9:35 pm, somewhere in between Blood Diamond.
Solomon (Djimon Hounsou) learns from his wife who is in a refugee camp, that his son has been captured by the RUF. He grabs the fence which separates him from his wife and two daughters and shakes it like he's being electrocuted. He screams to the guards to let out his family and keeps shaking the fence. Finally, the guards attack him with their rifle butts and become nervous and edgy (read: ready to shoot him). Archer (Di'Caprio) intervenes and drags him away from the fence.
The screen fades to black, and white letters in a comforting font appear on the screen. A cozy jazz tune plays in the background.
"Do you know why companies make ads?"
"So that you can go to your microwave and make a bowl of Act II Popcorn without missing the programme."
"Honest."
The television is a curious creature.
Solomon (Djimon Hounsou) learns from his wife who is in a refugee camp, that his son has been captured by the RUF. He grabs the fence which separates him from his wife and two daughters and shakes it like he's being electrocuted. He screams to the guards to let out his family and keeps shaking the fence. Finally, the guards attack him with their rifle butts and become nervous and edgy (read: ready to shoot him). Archer (Di'Caprio) intervenes and drags him away from the fence.
The screen fades to black, and white letters in a comforting font appear on the screen. A cozy jazz tune plays in the background.
"Do you know why companies make ads?"
"So that you can go to your microwave and make a bowl of Act II Popcorn without missing the programme."
"Honest."
The television is a curious creature.
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) is a 'failed insurgent rebel army' created in 1991. They operated for eleven years in Sierra Leone and among their notable achievements like practically ravaging an entire nation of around a million people, they were also known for creating, literally creating terrorists out of eight year olds.
ReplyDeleteACT II Popcorn is a light, nutritious snack associated with ConAgra Foods. It is a low-calorie snack available in various flavours - Kettle Corn, Carmel Corn, etc.
First enslave the blacks, then loot the African continent off all its minerals to ensure that you/ you're allies continue to have a robust economy to fuel the leisure and vices of its people. Then you see other 'second world' countries trying to do the same thing. So you bring your exceptional diplomatic talents to the table, make use of the far reach of Hollywood to bring to the "attention" of the world the conflict in Sierra Leone and other parts of Africa, trying to ensure, that whilst you've had your share of the cake, others dont get the chance to do so. All this while, the people in your own country watch the movie purely for its EQ, and marvel at the chemistry that develops between Connelly and Di Caprio in a fucked up place on the globe.
ReplyDeleteSo, in conclusion, lets give the ad-makers some lee-way, since they're trying to make their cut from the whole entertainment experience that the viewer is in it for the first place.A minority who see the movie, see Solomon clinging to that fence, and genuinely feel sad like you, sure make for good moral fiber, but not for good realism(not sure if that's a real word but you got the meaning...)
@ Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean, "realism"? What are you being so cynical about? Her post just talks about the complete CHANGE of atmosphere that is brought up (wrongly, I agree with her) because of the ads. "Attention"? Do you REALIZE that this movie has opened eyes for so many people? That people have given up using diamonds when they saw the real story behind it? Exaggeration? Who are you kidding?
So, keep your pessimism to yourself because a) it doesn't make sense anyway and b) it's not doing any good.
Euripides: "Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish."
ReplyDelete~(he) she :-f
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteExpecting awareness and action from the living room is naive. But that's not what I'm doing here.
I feel genuinely puzzled at the sense of reality left with the viewer after watching the television. More so, since it is supposed to be an instrument which 'broadens our horizons'. There is a split second between one world and the other, and it's all within the reach of a button or two. What scares me is the choices that choice gives us.
What do you pick from the constant exposure to cruelty, joy, disappointment, horror, hope? How do you keep track? What happens when you stop distinguishing? I don't want to be numbed into some kind of grey incomprehension, where nothing makes sense anymore because it's all happening at the same time. This may seem like an extreme reaction, like the way they show it in 'Requiem for a Dream'. But where do you draw the line between tuning in only to tune out?
That's why the television is a funny creature. What Solomon goes through and my reaction to that may seem to be misplaced sensitisation (in a world where the singular efort of a Hollywood director against the production of blood diamonds is myopically viewed as tinseltown guilt). Good realism is a good phrase, though I hope it doesn't have a circumference of cynicism. And I like you too, have my doubts on how robust moral fibre is.
I liked the old one better :'( The black seemed to suit you best.
ReplyDelete