Halfway from Freedom, Halfway to Freedom

I'm starting to near the end of my second year in college, half way done! I've noticed that my appreciation for many things has changed in this time. To scratch the surface, my appreciation for international politics and current events has skyrocketed. There was a time that I would seldom read a newspaper, let alone pick it up. Hostel life has helped me achieve this, by removing the concept of a newspaper, I am able to pickup on the main new headlines from sources like BBC. Websites filled with journalists that have some sort of standard for writing (as compared to some of the newspapers in India)

Take for instance, the current situation between India and Italy. The case of the two Italian Marines, firing and killing two Indian Fishermen in, apparently, International Waters. Earlier, I'd have listened and taken note of the event, not giving it much attention. However, after becoming more aware of the international system, and how countries react to each other, I am honestly much, much more attentive about this. I read the article 20 minutes ago, and my mind is racing.

How will this affect the EU and India? What's going to happen if the Italian Government says "screw you" and takes the Italian Ambassador back to Italy? India's response will set a standard as to how India reacts towards many future international events. Similarly, Manmohan Singh will be looking to have a stronger stance so as to ensure that the people of India are able to, once again, think that he - and by extension, the Congress, is able to handle such events. Would this result in the Indian Judicial System developing a much stronger stance towards international criminals and international crimes?

My opinion on the Italian dialogue is that the government has acted very stupidly, they have destroyed their reputation in the Italian political system. There was the cancelled helicopter deal which was in the news recently, on top of that there is this. The Italian Ambassador staked his entire countries reputation on the request for bail. For them to, less than a week before the deadline, to backtrack shows that they never had any intention to follow the court order at all. India should be offended that it's courts are seen as a simple piece of paper. The Italian Governments claim, that the charge was not applicable, since it happened in International Waters, is a stance that they maintained from the start of the situation. However, to make a legal promise and then go back on that shows extreme insult to India and the relation between the two countries.

Another current event, the new Pope; I am not a catholic, but I was paying rapt attention to it, not for anything else but because countries are built around a political ideology, and the one thing that clearly cuts through it is religion. The entire story, from the resignation of Benedict to the appointment of Francis is intriguing to me. It opens up so much, because the concept of a Pope and the Vatican is so unusual in today's world. The Vatican is considered a country, and as a result, whenever you have a pope elected, you are having a head of state come in from another part of the world!

What also has begun to dawn on me is that plenty of people still don't see the world as the interconnected jigsaw puzzle it is. Not literally, cause it is physically interconnected, (duh!) but in terms of distance and how what happens to one affects another. Even if that person is thousands of miles away in a different country, following a different faith. I remember when Pope John Paul II died, there were Indians who felt said, not because of faith or anything like that, but just because he was a good man, who did good things.

There is so much that can come out of such events, but it's only stuff that is coming out after my mind has been opened up due to studying International Relations.

My Major in college is Media Studies, and while I've started to appreciate film much more, attempting to understand characters, how the story is going to progress and why certain camera angles are used. I still find myself enjoying simple rock-'em sock-'em movies where 1% of my brain is required. Sue me, I like movies for the fun they give me when I'm just relaxing. However, if I go out to watch a movie and a cinema hall, you can be sure that I will analyze every damn thing that comes on screen. I've paid money and I want to get the most out of the experience.

But the class has been so infectious, simply from how it's changed how I look at media forms. I haven't necessarily studied about comic books, or music or photographs. And yet, when I listen to my music, I find myself getting sucked into the music, going down, past the basic tune and falling into the meaning of the music How the artist has blended different genres. I might not appreciate it like how a singer or a musician might, but I like to think that I have developed a different appreciation for it.

Comic books are something that I have and I think, always will, (much to my mother's dismay I'm sure) but while as a kid I loved superheroes for their outfits and the 'biff'-'bam'-'boom', now I've started to appreciate the story that the writers have created. Theirs is an amazing, unappreciated art, they have to write an entire story with such detail that the artist know what he has to draw perfectly. The stories are so beautifully designed, and the characters developed so well that it's a wonder that most comic book writers don't become authors. They certainly have better plots than some books.

I've been able to make the transition from looking at comic books as drawings to individual pieces of art. I've learned how to see what the artist is doing with their shading and perspective. More amazingly, I've actually become able to know which artist has done which comic, just by seeing the cover of the comic!

My appreciation for superheroes has also changed drastically. With a greater understanding of what each hero represents and how they go about it, my appreciation for heroes like Batman, the Punisher and Captain America has magnified tremendously. Not for anything else, but because they are heroes that know the world and still fight for what is right. As a child I loved Superman, however now, I love alternate versions of the character, who takes charge of the situation and uses his overwhelming force to impose order. The appreciation for the character of superheroes and their individual personal demons is something I value a lot.

This kind of an understanding, this kind of appreciation for the arts would not have happened had I not been studying the subject. The exposure has allowed me to stop glancing and start observing, to stop hearing and start listening.

At this milestone in my college education I am proud of my development, for how could I dream of valuing or enjoying a job with my degree if I didn't enjoy my passions with the same teachings of such a degree?

Update: Seems like Francis I will actually also be making some connections to my Media class, it's rumored that he's going to be stressing much more on public relations, something which the Vatican has been happy ignoring. His statements are growing more and more and more interesting, from the quip that the Vatican had to look to the end of the world to find a new Pope, to saying that the Church should be like a 'Compassionate NGO'. I am extremely interested in how this will all develop!

My First, and Possibly Last, Podcast

More than a year ago, when SSLA was in it's first year and I was running around trying to get the clubs set up, or as some people might say, being a complete dictator, a friend pf mine, Navroze Anwar (you might remember him from here ) ran up to me and said,

"Vir, you know what would be awesome? If SSLA had a podcast."

The minute I heard the idea, I was sold. Podcasts are an amazing medium to communicate with the world and they are a great asset for people to get out of their shells and express their opinions.

I am not one that believes in destiny or a singular path to life, but I have to say that things really seemed to fall into place for this one. During a trip to Hong Kong, I picked up a microphone, intended for my Canon 500D (So that I could shoot some awesome movies) however, my camera didn't support the mike. So I tucked it away, waiting for someone either for someone to buy it or to find some use for it.

Then one night the memory of what Navroze said to me came rushing back and I suddenly had a new idea for a new project.

I met the college web team to discuss it and figure out how they wanted to go about it. I made it very clear that this was going to be run by me, and I wouldn't want any sort of faculty interference (except for regulating content, which I can do rather well, if I may say myself.) I said confidently that I was going to hold auditions and select interested students to make up the 4 hosts.

Naively, I was quick to place myself as one of the hosts.

I held auditions the next week, after sending email after email to the entire college explaining the idea and trying to sell the concept to them. I got 13 names, 3 showed up for auditions, 2 called in sick. I'd admit, it felt like I had tripped a bit, nevertheless, I kept a positive outlook. Three people had come, and they weren't bad at all. Their interest spoke more than audition was intended to cover.

After all, to me, this Podcast was to be a place where interested people could come and speak on a variety of subjects.

That night, I was talking to a friend about the auditions and how only three people came, and how it was going to work and she asked me, rather directly, why I hadn't thought of making a sort of a group to judge and select the hosts.

I defended as much as I could, my stance being that since it was my initiative, it was not wrong for me to have the only say in how the episodes went down. However, as the discussion continued in the real world, a small debate occurred in my mind. The debate was as to whether this was a resurrection of my dictatorial side. (Read more on that kind of a dilemma here)

By the end of the night, I had realized my mistake. I was placing myself in a position that was completely against the spirit of the podcast. I wanted a series that anyone and everyone could speak on, so why was I putting myself as the selector?

Instead, I sent out another email, with a new structure. I told my classmates, that the auditions were scrapped (much to the disappointment of those who auditioned) and that instead, the podcast would have 4 hosts who could be anyone. There was no permanent posting. I said that I would be sitting in, however, if 4 people turned up, I'd vacate my seat and let them run the show.

So today we had the first episode , in my professional opinion, I believed that it was a bit shaky, a bit rusty, then again, this was the first time that any of us were doing this. So how prepared could we have possibly been?

The people who shared the mike with me were Aditya Joshi, an actor, filmmaker and photographer. He knows how to speak really well, and he proved that with how he enunciated every word and made perfect sense. There was Palak Sharma, debater, 'munner' and public speaker - Those interests say enough for how she speaks. And finally there was Sanjana Rastogi, who has interests in Model United Nations, and brought clear concise arguments to the episode.

When I played back the recording when it came to editing; I was met with the cold, harsh bitch-smack of reality. The biggest weak link that I found, was me.

Now I'm not fishing for sympathy or some nonsense like that, and I'm sure that when I tell my friends tomorrow about this tomorrow they'll say, "you were awesome!" and other inspiring words. However, listening to the content of my words, I feel I was a bit out of sync.

So, some introspection has come about, I've decided that I will play much more of a role in setting up the episodes and creating interesting content for the episodes. Of course I would jump back into which episodes suit my fancy.

It is merely an extension of the concept of the SSLA podcast, where SSLA has a voice with the world. Each episode should be unique, each starting sequence should be different, each discussion should bring a new person to the show.

That is what I aiming for, but as they say in some fields of photography, that sometimes, you need to craft the perfect photo. Maybe I need to craft the perfect show, and I can't do that behind a mike. I draw people in, once that is done, the perpetual motion of these programs will drive themselves.

So that was the story of my First, and probably, Last Podcast.

Thanks again to Navroze Anwar for coming up with this idea.
Thanks to Aditya, Palak, and Abhinav for coming and auditioning.
A big Thank You to Aditya, Palak and Sanjana for making the first SSLA Podcast a hit!

Iron Man 3 Trailer Speculation and Plot

Iron Man 3 is coming out this May, and a new trailer was released today.

The trailer actually confirmed a lot of facts that were as of yet, speculated, but not confirmed. One such fact was the appearance of the Iron Man Armory.

The Iron Man Armory is, essentially, Tony Stark's Iron Man wardrobe. Inside the Armory is every iteration and variation of the Iron Man armor ever developed. It was initially created to house the number of armors that Stark came up due to the variation of his adventures. He had a Space Armor (which, after the Avengers, seems a bit necessary) and a Hulkbuster Armor (also necessary after the Avengers) along with a whole lot more.

The main armor that Stark is supposed to be using in the movie, is an adaptation of the Extremis Armor. What makes this armor special is that it was the first armor that allowed Tony Stark to mentally summon the armor. It has been mentioned by the Director that he was basing it off the Extremis Storyline, however, after watching the new trailer. I have a different opinion.

The trailer shows some scenes that are completely alien to the Extremis story arc. Extremis is a story of how a virus makes a man stronger than Tony Stark's Iron Man suit, this allows him to launch a series of devastating attacks on the USA. Tony realizes he has to upgrade to match this and undergoes the Extremis process and becomes practically seamless with his suit.

Now that sets the stage of a terror attack, however, it doesn't explain the explosion at the start of the trailer and a scene where the Mandarin is standing with a bunch of men attached to some metal frame.

This sort of a process bears a similarity to what was seen in the pages of Iron Man: The Five Nightmares.

In this arc, a villain is able to recreated the arc reactor that Tony developed; recreate and weaponize it. Just like how Ivan Vanko did at the end of Iron Man 2.

The trailer shows scenes where there are peoples shadows burned onto the walls, which is testament enough that there will be some reference to the weaponize of the arc reactor. Which would make it insanely easy for the Mandarin's character to gain such notoriety that the US President would launch a man hunt for him.

As far as the image of Pepper is concerned, the rig that is shown above is near identical to rig that all those guys are connected to in the upper image. So maybe the Mandarin is going to use Pepper as leverage against Tony. (Not seen this in a comic, but it has probably happened before)



The closing images of the trailer echoed the exact closing scenes of 'The Five Nightmares' where Stark Industries' various headquarters are about to be destroyed by bombers. Tony is told that 'you can't do it alone, you need backup' (or something like that) With that, Tony calls in the Armory and saves the day by EMPing the entire area.

So, it seems like that Iron Man 3 might just be a combination of Extremis and The Five Nightmares. However, I hope that the director has taken some attempt to add his own original flair to two otherwise amazing story arcs.

Another possible story that might be incorporated, which I now sort of doubt, is the concept of the Sentient Armor.

Here's to an exciting two months of waiting and speculating as to how Tony Stark will finally come face to face with the Mandarin! Is he going to have a host of Iron Men supporting him or is it going to be just him and the Mandarin slugging it out? I can't wait! Can you?

Comics in Superhero Movies: Inspirations or Copied?

When one casts a glance back at modern superhero films: Batman Begins, the Avengers, Iron Man 1 & 2, etc. They've all taken something from the comic books.

I mean it'd be stupid for the directors to NOT take stuff from the comics, the comics have the best stories and twists, it's a treasure trove for the superhero genre.

However, it seems that off late, that a bit too much is taken from the comics. It's fine of course, but when it greases the wheels of the film to the extent that the independent, original story gets pushed to the back, then it becomes a problem.

Now there are examples that support what I'm claiming and examples that don't, in the true spirit of insanity and arguing with myself, I'll give you both and battle it out.

Too much from Comics: The Dark Knight Rises

Too little from Comics: Iron Man 2

The Dark Knight Rises

The ending of Nolan's amazing run with Batman reached a crecendo with The Dark Knight, now whether it was because of hype in the wake of Ledger's death or the actual amazing story, it was truly a story that reflected originality and took the correct cues from the comics, but was very much an independent, unique story.

I get the feeling that Nolan rushed the production of TDKR, the story was flimsy at best. I'll break it down for you, so if you are a TDKR fan, please do not be angry with me for ruining anything.

First off, what did Nolan take from the comics:
Batman's retirement and reappearance - The Dark Knight Returns
The breaking of Batman's back and Batman's triumphant return - Knightfall
The blockade of Gotham and the lack of involvement from the US Govt - No Man's Land

Now when I write only three comics, it doesn't seem like a lot, however, these three comics are absolutely ground breaking stories that have shaped the Batman Mythos completely. It's like trying to combine Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and then wanting some original elements. It's impossible.

As a result of combining all these stories, with the films intended plot, you were actually given a much weaker story than you should have been given. The reason is that the stories don't gel. If you combined any two, I can guarentee you would have had a much stronger plot.

If Bane had broken Batman's back and then spent the next few months taking hold of Gotham and then holding it ransom for a few more months, it would have allowed Batman to recover with some reality in place.

I'll let this video further elaborate on the plot holes in TDKR

Iron Man 2

When compared to TDKR it is important to restate that the Iron Man universe is much more fictional than the intended universe that Nolan created, thus, Iron Man having an electronic disk in his chest can make some sense.

Iron Man 2 takes its main cues from the following story arcs:
Tony's alcohol abuse at his party - Demon in A Bottle
The spreading of the Iron man armor and Arc Reactor Tech - Armor Wars

Again it is not like the director is taking a massive number of comics and smashing them together, however, when I look at this movie, I can't help but feel that there was much more depth that could have happened with the whole alcoholism angle that Demon in A Bottle brings.

Demon in A Bottle is a story arc where Tony Stark, through alcohol abuse gets a person killed while in the Iron Man suit and is kicked out of Stark Industries; Rhodey takes over the Iron Man suit and Tony is left penniless. He rebuilds and takes back his company by fighting Stane (Similar to how Iron Man 1 went down).

Armor Wars was an arc where Tony Stark discovers that his technology has been recreated and people have been able to create crude Iron Man replicas and cause havoc in 'rogue states' and are used by mercenaries.

I felt that in the movie, the whole sensation of Armor Wars was very much there, however, the downward spiral that Tony Stark falls into was a bit lacking. Again, this is only commenting from the perspective that Stark could have been shown to have had a much greater reliance on alcohol and this lead to his mismanagement of the Suit. I mean, you can't get tossed around your house and have a fight with your best friend without being at the bottom of a deep, dark bottle.

So why am I harping about this influence of Comics in Superhero Movies?

Check it out here.

Reflections in the Wake of Batman Incorporated #8

It's kind of silly,

I just wrote a post, about how amazing Scott Snyder's 'Death of the Family' arc was so amazing just because of the fact that no one died. He changed the game by making death mean different things.

Two weeks have passed and what do you know? Grant Morrison decided to spice up his Batman Incorporated run by killing the newest boy wonder.

Damian Wayne is dead.

I won't say that he died badly, many heroes couldn't ask for a better death. However, it seems to me that the comic left very little doubt in the readers mind that Damian was going to die. The cover was a spin on the popular cover used to usher in 'Batman R.I.P' which changed the status quo of all future Batman comics.

 

See the similarity?

The entire issue of Batman Incorporated #8 set the stage of Robin's death. From the cover (seen above) to the dialogue that occurs between characters. Damian has small talks with the other Robins, making amends and saying what he had to before he crossed into the grand beyond.

There is a symmetry to how Damian dies as Batman is otherwise occupied, it seems to reflect how Jason Todd died at the hands of the Joker.

What I don't really understand is why Grant Morrison decided to take this decision of killing Damian. He ended the first issue of Batman Incorporated with a cliffhanger that suggested that Damian was dead, this time, he's made it much more permanent, but as the Joker would say. "What's the fun of repeating a joke?"

Speaking of the Joker, considering the other events in the Batman Universe, Death of the Family, Damian's death is unnatural and out of place.

The DotF arc resulted in the Batfamily not trusting Batman and being unsure about what he has and hasn't told him. Bruce realized how important his family is to him, which seems to explain why he wanted to save Damian rather than seeing him dead.

Scott Synder had written about how if he killed someone in DotF it would have actually brought the Bat Family together, so the events of Batman Inc #8 seem to essentially ignore this premise and assume that the scars of DotF will keep the rest of the Batman family to cry in their rooms alone.

Another important thing that will come out of this is that Alfred is going to feel some crazy guilt. He let Damian out of the cave and when Batman returns with a dead Robin, no one is going to feel the punch more than Alfred.

I can't seem to understand what is going to happen after this, the series has already seen the death of Knight, the Batman of England. With the death of Robin, the objective of showing the war between Batman Inc and the League of Assassins is clear, with losses on both side. However, there is a line between killing grunts and key characters who's deaths will be felt in the pages of other books.

I can't help but feel sad for Damian who was really becoming an amazing Robin. He was like a mini-Batman and it was nice to see that fatherly instinct come from Batman to protect Robin more than once. It made it nice when Robin disobeyed his father as it was an instance that any kid could relate to. Doing something you weren't supposed to and then saying sorry and living with the accusing stares (then again, not many of us would go and kill people and then get the stares).

In Batman and Robin's recent Annual Damian was connecting to his Wayne legacy and becoming closer to his father. While some people might say that this makes the death all the more painful on Batman, it actually seems a tad premature. There was so much character development happening that killing Robin now seems a bit abrupt and anti-climatic.

Sadly what is done is done.

DC has released some new covers that will represent the Bat-Families anguish over the death of their youngest parter, however, what I've found is that none of them is as impactful as Batman and Robin #18

Batman and Robin issues have been characterized by having Robin and Batman present on the cover, or at least some representation of them. This cover seems to drive home the solitude that Batman would be feeling with the death of Damian, as he now patrols Gotham, alone. The dark textures further this solitude and when you compare it to the official cover of Batman and Robin #18 it simply removes Damian from the cover and changes the colour scheme, making it much more about Batman and the fact that he is now alone.

Deaths in comic books are as permanent as the writers want the deaths to be. Synder had stated that if he had killed someone in DotF they'd stay dead as long as he could manage it, however, the resurrection and demise of characters can often be a managerial decision and might actually not be what the writer wants to do.

Considering the new path this puts the Dark Knight on, I hope DC gets a good amount of insight into how Batman has gone from being the 'Son who lost his Parents' to the 'Father who lost his Son' the character of the hero is certain to change as the rage of this fact is bound to push him into dangerous corners.

I'm excited to see what happens, but sad that one of the most Bad ass Robins is dead.

Oh and don't get on me about spoilers, the NY Times had published an article on it, and every DC Comic has a backup where it is clearly stated that Robin is dead. Like I said, DC wants everyone to know that he's dead. What they do with all this attention, is a different story entirely.