A beautiful evening walk

Stranger Things and Disney brings back our childhoods

Stranger Things

I've started watching Stranger Things on Netflix and, am wholly addicted to it! After a long time, a series has got me hooked on such an elemental basis. Stranger Things' main characters are nerdy, enthusiastic and, adventurous children. They read books, solve problems, love their science teacher, are members of their own secret club and, are (the best part) best friends. It takes you right back to your childhood, your childhood friendships and, your incredible curiosity. I simply love it and, best of all, both Kavita and I are watching it eagerly! 

The whole premise of the series is highly original. The 80s setting couldn't be better - the time of mix tapes, outdoor fun, secret clubs, and the Cold War. I love the music, the stylistic titles of each episode, and, the intro. 

All the actors have masterfully portrayed their characters, most of all the children. And, there are some very very tender and sweet moments between the friends. 

I have a few objections though. For all the backlash that Hollywood gets for it's one-dimensional-only-white portrayal, why so few black characters on the show?  There is one black kid amongst the children and, he's not very well developed. We have hardly met his parents, just his little sister who gets on his nerves. Apart from him, there's almost no developed black character. I understand this story is set in a small town which must be mostly white but then, set it in a place with more black people and, have more black characters. 

What's interesting is that at one point Lucas is extremely mean towards Max (love jealousy) and, when Elevan meets her 'sister' (another gifted child who was tortured and experimented on in the Lab), she is shown to be a brown girl. So, she turns out to be one another non-white significant character but she is the anti-hero. She wants to fight those who tortured her as a lab rat and, Elevan shuns her. This is what I call Tendency to Portray Revolutionary Characters as Evil. 

And, as for race, it's hinted at when the new girl, Max's brother, starts warning his sister to stay away from Lucas, the token black boy. This is the only mention of race and, it remains just a hint and, isn't even discussed or explored. 

In the third season, Dusty apparently meets a girl who he falls in love with at camp or a science fair, and he explains to his friends that she is Mormon: "white religious people." This is the other mention of race. 

My second objection has to do with the brutal elimination of the character Bob. He is sacrificed very unfairly for the sake of the story because he is so good, so sweet and so selfless. This is a travesty! It is highly convenient for the sake of moving the story forward so that those who loved him could vengefully destroy defeat shadow monster. But it seemed to be an outdated technique. Why always kill off the sweetest and nicest character? And, that too, in such an excruciating manner? 

I've just started watching Season 3 and, hope the Russians are not going to be the convenient bad guys. I really hope not. 

Disney Reboots Our Childhoods and We Start Weeping in Cinema Theatres

I've been to see Dumbo, Aladdin and Lion King at the cinema. All three films were extremely moving  and, revived my childhood. 

I must have seen Dumbo only once or twice and that, too, when I was very young. It's one of the oldest animated films and, along with Sleeping Beauty or Bambi, one doesn't remember much except the feeling of terror. The earlier animated films were not sanitised at all and, depicted fairy tales in their original gore and glory. The live action version of Dumbo is very good and, I believe it modifies the original cartoon storyline quite a bit. Dumbo was absolutely adorable. I loved the rendition of Baby Mine in the movie.

Aladdin was very thrilling. Even before it was released, we were of course pissed off that Jasmine was going to be played by a non-Arab actor. However, Jasmine's role was made much stronger with new songs and new scenes where she could display her strength and character. That Aladdin was rebooted with a feminist twist is commendable. I was very excited to know Will Smith was going to play Genie but I don't think he was roaringly funny. What do you think? But the romance between Genie and Jasmine's handmaid was a brilliant addition!

Jafar's character was played to perfection! What a nice portrayal of Jafar, very measured and very evvvvvil, indeed!

Somehow, unexpectedly, I started weeping when the song "I can show you the world" started filling my ears. I started singling and, my eyes started tearing up. How did I remember all the words ? I felt extremely old and nostalgic for my childhood.

Lion King, too, had the same effect. I haven't seen Lion King since my teenage years but all the songs came back, all the scenes came back and, I was overjoyed. I loved seeing this movie come to life and, experiencing it with Kavita. I think it would have been interesting if Lion King had been rebooted as Lion Queen, as feminist reboots have made inroads in Hollywood. And, it is the lionesses which do most of the hunting.

What remains annoying is how a movie will have 3-4 accents in the same movie, in the same family.  Why is Zazu talking in Queen's English and, why is Simba got such an annoying American kid voice ? And, why is the hyena talking in East African English accent? I mean.

I will ignore those little details because it was a privilege, nay, an honour to hear the most magnificient, most royal, most iconic voice of (drum roll, red carpet, long baited breath) of JAMES EARL JONES as Mufasa in the cinema! To have his booming baritone thunder in the cinema hall is a treat. [Yes, he also did the voice for the animated version of the movie]

And, speaking of voice acting, I could hardly guess the actors (I purposely did not bother checking out the the names before). I am usually very good at guessing the voices. But this time I could only guess Seth Rogen as Pumbaa. I thought Scar's voice acting was brilliant and, too bad I couldn't guess who it was (Chiwetel Ejiofor). I thought Zazu was Hugh Laurie, I was so sure but turns out it was John Oliver. I tried and tried to guess Sarabi and Naala but failed. 

And, this is how you open a mango seed

And, how fascinating! This little seed has the blueprint to make a whole mango tree which would give us years and years of mangoes. 

Monday Evening walk

PTCL has finally put up boards to explain why they are digging up gardens all over the neighbourhood. 

Notice the trash dumpster - how lovely the rubbish is.