Hello my Tamil friend

Gray Man 

⭐

⭐

⭐/5

In the world of Hollywood movies, nationalities and identities are filtered through the American Empire's lens: American sniper, war veterans, Africa (yes, the continent with 54 countries), evil Russians and so on. Refreshingly, in The Gray Man, Lone Wolf played by Dhanush is referred to as "my Tamil friend." It's totally unexpected and, bends the dismissive reference to places and peoples to something a little more specific and outside of Nationality. 

I didn't care that much for the movie and had extremely low expectations. For example, I don't care much for Ryan Gosling and, his status as romantic hero. The Notebook wasn't all that. I refused to see La La Land and , will often go off into a rant about this movie. But, it was rather interesting to see him. Ripped. I guess acting prowess these days really boils down to your physique. So, in terms of that, he's definitely a great actor. 

Because I had such low expectations I enjoyed the spy film, the soundtrack and the action. Ryan Gosling offered a quiet non aggressive type of spy, a deeply wronged but good man who was put behind bars for nothing. 

If you want to read a great column about how movies should stop romanticising spies, read:  James Bond is dead. He should stay dead by Andrew Mitrovica. 

My Octopus Teacher 

⭐⭐/5

The documentary has an emotional appeal and, relies on a confessional style story telling by the narrator who documents an almost-year-long relationship with an octopus. He keeps referring to it as a 'she' and as rightly pointed out by Kavita, we don't know why he thinks it's a she. He doesn't bother giving her a name either though I'm glad the octopus didn't have to suffer an annoying white female name. 

The documentary aims to be a personal account of how much the narrator has learned from the incredible octopus, from its anatomy, its intelligence, and, to appreciate wildlife. But it seems the narrator has taken more from the octopus than actually given back in a ridiculously shown romantic obsession with the sea creature. The narrator goes back every day to film the octopus, get its trust and form a 'relationship.' The nameless octopus in return gets its one arm chomped off by a pyjama shark because its too distracted by the human. The narrator doesn't interfere in the cycle of life because he doesn't want to 'interfere' but that he goes and films the octopus, encourages touch between himself and the creature, and endangers its very life. 

There is such a male white privilege here at work that one notices right away in the beginning. I haven't seen an trailers or know much about this Oscar-winning documentary but it's only when I started watching it, did I realise this is not a science documentary but a projection of a white South Africa male and his dominion and lordship over South Africa and its wildlife. This chap isn't a scientist but an ordinary fellow who thinks he has befriended an octopus and therefore finally started appreciating wildlife where he didn't before. 

The documentary starts off with his rambling on about the land of South Africa and the incredible Indigenous peoples who live there and their relationship with the land. It's overbearing and patronising. I mean, don't show peoples and talk on their behalf. Give them a chance to speak for themselves in your movie. 

I appreciate and respect his methodological record, his attempt to understand the octopus and rest of the creatures. However, there is a constant nagging feeling that this comes with a kind of privilege, of entitlement, that despite that he is not a scientist and starts with almost no knowledge of ocean life, he has the right to extract all this at such a great cost to the creature he is studying but claims he is not studying but learning from. It's almost like white anthropology but aimed at ocean creatures. You are awed and fascinated with them, their bodies, will befriend them, but will not step in if you have endangered them and even watch them die and record it. 

The octopus' death is recorded on camera and, the narrator muses about cradling the dying octopus mother in his hands but doesn't actually do it. Instead he just weeps and, romanticises its death. 

See this article by a dive master and a science teacher: My Octopus Teacher' Was Mesmerizing But There's 1 Thing That Deeply Troubled Me. The author has serious concerns about touching wildlife and crossing those barriers and, worries this documentary will encourage people to have inappropriate and even dangerous contact, both for humans and wildlife. 

I went looking for commentary and found this: Why Critics Are Outraged Over 'My Octopus Teacher's Oscar Win by Kayleigh Donaldson in Pajiba.  It's a blistering column that says this documentary is a lightweight and is awarded instead of other better contenders. My favourite lines from this column: 

Foster’s mid-life crisis and his near abandonment of his family is something worth interrogating. There’s a great documentary in here that’s willing to examine the emotional complexity of a man forcing a human-esque identity onto an utterly alien sea creature in order to process his own issues. There’s something to be said about this man’s occasionally unnerving molding of an identity for an animal that has no interest in him. They are his manic pixie dream girl, and that’s a common identity that humanity shoves onto nature.

Kavita had a few lines to say about the documentary Review of My Octopus Teacher  and also wrote a song  A song: my octopus friend. 

Finally, read this well known 2017 essay by  Amia Srinivasan "The Sucker, the Sucker!" for these lines: ‘the closest we can come, on earth, to knowing what it might be like to encounter intelligent aliens.’  I encourage you to read more about octopus and watch what you can on YouTube to see how fascinating these creatures are and what we can learn about our idea of sentience and intelligence. 

Laal Singh Chadda 

WHY??????/5