A Wednesday happening in which I dissolve posting flummoxia by posting a a jambalaya, a comfort basket, a wiry fankle (a Scottish word that means a tangle or a state of confusion), a bit of this and tad of that.
Fankle One – Slum Dog Millionaire Rant
I did not like this movie.
Yes, it’s gorgeously shot and the music is good and there are some good moment and here’s my rant: why in the holy mother of movie gods world would anybody think this movie is uplifting? Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, said the film was “a modern fairy tale,” a “sensory blowout,” and “one of the most upbeat stories about living in hell imaginable.”
She’s not the only person to call this movie upbeat or uplifting.
WTF?
What worries me – really worries me – is that anyone could think that this movie was anything but a) calculating and / or b) an indictment of global capitalism.
The movie is either a big hard poke in the ribs of globalization or a big hard poke at people who want to take what is ugly and make it bright and cheery.
Either way: not uplifting.
By saying a movie like this is “uplifting,” we let ourselves sidestep the impact. If it’s uplifting, who needs to adopt a kid from the slums? If it’s uplifting, who needs to think about the impact more-better-faster is having on those with no choice but to “compete?” If it’s uplifting, we get to walk away thinking, “Oh good for him, he got the money and the girl. Life does work out so neatly when you try hard enough.” Instead of wondering if, by the end, he even cared.
Fankle Two – The Subtle Body
What is subtle energy? I love the idea of it, the experience of it, the possibility of it. From the energy of our heart brain to chakras to energy fields, studying this stuff and using it with coaching clients is powerful stuff. This book is the first encyclopedia of the subtle body – Cyndi Dale maps ping out all the major systems – in a way that is very easy to follow for a casual learned like me. Plus, it’s pretty.
Fankle Three – Kat’s Question
Kat, a member over the Comfort Cafe, asked a question that hasn’t been addressed in our forums so I thought I’d take a spin with it here. We’ve been talking about self-trust and her question is referencing one of The-Not-Quite-So-Daily-Dollop which said:
We live in a society of answers, of experts and advice columns and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life.
Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to talk to your teenager – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life or make your choices better than you. (Although one or two people may, indeed, think they do.)
Today’s Intention: To ask myself first, “What do I know about this?” before I ask someone else.
Kat’s Question:
The idea of asking ourselves first is a good one – yet one I avoid because I don’t want to hear the answer, don’t want to change my approach, don’t want to be patient, etc…
How do I deal with it when I know the answer but don’t want to listen?
Kat, I am so with you!
I can easily fall into a story that stopping to listen to myself will mean I will have to change my life in some big scary way.
I also notice, however, that this story isn’t true.
It isn’t true because I get to choose what I do with what I hear.
I may hear something that scares me or that I’m not ready to do or that I’m not even ready to hear twice… and that’s all okay.
I can take myself by the hand, I can give myself some love, I can tell myself that I can wait…
But what’s not okay with me is not listening to myself in the first place; I will no longer ignore my own wisdom; it might not be right, it might not be time, it might not be easy, but I will grant myself the same love and attention I do to those that I love.
Kat, I want to ask you a few questions,
- How do you know you won’t like what you hear?
- What are you basing that on?
- Have you ever heard something that asked you to make a big change? and
- What self-love and self-kindness or even a tad of self-sweetness would help you feel safe?
Remember, you don’t have to do anything you aren’t ready for but please consider granting yourself the attention you deserve.
Fankle Four – My Daughter is God
She just called me and said, “Jennifer, this is God. No matter who stressed out you’ve been, I want you to know everything will be okay.”
She said this in a low weird God-like voice.
Sweet child o’ mine.
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12 responses so far ↓
1 Joely Black Feb 25, 2009
I love Kat’s remarks, and I really needed to hear that today. There is a lot of advice and how to do things. But I have a way of doing things, and that’s right for me. Advice, advice, advice. But I know how to do what I want to do, I know what works for me.
Thank you for reminding me of that.
I can also understand your feelings about Slumdog Millionaire, even without seeing it myself. We are, in the west, obsessed with contradictory ideas – the holiness of absolute poverty and the joy of being rescued from it.
Joely Black’s last blog post..The art of not doing
2 Dawn Feb 25, 2009
I also appreciate your comments about self-trust. I tend to get input from everyone. Recently, an old friend w/whom I haven’t spoken in almost a year (a truly transformative year, mind you) attempted to give me unsolicited advice about what I’ll be doing with my PhD once I graduate (I don’t plan on teaching, which bucks the paradigm). That was a good opportunity to shuck off reliance on others’ views of me and to hold my own.
I agree w/you about Slumdog, too. I watched that movie on Christmas day, when I was all alone. Bad, bad idea. It was totally overwhelming and extremely violent. No one talks about how violent this movie is (even if it is based in some reality). I often avoid violent films because of their affect on me. I have enough inner turmoil; I don’t need to feed it any further!
3 Grace Feb 25, 2009
I have to laugh!
All year so far – actually starting midyear last year – I have been whonked over the head (with love, I’m sure) by repeatedly noticing how I trip myself up when I don’t listen to what I already know.
It’s sometimes a tad (!) intimidating for me to let go of reliance on outside experts. I’ve looked outside most of my life for answers, “the way to do something,” the rules, the shoulds.
But oh, my, what a huge sense of freedom and joy there is in looking inside and really standing on what I know to be true for myself!
Great post, Jen – thank you!
Grace’s last blog post..What is vulnerability?
4 Linda Feb 25, 2009
Interesting. I had a different reaction to Slumdog. To me, it was clear that the guy did not care about winning the money, only about rescuing someone he cared about from a dreadful situation he felt some responsibility for. We cared if he won, but he did not. He won, not because he worked hard, but because of what he had learned from what he had been through. And his goodness ultimately redeemed his brother (in a way) who gave his life for the girl. To me, it was a movie about the high price we pay in our souls when we go along and violate our values to get ahead. And about the high price the world around us and those we care about may pay unless we change our ways and try to make things better. And- I loved the Bollywood dance sequence.
5 Eveline Feb 25, 2009
I heart your daughter – cool kid!
Eveline’s last blog post..Bits and Pieces of Things
6 Kate Feb 25, 2009
Wow, your daughter rules.
7 Flowersbyfarha Feb 26, 2009
Apparently I’m experiencing a bit of wiry frankle #2… somehow not connecting on title of this very interesting book about subtle energy? More info please?
Everything else pleasantly untangled.
8 Dee Feb 26, 2009
Well, you got me nodding vigorously at “it might not be right, it might not be time, it might not be easy, but I will grant myself the same love and attention I do to those that I love.” In’t it grand that we are grownups now who can decide to no longer be limited by other people’s judgments? I keep forgetting that, too, so I thank you deeply for reminding me.
xx
Now I’m trying to copy what Eveline did, because I think it’s cool and that click is mine!
Dee’s latest blog post: My truth and Elizabeth Gilbert
Dee’s last blog post..My truth and Elizabeth Gilbert
9 Jennifer Feb 26, 2009
Hi FlowersbyFarha – the link is actually in the title and here it is:http://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Body-Encyclopedia-Energetic-Anatomy/dp/1591796717/jennierlouden
Thanks everybody for your great comments – Linda, I LOVED your much most astute look at Slumdog, thanks for sharing that.
And yes Grace and yes Dee, that idea of listening, of granting ourselves the same love and attention, ah what a feeling of peace rises in me each time I remember that one!
10 Diedra Feb 26, 2009
Jen, you have raised an amazing daughter!
11 Deborah Feb 27, 2009
Dev Patel was on the Daily Show with John Stewart and he was talking about the boys that played the characters. He talked about how all these people live in abject poverty but they relate to one another in very positive ways and live as a community. I felt that watching the movie.
It is an indictment of catitalism and all the things you said and the living conditions are deplorable but it was a good story, presented in a compelling way. I liked it.
12 Betsy Feb 28, 2009
Hi Jenn,
Interesting about Slumdog… I, like Linda, had a different reaction. First off, the beginning (1st hour or so) was really rough to get through. I went with a friend and she kept leaning over and whispering in my ear that she had to get out of the theater, she couldn’t watch anymore. I didn’t respond to her (this is unlike me), I assumed she would do what she needed to do for herself (she did stay). I felt compelled to stay (and for the life of me I didn’t know why) and watch how this film rolled out. I didn’t really know anything about the film at that point in time (not as much publicity about it when I saw it), but I just felt compelled for some reason.
Anyhow, as the film unfolded and then finished, I felt, somehow, complete. For me it wasn’t about the wealth at all. It was about destiny, the soul’s journey, and about living in integrity. Like the main character in the movie, 0ver my 40 plus years I have seen in my own life how very specific incidents of pain/struggle actually prepared me for a very specific incident in my future. Since this has happened more than a handful of times, I am finding that I am more and more accepting of the difficult times now, rather than merely fighting and resisting everything. (and I am one hell of a fighter!)
Anyhow, after reading your review I can certainly understand how you could see it in that light. The whole glitz/glamour/money aspect of the film is so typical of our Western way of viewing “success”. Like real life, the whole “spiritual” aspect of this film could get lost in the external details, if one did not look carefully for the deeper meaning.