Shrinks on Film: Slumdog Millionaire

With a slightly cheeky nod to a few predecessors (most particularly a comedy show called "In Living Color"), I will endeavor to start what will hopefully be an ongoing series (monthly, perhaps) of reviews from a perspective or two from those on this side of the couch.

Ideally, these postings will be on recommended films; and my first posting is certainly recommendable for the independent and foreign film fans, but also for those who enjoy a strong story line. The music is created by a personal favorite, A.R. Rahman; he rarely disappoints with his scores, and this is no exception. If you are expecting a classic "Bollywood" style of film, don't.

Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamaal, an orphaned child of the Mumbai slums who has gone onto India's version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire." His life story is told in retrospective pieces which coincide with the questions that he answers on the show. Because Jamaal is a "slum dog," many are questioning his ability to answer the questions, and he is accused of cheating.

The movie is very touching, and similar to other films that have shown the underbelly of India's slums, "City of Joy," and "Salaam Bombay" come quickly to mind. How Jamaal's relationships manage to survive incessant trauma is fascinating, although there is a price to pay for almost all of them. The central conflict of love versus survival plays out repeatedly, and love itself gets redefined from extreme dependence to extreme devotion.

From a study of the characters, most show very complex layers, especially Salim, Jamaal''s older brother who is struggling with fighting to survive, self definition, and his responsibility. While one could certainly see overt personality disorders in the sociopathy of some of the villains, it is a more nuanced degree of damage shown in our protagonists: The untrusting hard mental exterior of Jamaal, the depressed hopelessness occasioned by his love interest, Latika.

Life and death are presented in constant contradiction: at times both are treasured and worthless, a gift and a curse, sacred and profane. Sex and love are given a similar juxtaposition. The misery meted out by the various social structures (read: caste system) such as the media, bureaucracy, and countless illegitamate and immoral business endeavors, leave one, in retrospect, with a sense that this is not so much a story of triumph, but of good fortune for a few souls, out of the millions.

A Bat, a Mouse, and a Lamb, or How I relaxed this summer.

A movie, and album, and a couple of books have been part of my R & R this summer.

First, “The Dark Knight”. Since apparently everyone has seen and commented on this movie, I’ll save any summary and I’ll try to add just a few thoughts:

1. Heath Ledger was very good. His master gesture got a bit redundant. I was waiting for him to start speaking in Parseltongue.
2. Shrink think: The joker is a good example of a sociopath; he just wants chaos. Two-Face, on the other hand, is delusional to psychotic proportions; he shows extremely clouded judgment but still seems to operate in some moral code. One could also argue that he is responding with narcissistic rage to a breakdown of his ideals and image (and his girlfriend).
3. The philosophical message got a wee muddled: Truth is important for the sake of Truth except when the city doesn’t need a Hero that stands for Truth, or if that Hero has a unneeded variation of Truth, then it redefines what a True Hero is, except when a Hero isn’t, etc., etc.

Second, Beck’s “Modern Guilt”, produced by Danger Mouse. Thoughts:

1. There are a lot of mouse droppings on this album. Those of you familiar with Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” will pick up the heavy usage of snare and funk bass. This is not a bad thing, necessarily, but it comes across as a bit forced at times, where other arrangements might be more complimentary to Beck’s style
2. Beck continues to expand his sound. He moves between 60’s bubblegum, to flower power, 70’s Funk, and Prog, all within the first few songs of the album. He comes back around to some alt-rock sounds that can only be described as “Beck-like” (or Beckish, or something).
3. That prog sound is nicely done on “Chemsounds,” probably my favorite song on the album.
4. Beck doesn’t rap. Hooray!

Third, I’ve had a few re-reads over the summer. A couple of them are worth mention.

Christopher Moore’s “Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff.” And “The Quiet Room, A Journey Out Of The Torment Of Madness,” by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett.

Moore’s novel is a hilarious recreation of the life of Jesus, as told by his best friend, Biff. It addresses some of the “lost years” of Jesus’ life, as well as a alternative perspective on the biblical gospels. Yes, it is quite sacrilegious in its style, but I was a bit misty-eyed at the end; even in this format, Moore still is telling the Greatest Story Ever.

Schiller’s book is about the life of a woman who begins having hallucinations, and her downward spiral into chronic psychosis. Clinically, she’d probably be called schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type in today’s language, but it’s serious mental illness, and that’s all we need to know. The fear, stigma, challenges and limitations of treatment, are all well represented in a timeline, with first and second hand perspective. The alternative perspectives of friends and families recorded are quite fascinating. It’s a great read, and I have recommended it at times for families affected with a loved one with serious mental illness.