Thursday, May 25, 2006

The American Dream

Growing up watching Hollywood movies I heard the actors allusion to ‘Living the American Dream’. It took me some time to actually understand it. You ever wondered what the ‘American Dream’ is about?

The American Dream is a dream of success, fame and wealth achieved in the United States of America. It's thought to be achievable by "hard work, courage, and determination", or by "getting rich quick" The concept often involves moving upward in the social classes, and may involve icons such as car, house, partner and pet!

The concept of the American dream has had its share of criticsm from many writers and economists. The main criticism is that it is misleading. These critics say that, for various reasons, it simply is not possible for everyone to become prosperous through determination and hard work alone. The consequences of this belief can include the poor feeling that it is their fault that they are not successful.

Today I saw a person living the American Dream. It was Taylor Hicks, winner of American Idol Season 5.

American Idol, formally known as American Idol: The Search for a Superstar, is an American television show. It is a replica of the UK show Pop Idol, a singing talent contest to determine the best "undiscovered" young singer in the country.

The winner gets the title of ‘American Idol’ of course, a 5-album major record deal with Sony BMG, a summer concert tour and a track on the season’s compilation album. ufffff!!!

In the show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, hopeful contestants are screened by preliminary panels to be selected for singing talent or humorous potential and human interest. Those who pass the prelims are potentially aired on the show. They then audition before the three main judges - Simon Cowell (one of the judges from Pop Idol), Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson - in selected cities across the United States.

I started watching American Idol just to hear the comments of Simon Cowell. His acerbic style of judging, hard to please personality was a major reason for this show becoming popular. Cowell's fame (or infamy) grew, fed by his deliberately insincere signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but …". The best part was in one of the episodes when a contestant said, he has a “personality”, to which Simon replied “You have personality!! Dogs have personality!!”. This paragraph is a misfit in this post, but that’s how much I enjoyed it!!

Watching the show over for a few weeks, I was amazed by the kind of hard work that the contestants put into singing. And the kind of consistency required to come out tops is simply amazing amidst such competition. You falter once, you can pretty much expect to be voted out by the american audience, who vote in millions every week.
After 4 months of intense competition, Taylor Hicks, a guy from the Birmingham city of Alabama won the competition. He finished with his arms in the air, eyes closed, singing “Iam living the American Dream”…….

Yes, even I want to live such a Dream...

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Faith v/s Rationality

I lost the race of who would watch the movie ‘The Da Vinci Code’ first, to Rupa. Not that it was any of my mistake, you understand!!

Apparently the movie has run into a controversy in India like in many other nations. But here, its come to the brink of being banned. If it happens so I would be disappointed, so would be a lot of people.

So what is the ‘Da Vinci Code’ all about? I haven’t read the book myself, but going by what I have read in the newspapers, it’s about the notion of Christianity’s Holy Grail being more than a chalice from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper. It’s about a premise that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and produced children, whose descendants are alive today. The Holy Grail is the metaphorical portrayal of Mary Magdalene. This is vehemently protested by parts of the Roman Catholic Church. So, the government has asked the sensor board to have a second look.

Later it was decided that the movie would be released with an ‘A’ certificate and a disclaimer that the movie is a part of fiction. To this neither the producers, Sony Pictures nor the director, Ron Howard is ready to agree.

Of all the Christianity following nations in the world, I don’t think the producers would have expected such protests from a country like us. But when it comes to religion, people get a little ‘touchy’ about things. For Christ’s sake, it’s just a goddamn movie. If it wasn’t for all this controversy, people would have just watched the movie and completely forgotten about it. Going to the extent of banning it, would only make it look like ‘The Forbidden Fruit’.

Of the 2% of the Christians living in this country, I guess not more that 5% of the 2% would have watched the movie. And I don’t think the faith of Christianity in them is so poor that watching a fictional tale would shake their beliefs. In fact, the Vatican and even Opus Dei (the targeted sect in the movie) don’t seem to have any problem with the movie. 36 countries have reviewed this film and not banned it, so are we just coming out of Stone Age?

Is Christianity a conspiracy? Is “The Da Vinci Code” a dangerous, anti-Christian hoax? What’s up with Tom Hanks’s hair (the Japanese PM loved it)? Frankly, I don’t care. Public memory is very short. After a few months nobody would even remember what the fuss was all about. In a secular country like ours, where the government has to appease everyone, the release of this movie does hang by the Damocles’ sword. Then I wouldn’t be left with any other choice than to “unlock the code” in the print version!!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

And I Don't Want to be Alone...

Loneliness is about the scariest thing out there.
- Joss Whedon (Creator of Buffy)

Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.
- Thomas Wolfe

My heart is a gypsy - continuously searching for a home, fighting within itself, wondering whether it is weak or even right for that matter to be searching in the first place. Lonliness is what it feels like...
- Jenna Jameson

This is what some great people have to say about loneliness….And I’ll tell you I know what exactly they are talking about and I know so do you .

One morning you get up and the person you wish see the most is not there…you are scared...you look for a way out desperately...the harder you try, the tougher it becomes...Bang!! Lonliness hits...

In this mindset, you will be no longer able to enjoy the friendship, companionship you have. You feel like a mathematical anomaly; divided by two when alone and multiplied by three when at a social circle. Nothing feels right.

You go out just to put your mind to something else, only to fail miserably. The memories of the places you had been, the times you spent will play back and again. You just wish that this is a dream. You badly wish you wake up from your bed that very moment. Alas! Life’s not so fair.

The worst part of feeling this loneliness is that you start to feel that you are alone. There is a chain reaction of the thoughts. You start pitying yourself. I’ll tell you self pity is like the lousiest thought one should ever get.
It makes you weak. It destroys you.

There is just only one thought when you go to sleep, that tomorrow dawns a better day...where you don’t feel lonely or alone...

I'm on a wheel of fortune with a twist of fate
'Cause I know it isn't heaven, is it love or hate
Am I the subject of the pain
Am I the stranger in the rain
I am alone
And if there glory there to behold
Maybe it's my imagination
Another story there to be told
So I play, I'll wait
And I pray it's not too late
We came so far
Just a beat of a lonely heart
And it's mine
I don't want to be alone

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Monty Python

Monty Python, or The Pythons, is the collective name of the creators and stars of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show, started way back in 1969. I didn’t have a clue of who these guys are. On my recent visit to Mysore, one of my ol’ pals Prajwal gave me these 2 movies made by the pythons’ in the 70’s and promised me a good laugh. Knowin’ him for some time, I knew what kind of humour the movie had, only not exactly!!

The first one I watched was The Holy Grail.

This film is based on the King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail. It begins with these credits like any other movie, but very different. It has proper names at the top, but the below credit lines speak some very funny, strange, non-english lines which doesn’t make any sense. They apologise for the fault in the sub-titles only to goof up again. Read it..

We apologise for the fault in thesubtitles. Those responsible have beensacked.

Mynd you, m?bites Kan be pretty nasti...

We apologise again for the fault in thesubtitles. Those responsible for sackingthe people who have just been sacked,have been sacked.

The story begins with King Arthur (Graham Chapman) recruiting Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is initially frustrated at his recruiting attempts several times eventually, he is joined by Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad called both the Chaste and the Pure Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot ,and the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film (they show a baby dressed as a knight in a frame..)

Once assembled, the knights receive a quest from an animated version of God to find the Holy Grail. In their search, they encounter the perils of Castle Anthrax ,the Knights who say Ni (these guys really cracked me up!), a killer rabbit , and a gigantic cartoon monster, The Legendary Black Beast of Aaaargh. (They are saved when the animator suffers a fatal heart attack.) This reminded me of the joke that Chandler cracks in FRIENDS, that he doesn’t want to cry just because the cartoonist stopped drawing!! (when ‘Bambi’ dies).

The best part of the movies is when Arthur is at the bridge of death along with his accomplices. They are at this bridge guarded by this witch, whose 3 questions have to be answered to allow them to cross. This is what happens…

BRIDGEKEEPER: Stop! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
LAUNCELOT: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your name?
LAUNCELOT: My name is 'Sir Launcelot of Camelot'.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your quest?
LAUNCELOT: To seek the Holy Grail.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your favorite color?
LAUNCELOT: Blue.
BRIDGEKEEPER: Right. Off you go.
LAUNCELOT: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
ROBIN: That's easy!
BRIDGEKEEPER: Stop! Who approacheth the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
ROBIN: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I'm not afraid.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your name?
ROBIN: 'Sir Robin of Camelot'.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your quest?
ROBIN: To seek the Holy Grail.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is the capital of Assyria?
[pause]
ROBIN: I don't know that! Auuuuuuuugh!
BRIDGEKEEPER: Stop! What... is your name?
GALAHAD: 'Sir Galahad of Camelot'.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your quest?
GALAHAD: I seek the Grail.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your favourite color?
GALAHAD: Blue. No, yel-- auuuuuuuugh!
BRIDGEKEEPER: Hee hee heh. Stop! What... is your name?
ARTHUR: It is 'Arthur', King of the Britons.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is your quest?
ARTHUR: To seek the Holy Grail.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
ARTHUR: What do you mean? An African or European swallow?
BRIDGEKEEPER: Huh? I-- I don't know that. Auuuuuuuugh!
BEDEVERE: How do know so much about swallows?
ARTHUR: Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climactic battle scene to arrest Sir Lancelot for the murder of a "famous historian" very much like him earlier in the film. The Grail presumably is left in the hands of the Frenchmen in Castle Aaaargh…….

Amazingly the film was shot with a budget of $300,000 only, and even more amazingly, money was raised in part with donations from rock groups such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Worth a cause….

Now, the second one was Life of Brian.

Brian is born in the stable a few doors down from the one in which Jesus was born (a fact which initially confuses the three wise men come to praise him, as they must instead put up with his boorish mother Mandy...this was simply hilarious at the least). He grows up to be an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea. While attending the Sermon on the Mount he becomes infatuated with an attractive young rebel, who persuades him to join one of the many fractious and bickering separatist movements plotting to strike at the Roman occupiers. His first assignment as a rebel is an attempt at scrawling some graffiti on the wall of the governor's palace. This succeeds beyond his wildest dreams when he is caught by a passing Roman guard who, in disgust at Brian's use of improper Latin grammar, reacts in a manner resembling that of an old-fasioned English grammar school teacher and forces him to copy out the 'correct' message one hundred times as 'punishment'. He ends up adorning the whole palace with his 'punishment'..this is worth a watch..

Unfortunately, a failed raid on the palace, a resulting series of unfortunate coincidences, and some meaningless babble recited as an attempt to avoid the Roman guards, leads a small army of people to come to regard Brian as the Messiah. Despite his best efforts to (a) convince people that this isn't the case and (b) try and use his influence to get people to embrace their individuality and not rely on authority figures (advice which is merely parrotted unthinkingly back at him), he is arrested, sentenced to death, crucified, and abandoned by anyone who could possibly help him. Still, got to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

The scene in which Brian tries to drive away his ‘followers’ with his speech from the window is pretty interseting and funny.

Brian: 'Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, you don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for yourselves! You're ALL individuals!'
The Crowd: 'Yes! We're all individuals!'
Brian: 'You're all different!'
The Crowd: 'Yes, we ARE all different!'
Man in crowd: 'I'm not...'
The Crowd: 'Shhhh!'

The song at the end of the movie, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is too gud and pretty true, with which eventually the movie ends with the crucified prisoners singing.

Cheer up, Brian. You know what they say.
Some things in life are bad.
They can really make you mad.
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble. Give a whistle.
And this'll help things turn out for the best.
And...
Always look on the bright side of life.

If life seems jolly rotten,
There's something you've forgotten,
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps.
Just purse your lips and whistle. That's the thing.
And...
Always look on the bright side of life.

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word.
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin.
Give the audience a grin

Enjoy it. It's your last chance, anyhow.
So,...
Always look on the bright side of death,
Just before you draw your terminal breath.

Life's a piece of shit,
When you look at it.
Life's a laugh and death's a joke. It's true.
You'll see it's all a show.
Keep 'em laughing as you go.
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And...

I read somewheer that, ironically, this song was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British football fans. The increase in popularity, though, became evident in 1982 during the Falklands War when British sailors, injured in an Argentine attack, started singing it. Indeed, many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to optimism.

Another interesting thing I read that the producer of the movie was George Harrison(ex-beatle). He especilally created “Handmade Films” just to produce this movie. George & many Brits apparently believed that The Pythons were the answer to Beatles in Comedy!!!

I heard there is one more to the series..The Meaning of Life. Prajwal willin’ I hope to complete the trilogy..