It is truly the burden of a well-read mind to wrestle with the moral knick-knacks and tripping-stones of habit, and even more so when it is society that we find ourselves discontented with. I'm fully intrigued by your synopsis of this movie (let's see if the subbed ver. can be found!) and the moral problems it draws to the fore - of course the protagonist would be someone with an MA in Philo - because these are some heavy questions we've got to face as well.
This Rangan feels like a character stepped out from the old folklores about unbending princes and kings and got set adrift in an economic hellhole of an era. How visceral do his actions you described seem! And yet, one has to work hard to cultivate such a mindset. Which makes their inevitable bend all the more satisfying to watch. I remember learning about Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment and getting goosebumps when our prof said "some people are on the good side of the line simply because they have never been tested." To change a person, change the situation, and voilà! But then again, this cycle of heart-breaking and realization is bound to keep repeating with every new generation and -ism that we spew up. The red of poverty stays in every major society.
Also, I sense quite the change in your writing style. It's loosened up its iron and steel seams and let you, the real you, slip into the fore. It feels like you've wonderfully gotten into the spirit of film journalism, and, as always, I'm in awe of your ability to refer to the Great Old Thinking Men in relation to other things. Looks like summer is treating you well.
RE: PS. What a charming sequence! A shame that Indian cinema has moved away from the simple charm of spontaneous duets with such effortless skill as this. I am now a Kamal Haasan fan.
I was in the middle of some dreary research work when I - entirely upon a whim - found myself going to Unorthodox Musings and finding there a new comment waiting to be read. And I must say that the few minutes which I took to read and ponder upon your thoughts did a great deal to take away the merciless monotony of my work.
I am glad that you have noticed some change in my writing style, albeit I did not make any intentional course correction. But I am even gladder that you took the time to savour that song sequence. It is pity that a subtitled version of this song is no longer available. I am sure you would have loved to know the import of what is being sung, however beautiful the music may be by itself.
Thank you for mentioning this experiment. I read up a little and found it at the same time valuable as an addition to our understanding, and deeply disturbing that Zimbardo should have allowed it to go so far. Anyway, we can talk more about it elsewhere.
A blog update! A blog update! the crowd cheers!
It is truly the burden of a well-read mind to wrestle with the moral knick-knacks and tripping-stones of habit, and even more so when it is society that we find ourselves discontented with. I'm fully intrigued by your synopsis of this movie (let's see if the subbed ver. can be found!) and the moral problems it draws to the fore - of course the protagonist would be someone with an MA in Philo - because these are some heavy questions we've got to face as well.
This Rangan feels like a character stepped out from the old folklores about unbending princes and kings and got set adrift in an economic hellhole of an era. How visceral do his actions you described seem! And yet, one has to work hard to cultivate such a mindset. Which makes their inevitable bend all the more satisfying to watch. I remember learning about Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment and getting goosebumps when our prof said "some people are on the good side of the line simply because they have never been tested." To change a person, change the situation, and voilà! But then again, this cycle of heart-breaking and realization is bound to keep repeating with every new generation and -ism that we spew up. The red of poverty stays in every major society.
Also, I sense quite the change in your writing style. It's loosened up its iron and steel seams and let you, the real you, slip into the fore. It feels like you've wonderfully gotten into the spirit of film journalism, and, as always, I'm in awe of your ability to refer to the Great Old Thinking Men in relation to other things. Looks like summer is treating you well.
RE: PS. What a charming sequence! A shame that Indian cinema has moved away from the simple charm of spontaneous duets with such effortless skill as this. I am now a Kamal Haasan fan.
I was in the middle of some dreary research work when I - entirely upon a whim - found myself going to Unorthodox Musings and finding there a new comment waiting to be read. And I must say that the few minutes which I took to read and ponder upon your thoughts did a great deal to take away the merciless monotony of my work.
I am glad that you have noticed some change in my writing style, albeit I did not make any intentional course correction. But I am even gladder that you took the time to savour that song sequence. It is pity that a subtitled version of this song is no longer available. I am sure you would have loved to know the import of what is being sung, however beautiful the music may be by itself.
Thank you for mentioning this experiment. I read up a little and found it at the same time valuable as an addition to our understanding, and deeply disturbing that Zimbardo should have allowed it to go so far. Anyway, we can talk more about it elsewhere.