bumi manusia

to me 'babel' is pure genius.

i can stare at the movie over and over again, and still be amazed at the delivery.

the movie focuses on four interrelated sets of situations + characters, with many of the events revealed out of sequence, all imminently coming toward each other + coalescing as the movie progresses. its mishmash-ed story threads is not a surprise, since 'babel' is directed by the same auteur who gave us '21 grams'.

i've been thinking, it has long been an axiom of the media that bad news sells. given a choice between a mass murder and the construction of a hospital, most people will be drawn towards the massacre. to sell titles, even if its a broadsheet, the press sensationalise bad news, at least in malaysia (zuhri may come to the publishing community's defence just about now, if he reads this).

:op

fine, reporting bad news may be a public duty; but choosing worst case scenarios all the time indicates another motive or agenda. a hint to my dear readers: a worried society is a divided society; anxiety is easier to control than confidence (be careful when met with a persistant war monger).

'babel' subtly depicts the current world climate; much of humanity is returning to the days of witches, anti-christ, and self-willed apocalypse, when most of humanity is actually just trying to make a living.

is there really a terrorist threat?

since 9/11, many western leaders insist that international terrorism is the greatest threat to world security, but the evidence simply does not support this claim. come on ... how can iraq, a country which had suffered years of 'resolution 661' by un security council, create or maintain even its weapons of mass destruction.

what's unfortunate, the so-called war on terror would only spawn new, real terror. don't you think? if only the international muslim community could learn from the american history, specifically the demonisation of the african americans, maybe then we wouldn't fall into the trap.

criticism is prejudice made plausible. mencken said "for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong". i reckon there are some truth in that, i may be wrong too. menyesal tak buang masa baca this post?

teehehehe!!!

by the way, if you're looking for something to do, drop by galeri petronas for masnoor ramli mahmud's 'bumi manusia' exhibition of paintings with photographic images, which is currently on until 15 july 2007 at the gallery located in suria klcc, on level 3.

the title to the exhibition reminded me to one of pramoedya ananta toer's earlier work, sharing the same title. pramoedya's work has always been intense + there's always a vein of bitterness going through his plots. but reading 'bumi manusia', was like being pushed into a corner while the world was closing in on you. so when i finished, i felt as if i’d just been released from a menacing prison. i walked out, and never went back.

*tiba2 i see myself escaping the cells with michael scofield in prison break*

hi handsome!

maybe i was too young when i initially read it, maybe i misunderstood 'bumi manusia', maybe it's time to revisit.

have a good week ahead, peeps!