Cinematic Dichotomy - Part 2

In this blog which is a continuation of the previous one I will discuss the word dichotomy in relation to three movies. The detailed definition of the word is something like this - a separation into two divisions that differ widely from or contradict each other (Text courtesy- Microsoft® Encarta® 2006) In all the movies that will be discussed in this blog, there is a predominantly visible dichotomy which really captured my attention. I think every good or bad movie contains some patterns and it is for the intelligent viewer to find it. To do this, he should disengage himself from the colors and sounds of a movie. Look at it from a distance with a critical stand and then note the designs within the movie.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The movies, is based on the life of Anneliesse Michel, a young catholic woman from Germany who died in 1976 after unsuccessful attempts to cure her from the alleged state of demonic possession with the use of psychotropic drugs. A church approved exorcism was performed on her, according to her wish. According to the court, her death was caused by medical neglect of the priest watching over her (Movie trivia courtesy – Wikepedia)

The above information clearly explains the inherent dichotomy between facts and faith. The Hollywood machinery has got a strong leniency towards the spiritual and the unknown because that’s what sells. Even an ordinary story of a peasant girl form Orleans was converted into a spiritual façade. (Reference to Joan of Arc) the same applies to a certain extent to Emily Rose. In this case the dichotomy helps and the movie grips the attention of the viewer for the slow but effective building of the arguments in the court. That’s the beauty of the dichotomy. It creates an opposition which is quite meaningful and elegant. The priest (supernatural, divine) on one side and the public prosecutor on the other side with his facts, figures, and logic. It is a clash between man of facts and man of faith.

The Devil wears Prada
An easy to watch movie with lots of beautiful faces and colorful dresses. Anne Hathaway is a feast to human eyes. Meryl Streep is old but plays the perfect foil and she knows what acting is. No wonder she got her 14th Oscar nomination for her role as Miranda Priestly – the editor of the fashion magazine Runway. The dichotomy here is between the characters of Streep and Anne Hathaway. The former is one is quite demanding and domineering. She is not concerned about human bonds and invests her time and energy in building the magazine. People don’t matter but the circulation of the magazine matters. Anne initially is fascinated by this world but when she sees that her own little world filled with love is crumbling under this pressure she takes her own decision. The final act of throwing the mobile into the street fountain is something which I liked. An act which can be compared to Ibsen’s Nora who shuts the door on her husband’s face.

Spiderman 3
The movie poster itself celebrated the dichotomy. The inner conflict inside Spiderman is amplified and magnified in this third installment from Marvel comics. The usual, red jacket is pitted against the black one. It is not just the ‘uniform’ that changes even the character of Spidy. He becomes more flirtatious and destructive. It looks as if the creators of Spiderman 3 is bored of the same goodie goodie image of Spidy. They want to show him in sinister way and by doing so they make the ardent fans of Spidy ask a stupid question – Oh what has happened to our Spiderman?

Cinematic Dichotomy - Part One

This blog is about a bunch of movies, which I watched in the recent past. Movies are the best anti-dote for loneliness (I am so blessed that my better half endorses the same view) this statement has been proved true many times in my own life. Now, seated in this classroom at Vocational Training College, Shinas which is 140 km away from Dubai, I am ready to write my first blog for the last month of this year. (Pretty long sentence eh! Strunk and E.B White will reprimand me for this gross of violation of style)
I don’t want to write an ordinary review of the movies. It is not the way. It is a big mistake and will go against my philosophy of writing – i.e. Writing is Creating. So through this blog I am trying to inject some new life and freshness into the whole process of writing and by extension to my life also. Before I attempt to write I would also like to document the different stages in creation of a blog.
The first thing that is necessary is a fine and active mood. Greek literaryscape contains the muse which I think is nothing but the inspiration to write. This inspiration doesn’t come everyday. It is rare and when it comes, I should be able to tap it and use it. This morning it came when I needed it the most. I was waiting in my classroom for my students (which is against the Koan saying – if the student is ready the teacher will appear) I appeared but no students. The reason is as clear as the morning sunrays that are peeping into this classroom – Bakrid celebrations. So the time was perfect and the mood was very much in me.

The next step is finding an answer to the big question – what to write about? This is indeed a difficult phase because most of the time there is never a straight answer to this. I have to look around and inside me to find the solution. Most of the time the answer comes from my heart and today was no different. Movies and their magical worked once again beckoned me and I readily took the plunge. Again there was a problem which I have mentioned earlier in this blog. The yearning to be different came like gushing waters and I meekly succumbed to it. Again the mind started working and finally decided that instead of writing a clichéd review let me find something common in all the movies and luckily I did find something common which I am very good in finding. It all started when I got introduced to the world of African American literature and along with it I got the word – Dichotomy. The word, at first appealed to my research topic i.e. Roots by Alex Haley. It means the differences between something or in other words – opposing things. Since my M.phil research was a continuation of my MA dissertation I was deeply influenced and I started discovering the significance of this in different contexts. I even wrote an article titled – The Beauty and the Beast keeping this idea in mind. So I connected this word with the movies that I have watched recently and thus I got the topic.

One the idea is formed then it is a matter of putting the initial thoughts into a piece of paper and the next step follows soon – use the MS word to type it and after adding the necessary images and put it here….
(To be continued)