Conversation
Fahim Farook
f
Back in the day, Tamil movie songs used to have meaning — some of them espoused deep philosophies in song. Then things changed. It seemed to become all about the rhythm and the beat and less about meaning.
"Maamannan" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20242416) made me acutely aware of this because one character in the movie sings some of the old songs and I realized how much I'd missed these meaningful songs.
But that wasn't all of it. The movie has a very melancholic vibe and I keep expecting bad things to happen. And they do.
One of the characters sings "the only thing that humanity hasn't learned is how to be human" (or words to that effect) and the movie is all about that — how humans endlessly oppress and kill other humans in the name of constructs that they've created such as caste, status, authority etc. to keep humans separated from other humans.
A couple of characters buck this trend and stand for equality and not bowing down to "authority"/bullies, but it's a telling sign that even one of these characters has to tell others what to do in several situations. This is a characteristic of almost every Indian movie — the "hero"/protagonist has to tell others what to do, even when the actions are fairly self-evident (as in taking an injured person to the hospital). It's almost as if people are being told, you shouldn't act/think for yourself — let somebody who's "the one" tell you what to do ...
And that probably is the most harmful thing that a movie which preaches the opposite message can do? If more people would think for themselves, perhaps they might not fall prey to those who try to control them by sowing division amongst them?
#Movies #Tamil #MiniReview #Reflections
"Maamannan" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20242416) made me acutely aware of this because one character in the movie sings some of the old songs and I realized how much I'd missed these meaningful songs.
But that wasn't all of it. The movie has a very melancholic vibe and I keep expecting bad things to happen. And they do.
One of the characters sings "the only thing that humanity hasn't learned is how to be human" (or words to that effect) and the movie is all about that — how humans endlessly oppress and kill other humans in the name of constructs that they've created such as caste, status, authority etc. to keep humans separated from other humans.
A couple of characters buck this trend and stand for equality and not bowing down to "authority"/bullies, but it's a telling sign that even one of these characters has to tell others what to do in several situations. This is a characteristic of almost every Indian movie — the "hero"/protagonist has to tell others what to do, even when the actions are fairly self-evident (as in taking an injured person to the hospital). It's almost as if people are being told, you shouldn't act/think for yourself — let somebody who's "the one" tell you what to do ...
And that probably is the most harmful thing that a movie which preaches the opposite message can do? If more people would think for themselves, perhaps they might not fall prey to those who try to control them by sowing division amongst them?
#Movies #Tamil #MiniReview #Reflections
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David Whetstone
humblehacker@mastodon.online@f “If more people would think for themselves, perhaps they might not fall prey to those who try to control them by sowing division amongst them?” Beautifully said!
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