A couple of months ago, I was surfing YouTube and I happened to come across a movie trailer for a film called 'God Bless America'. Never judge a movie by it's title cause this isn't some patriotic film, this is a story of a guy called Frank, and he's tired of America.
Now before I continue, it's important for me to elaborate on the term that I used, 'America'. 'America' is not the country, or the people, but the widely propagated culture that we are constantly exposed to. Don't get me wrong, the US is filled with programs that are actually worth our time, with people that we actually don't mind listening too. However, this 'America' that we see, can be narrowed down to sub-groups like 'Reality TV', 'Sensationalism Newscasters', 'Desensitized Cartoons' and the list would go on, but I can't remember more (or the fancy terms that I'm using to define some of them!)
We see examples of Reality TV on channels like VH1, Channel V, MTV (in India at least) and in the last few years this has grown exponentially, earlier it used to be limited to the crap shows like 'My super sweet sixteen' however now the arsenal has expanded to include, Jersey Shore, and Keeping up with the Kardashians, along with Indian shows like, Steal Your Girlfriend, and Roadies, and the list goes on. These shows are filled with people who's lives and who's problems are so small and petty and they make them seem apocalyptic! The kind of shows where problems are fueled and people are made to be bitchy and rude, just for TRP's.
India's TV Culture is slowly getting influenced by these kind of shows, however, I remain confident that it'll never reach levels that American Shows reached due to the fact that most Indian's would rather watch KBC and K Serials than Roadies. As my Advertising class has taught me, it's an 80-20 ratio. 20 people will watch Roadies, the other 80 will watch KBC.
Wait, let's get back to the film!
SO, Frank is your average American, he has a normal job, lives in a crappy home. Oh and he is consistently bombarded with examples of people being rude, mean and simply being walking megaphones for the media to convey it's message.
Frank is really a representation of what many people feel, people who aren't in media. But how do you spread a message without using media? When you look at the problem that Frank is poised with, a cultural change that can be comparable to a cancerous growth on a healthy person. So, how do you remove the cancer? To keep it simple, you cut it out. Kill it.
And that's exactly what Frank does.
The movie made me take a nice good look at the society that we live in. Despite the fact that I hate the sheep mentality that drives most of the population, I don't think I'd be willing to pick up a gun and kill the propagators. It's a system, and if you remove the people running it, you'll only have someone else come and pick it up and start again.
The system needs to change, we need to become more aware of the big picture. It's easy to say that the wrong people are in power, but how many of us still vote them into power? It's easy to say that this show or movie is crap but still watch it, cause 'there isn't anything else'. We need to realize, that we are more than these pathetic politicians, news anchors, and actors. Cause we hold the power.
And the moment we seize that power, or even realize that power belongs to us, is when you become empowered to MAKE something change.
My college is starting a new program, it's called Between the Lines, and it's about discussing with academics on how WE can become more enlightened. If anyone reading this is in Pune, attend, it'll be well worth your time.
God Bless America was an interesting, thought provoking movie, which in my opinion is worth a watch, but certainly isn't a must (especially if you'd like to keep your blinders on). Be prepared for some foul language, gore and in some cases, killing that really doesn't make all that much sense, but a cause that does... sort of.
Now before I continue, it's important for me to elaborate on the term that I used, 'America'. 'America' is not the country, or the people, but the widely propagated culture that we are constantly exposed to. Don't get me wrong, the US is filled with programs that are actually worth our time, with people that we actually don't mind listening too. However, this 'America' that we see, can be narrowed down to sub-groups like 'Reality TV', 'Sensationalism Newscasters', 'Desensitized Cartoons' and the list would go on, but I can't remember more (or the fancy terms that I'm using to define some of them!)
We see examples of Reality TV on channels like VH1, Channel V, MTV (in India at least) and in the last few years this has grown exponentially, earlier it used to be limited to the crap shows like 'My super sweet sixteen' however now the arsenal has expanded to include, Jersey Shore, and Keeping up with the Kardashians, along with Indian shows like, Steal Your Girlfriend, and Roadies, and the list goes on. These shows are filled with people who's lives and who's problems are so small and petty and they make them seem apocalyptic! The kind of shows where problems are fueled and people are made to be bitchy and rude, just for TRP's.
India's TV Culture is slowly getting influenced by these kind of shows, however, I remain confident that it'll never reach levels that American Shows reached due to the fact that most Indian's would rather watch KBC and K Serials than Roadies. As my Advertising class has taught me, it's an 80-20 ratio. 20 people will watch Roadies, the other 80 will watch KBC.
Wait, let's get back to the film!
SO, Frank is your average American, he has a normal job, lives in a crappy home. Oh and he is consistently bombarded with examples of people being rude, mean and simply being walking megaphones for the media to convey it's message.
Frank is really a representation of what many people feel, people who aren't in media. But how do you spread a message without using media? When you look at the problem that Frank is poised with, a cultural change that can be comparable to a cancerous growth on a healthy person. So, how do you remove the cancer? To keep it simple, you cut it out. Kill it.
And that's exactly what Frank does.
The system needs to change, we need to become more aware of the big picture. It's easy to say that the wrong people are in power, but how many of us still vote them into power? It's easy to say that this show or movie is crap but still watch it, cause 'there isn't anything else'. We need to realize, that we are more than these pathetic politicians, news anchors, and actors. Cause we hold the power.
And the moment we seize that power, or even realize that power belongs to us, is when you become empowered to MAKE something change.
My college is starting a new program, it's called Between the Lines, and it's about discussing with academics on how WE can become more enlightened. If anyone reading this is in Pune, attend, it'll be well worth your time.
God Bless America was an interesting, thought provoking movie, which in my opinion is worth a watch, but certainly isn't a must (especially if you'd like to keep your blinders on). Be prepared for some foul language, gore and in some cases, killing that really doesn't make all that much sense, but a cause that does... sort of.
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