply philosophical.

In a single stroke, that could be the answer to all the incomprehensible life dilemmas - why bad things happen to good people and vice versa, why children get cancer and babies get congenital syphilis! How is anyone going to repute something intangible as that? The buck stops there. There is no point in arguing further on something that cannot be disproved (or proved).

Over time I have realised that I cannot be responsible for all the wrongdoings of those dear to me. I cannot be held accountable if my adult child decides to rob a bank or misbehaves with the opposite gender. Likewise, do I have to pay for the karmic sins of my father?

Increasingly people are leading separate lives. They do not work or behave for the well-being of the collective. This is the century of self, where self-interest supersedes everything else. It is I that solely matter. Hence, no one will take in another fatherly or teacherly advice. “Just leave me alone. Just do your part in my life and get off my back. Like Frankie said, it did it my way; I want to live while I am alive. It’s my life!"

The question of the sins of Bruce Wayne's father comes to the fore in this bleak Batman offering. The Riddler, moving with the times, is now siding with the Occupy Wall Street movement and is going Batman's jugular. Thomas Wayne had made some unfulfilled promises. And Bruce has to pay for his father's sins.

Robert Pattison gives a stellar performance as the reclusive, brooding superhero who is finding answers for things that happened in his life, much like a handsome Dracula trapped in his blood-sucking ways.

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Innocence lost?

Close (Flemish, 2022)
Director: Lukas Dhont

Gone are the times when people used to be safe amongst their own kind. Girls were comfortable mingling with girls, and boys can act normal amongst their guy friends. In fact, boys and girls, after a certain age, will feel curious about the opposite sex but at the time feel uncomfortable breaking the ice. 

If growing up is not difficult enough, maturing from a teenager to morph into a young adult and pave a future for himself, now he has to deal with his sexuality. He is now cornered to be assigned a gender at increasingly diabolical ages. Children used to have a sweet phase of their life called childhood where they could play, be carefree and explore things as and when they find fit. Things happened naturally. Now, there is a rush to compartmentalise. In certain localities, part of the educators' scope of duties includes identifying students trapped in a wrongly assigned gendered body. Psychological assessments would legitimatise pubertal blockers, hormonal therapy and as far as gender reassignment surgeries. And the parents may not need to consent to all these interventions on their pre-teen kids.

The sad thing is that sometimes science gets it wrong. So do the nimble impressionable minds. Detransitioning or seeking for reversal of gender transitioning is a real thing.

This Belgian candidature for the Oscar tells an emotional story of two 13-year-old boys, Léo and Rémi, who happened to be very close friends. They grew up together and their families were close. As they move into middle school, the nature of their closeness is frowned upon by their classmates. Léo, the athletic one, denies that they are a couple. Rémi, the artistic one, actually secretly harbours passionate feelings. As Léo increasingly distances himself from Rémi, the next thing that the school hears is that Rémi commits suicide. The rest of the story is about how Léo deals with the guilt of rejecting Rémi's advances and the loss of his best friend.

A slow-moving drama with intense close-ups filled with emotion. Recommended for the romantics.

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Past 'use-by-date' shelf life?

The Bad Guy (2022)
Director: Pierre Perifel

Covalent bonds are hailed as one of Nature's strongest bonds. Nevertheless, with the correct amount of energy and the help of appropriate enzymes, it can be broken down into its basic structures. Unlike bonds cemented by DNA or the ones sanctioned by the Elements of Nature, friendship is a convenient arrangement amongst misfits who share the same mental illness. What others refer to as self-demeaning and a sheer waste of time, they find joy and purpose in life.

Since nothing is cast in stone, friends make rules as they go on. They call it a 'bro code'. The code, a whimsical array of regulations that are made up as the friendship goes on, protects each other's interests and maintains zen in other concrete long-lasting relationships.

In the good old days, before our digital devices filled up the void of long-haul journeys or protracted stop-overs, we actually struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger who looked charming enough. We may open up knowing pretty well that the friendship would last no longer than the journey.

Do all friendships stand the test of time? Do they all have a 'use-by-date' shelf life? Is friendship as flitting as a showroom of a departmental store that has a makeover with each season sale? Since this bond is not tangible but written in the sands of time, even a zephyr can erase it. A little dent in ego, a misspoken utterance, an unintended gesture here and there, an unsaid, undone action all may crumble this loose association.

What was supposed to be like taking a bullet, sharing the joy, the cries, the sweat and seasons in the sun can just go bust in a moment.  Keeping secrets, warts, and all are, just self-pleasing dialogues that act as fillers for time-pass. Will it end like in a feel-good movie, or just one mentioned in eulogies about the good old times remains to be seen?

Five misfits, often mentioned as the scum of societies, the Big Bad Mr Wolf, the serpentine Snake, the mean Shark, the poisonous Tarantula and the meat-chewing Piranha live up to the expectation of society. They are The Bad Guys, the lean, sleek, suave bank robbers.

Their last haul trying to steal the coveted 'Golden Dolphin' award goes all wrong. They are busted and have the chance to prove that they can be reformed. Meanwhile, the goody-good two shoes Prof Marmalade, the guinea pig turned scientist-philanthrope, has some things up his sleeves. The Governor, Ms Foxington, tries to convince the gang that it pays to be good despite the bad reputation they have picked up over the years.

A feel-good, chirpy and colourful animated film.

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Painting reality in words?

Who Painted My Lust Red? Book #2

Who Painted My Future Bright? Book #3

Author: Sree Iyer (2020)

There must be a reason why politics is labelled the second oldest in the world, after the flesh trade. Anything goes if the price is right. At least, that is the perception these books give an impression on politicians and people in power who make decisions that could steer the country's direction.

Money determines everything. It lubricates, moves and generates more wealth. There is a dire need to push as the window of opportunity only opens briefly. Wealth needs to be accumulated in the short time power is handed on a platter. In the meantime, vultures and hyenas will hang around to scavenge or perhaps initiate the kill themselves. 

In this fiction, Sree Iyer tells an account of a dog-eat-dog world of Indian politics. It is not all about Indian politics either. In an environment where everyone is yearning towards that one thing in life, money, nothing really matters anymore. The end justifies the means. All values held in high esteem in previous generations just go out of the window. Those who managed to scale the wall of wealth have it all. Once the Rubicon is crossed, everything else can go to hell - friendship, honesty, compassion, loyalty and humanity.

Hindus have an apt explanation for all of these. The great god-kings who appeared on Earth long ago were merely akin to what Plato would describe as philosopher kings. They were mortals elevated to demigods' status because they did what was right and just for the greater good. 

Iyer tells of an unholy alliance between Indian bigwig politicians, cricket officials and players, Bollywood, entrepreneurs, the mafia and a significant number of shady characters who bring tremendous value to the association by fixing all loose ends from setting hotel suits to appointments with big-shots to discrete hawala money transactions with a minimal service charge. Money begets money. Money as a social lubricant beings on power. The mind wanders to yearn for other bodily pleasures when zeros on the currency do not really matter. People are so gullible. Put some pretty face with hunky cricketers with God-like followings; people are bound to be interested. In a cricket-crazed country like India, the cricket league is big money. Running the Indian league from a God-forsaken place like Dubai means away from the scrutiny of Indian enforcement. Dubai is only interested in your money.

Against this grain, some will still believe in righting the wrong. Traditionally, law and order is maintained by the various arms of the administration. The press forms the Fourth Estate to do further checks and balances. Unfortunately, when the whole machinery is corrupt, and self-interest supersedes national aspirations, more creative ways must be derived.

In the meantime, the goalpost of what is right is constantly shifted to suit the flavours of the times. Conversely, seven-century wisdom is spewed as the legitimate decree for humankind to follow.

India boasts of being a Visvaguru (global teacher) to the world, as it was before the 15th century. It was then the wealthiest country in the world, controlling more than half of its wealth while the rest of the world was in darkness. India, in its previous avatar, was a cultural icon. Everyone in the modern world then wanted to emulate Indians. Its culture transcended its borders to adjacent lands and beyond its shores via its extensive shipping lines.

If India is not just reminiscing its glorious past but instead to re-establish its former status before it was flattened by colonising powers, it has a long way to go. It should keep in check with its own backyard. The civil service is wanting of a long deserving facelift. There is an urgent need to erase corruption as an accepted practice. The courts need to get their acts to mete swift justice.

The book narrates a fictional account of everything the author has been broadcasting over his channel all these years.

Money makes the world go around. Money even makes a corpse move, it seems.

Book #2 @ 'Lust Red' takes readers to the world of cricket match-fixing, honey trapping. money-laundering, hiwara services to ease transborder money transactions, blackmails and a lot of horse-trading. Political leaders, Bollywood bigwigs, high-ranking government officials, the mafia and ill-defined creatures who fix anything called middlemen make their presence felt amidst all the dealings. They determine the outcome of matches and make a killing from the results.

Book #3, 'Future Bright' reveals the confusing web of Indian politics. Taking a swipe at current and past leaders, it also presents Pakistan as the villain whose sole existence is to destroy India. Like Will E Coyote's repeated failed antics to trap Road Runner, Pakistan again and again has muck on its face as the endeavours fail miserably.

The setting of the book is strikingly similar to contemporary events. There is no denying that the characters here are no different to current national leaders and figures. The greatest fool among all these is the average citizen who fails to see beyond what is shown. They remain clueless about all the backdoor arrangements and arm-twisting manoeuvres behind the scene by people entrusted by the people to lead the nation to a brighter future.

(P.S. It seems Kings of yesteryears were so good. Perhaps people looked at them as God's representation on Earth, hence, are infallible. Maybe they were the true philosopher kings that Plato advocated so much. From a Hindu cosmology point of view, we are in Kali Yuga, the decadent times. People are supposed to be degenerate and materialistic. The last time the world had good kings was Rama in Trata Yuga and Krishna in Dvapara Yuga.)

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The suppressed memories?

Censor (2021)
Written and directed: Prano Bailey-Bond

Memory can be as much a boon or a curse to humankind. The race has progressed thus far because we can learn and put into memory what we have learnt. With that ability, we can reproduce it as and when needed. 

But then, therein lies the problem. Keeping other memories, especially the unpleasant ones and those affecting the matters of the heart, can be unsettling and counterproductive. Just for how long one wants to hold a grudge for hurt caused? Does anger have an expiry date, upon which scores are cleared dry on the slate?

That is why our mind has an in-built pruning mechanism to cut off unpleasant memories that can stunt our progress. Sadly, a small group of people do not forget or forgive. They must be the most unhappiest of the people on the planet. Perhaps, the next serial killer too!

Even at best, Man uses less than 10% of his brain connexions. Scientists are perplexed by the many dormant areas of the brain and wonder if they form part of the remnants of our reptilian brain. Will they recoil to provoke primal reactions in the wake of provocation? Like domesticated animals, are we trained to behave? Or are we inherently evil, waiting for the ripe moment to pounce and assume the goriest forms of our inner selves? Testimonials of these are apparent in court documents of our crimes. Is evil inherent, or is it a learnt experience? Can we blame literature and films for this? Is there a need for a nanny to supervise what we see and read? Do we need censorship? Is it not that Nature cruel enough? History has picturised humans as animals who would do anything for food, wealth, mate and power.

There was a time in the 80s with the sea of VHS tapes and nasty mind-numbing meaningless gory horror films. There was a call in the UK for stricter censorship of these films. The problem arose when a man mimicked a scene from one of these horror movies when he killed his wife. Enid, a diligent worker in the British Film Board of Censors, is singularly blamed for approving the film to be screened. In reality, Enid takes it upon herself as a moral guardian and is strict in controlling the element of gore in movies. In reality, the husband had never seen the movie to mimic the killing technique. He did it out of his frustration.

Enid has a dark past in her childhood. Her sister went missing when Enid and her sister, Nina, were playing at the edge of a forest. Nina was never found as information about Nina's disappearance was fuzzy as Enid could not accurately explain what happened.

While reviewing one particular film, the florid memories of her suppressed past come alive. It was about two sisters and getting lost in a jungle. Enid's interest is piqued. She suspects the movie's director had something to do with her sister's disappearance. Enid soon goes into a frenzy, assuming many things and going berserk as she puts two and two together.

This movie is said to be as exciting as 'The Blair Witch Project' when it came out, i.e. before we found out the whole footing was staged. Initially, 'The Blair Witch Project' kicked up a storm when it was marketed as lost footage of some college students searching for some spirit in a jungle. The students were missing, but their camcorder was found, and the raw footage was made into a movie. It took the living daylights off me and remained one of my best horror films.

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