The Beauty of Words and Womanhood

Once in a while, life doesn't feel all that great.

Whatever it may be, your left feeling confused, short of breath, jumbled up inside, to a point in which the thoughts inside your head feel like one gigantic run-on sentence. In moments like these, I can only take refuge in one simple yet inevitably remedial process…reading. The way in which chanting to a rosary can soothe the pious; words have always been my source of cathartic release.

Escapism is what it’s called – an escape from banality, an escape from some overwhelming and usually unnecessary feeling, an escape from daily life, plain and simply an escape from reality. My vehicle for escapism is thankfully the world’s most accessible and simple fix - literature. I devour fiction with the same reckless abandon that adrenaline junkies employ when developing their taste for a certain “high” – usually completely unconscious of the time of day or the appropriateness of my actions (yes, I have attempted to read a book while taking a shower); what do I find so irresistible? Well, obviously the words.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: Prose is Poetry. Story telling is an art, and it’s the kind of art that any kind of person can understand and connect to. There’s something about a continuous stream of words, decorated with decorum, (the periods, the commas, the apostrophes, the exclamation marks and the question marks) tip taping on your tongue melodiously while simultaneously metamorphosing together into meaning and purpose…that well, turns me on.

I’m currently revisiting Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Although Alcott’s novel is a simple one, its messages about gender, poverty, and happiness transcend that of much more complex and stylistically revered novels. It’s a union of so many important lessons in life, and written in a format that ten-year old girls can appreciate, understand, and use as a guidebook to unselfish living – which is ultimately happy living.

Alcott, through the trials and tribulations of her characters, Mr. and Mrs. March, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy – tells a simple and beautiful story of the importance of family, the importance of hard work and strong ethic, and most significantly what it means to be a woman. With every page, I feel as though young Jo has manifested herself right out of the novel, and taught me the basic yet crucial criteria to what Maya Angelou would call a “Phenomenal Woman”.

Stuff Our Government Says

There is a new trend on Youtube to post videos titled “Stuff (insert a type of group here) Says”. For example, there are videos titled “Stuff Girls Say” or “Stuff Puerto Ricans Say”; these are meant to be humorous videos based on an amalgamation of stereotypes that pertain to a certain group of people. As many of these videos have recently gone viral, I am left with two distinct feelings; one a moral dilemma -“stereotyping people is an unfair and often baseless thing to do” and the second being, “Oh my god, imagine how funny a video titled Stuff Our Government Says would be!”

Being a concerned member of this society, I find myself reading newspaper articles, op-ed pieces, editorials, blogs, and watching the news at an almost obsessive level. Being young and understanding that this country will one day be the responsibility of my generation compels me to wish the best for it; to hope that those we have given the reigns and therefore full control of this glorious nation will work there best to maintain it and to ensure its future prosperity and health. However, I am often lost for words at our blatant inability to make any progress.

Yesterday, I went to the National Library to view the premier of our late Tareque Masud’s film, Runway. Once again, I was left with two distinct feelings. My first feeling was of pride. Pride in how many well-wishers had joined together to pay respect to Tareque Masud, Mishuk Munier, and Catherine Masud and pride at how beautifully and brilliantly made the film was.

The second feeling was of overwhelming disappointment at how poorly kept the National Library grounds and Auditorium were: there was trash through out the gardens, and the auditorium seemed as though it hadn’t been swept, vacuumed, or cleaned since its inception. My friend and I were baffled at the inauguration plate stating that the auditorium had been opened in 1999, it seemed to us at first glance that it was a sad relic of the past. There is no one to blame but the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Article 24 of the Constitution says, “The State shall adopt measures for the protection against disfigurement, damage or removal of all monuments, objects or places of special artistic or historic important or interest. “ Is the National Library not a place of special artistic or historic importance?

What do our politicians have to say about the various issues that are hampering the betterment of our nation and people? Most of the time, what they do say can be interpreted as comedic, comedic because they are often plain stupid. This is why a video titled Stuff Out Government Says would most definitely become viral; the people running our country tackle issues and give responses to pertinent questions with such a level of ignorance that it becomes baffling, and we are left in laughter.

Recently, senior Awami league leader Mohammad Nasim said that “incoherent comments” made by ministers were embarrassing the party. Nasim was specifying that comments made by finance minister Abdul Muhith and communications minister Obaidul Quader related to the government’s current hot topic, the Padma Bridge, were so inconsistent that they were creating an image of disorganization within the party. On one hand you have the finance minister claiming that no resolution has thus been passed, and on the other hand you have the communications minister claiming than an MOU with Malaysia will soon be signed. How is this not funny?

U.S. diplomat Robert Blake comment that major political parties should reach a consensus to hold credible elections seems to have infuriated railway minister, Suranjit Sengupta to the point of making the statement that “Bangladesh is not dictated by Blakes.” Considering that Blake’s comment holds relevance and seems to be quite a sound piece of advice, Sengupta’s approach to tackling the comment as though it were the commands of a white imperialist seem outright childish and immature.

Then there’s Abdul Muhith’s public statement regarding the state of our economy, according to Muhith our economy lacks any weakness, except for inflation. MP Fazlul Azim recently criticized Muhith for the share market’s poor health, Muhith’s response was that the share market was doing just fine, in fact there were close to 17 lakh investors, of which 15 lakh have capital over 10 lakh each! Why doesn’t Muhith stand in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, most preferably during protests, and talk to investors who have lost everything to stock market manipulation. How is it not funny that the man who we entrust as our finance minister is telling us that the glass is half full when there is no in fact no glass or water for that matter?

The prices of food essentials being as high as they are have caused widespread criticism of the present government’s inability to decrease prices; our past honorable commerce minister, Faruk Khan’s response? “kom kan” (eat less) – what a simple solution! How did we not think about this before?!

Most recently, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina publicly nominated Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, for the World Bank chief position. How ironic considering that she worked relentlessly to strip Yunus of his position within his own brainchild, Grameen Bank – our government is so full of confusing positions and statements that we can’t help but chuckle every now and then.

Drive

Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy - the Brat Pack. Some of my favorite films are Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, St. Elmo's Fire, The Breakfast Club, and all things John Hughes.

When I watched the film Drive, I could only focus on two things: Ryan Gosling, and the soundtrack. The soundtrack brought me back to the summer of 2004. The summer I fell in love with electro-pop and the Brat Pack. I was reading the infamously trashy Remember Me series by Christopher Pike, and at one point the book mentions driving by a theater that was playing Pretty in Pink. I went to the American Club that had a collection of old video cassette movies and rented myself every teen movie from the 80s. Electro-pop was everywhere.

Now Drive is the kind of movie that makes you want to ride in a 1960's Camero and crank New Order's Bizzare Love Triangle while sporting some vintage Persol sunglasses. Most of the film's soundtrack was composed by Cliff Martinez (a former Red Hot Chili Pepper). What the soundtrack ended up as was basically retro European pop; and the prelude to the DJ as a commercial artist.

Disco. Vintage Keyboards. Percussion. Strings.

What makes this movie good is its style. You've got a sexy man in a leather jacket driving at 140 mph, you've got an ethereal Carey Mulligan, and you've got songs like the ones listed below. This movie is pure sex.

Kavinsky - Nightcall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV_3Dpw-BRY

Desire - Under Your Spell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K7rmxjk5RQ

College - A Real Hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8

The Chromatics - Tick of the Clock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWD7k6TrJ-g

Cliff Martinez - He Had a Good Time (I wouldn't call this electro-pop, but it's very Tree of Life-ish)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okGb6mmwV5w&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL422C3C466634BBD8

Cliff Martinez Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTwpfUbkxcQ

New Order - Bizzare Love Traingle (Not related to Drive, but here because it's a sick song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Ii0K77K1k

Cruel Intentions

If I hadn't gone to a business school, I would have gone to a French film school. Why? Well, because films encompass every form of art I've ever appreciated. In certain cases, it's a composite of literary adaptations, you've got crazy cinematography/photography, you've got ingenious tracking shots, and perhaps my favorite part - if you're lucky you get some badass soundtracks.

When Cruel Intentions first came out, I was dying to see it. Not because it was a modern adaptation of Les liaisons dangereuses, I didn't figure that out until I had actually watched Dangerous Liasions with Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Mostly because I was determined that I would one day meet and marry Ryan Phillippe. Of course, I was far too young to watch it. Somehow I managed to sneak in a pirated DVD into my room at 13 years old. 90 minutes later, my inevitable marriage to Ryan Phillippe became second to my obsession to one day become a writer for the Rolling Stone.

The prepubescent teenager of the 90's who was dealing with matters of the heart needed that soundtrack like the late 50's needed Presley and Jailhouse Rock. The Beatles, Presley, Led Zeppelin had come and gone. We were stuck with Spears, Aguilera, and NYSNC - for some reason music was becoming stupider and stupider. She's All That's partake on what a thirteen year old needed to croon to undermined my own self respect. Insert Placebo, Blur, Marcy Playground, and delete Sixpence None the Richer's Kiss Me - and the Cruel Intentions Soundtrack was my music bible.

Here's how it goes:

Marcy Playground - Comin' Up from Behind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqmrOoCOsQo

Placebo - Every you, Every Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZyVOJ_pht8

Blur - Coffee and TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oqXVx3sBOk&ob=av3e

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyu1KKwC74

Counting Crows - Colorblind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0s7ycdUcHk

The Cardigans - Lovefool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9zpnLBtwwg

Abra Moore - Trip in Love (my personal favorite)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjVvcSjN48A

In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ...

I'm 22 years old, bordering on 23, and I have an instinctive feeling that the rest of my life will set itself on auto-drive; and one day before I know it, it'll all be over.

This may sound like some sort of dark premonition or a premature mid-life crisis; but that's not what I think is going on. I'm having flash backs while doing the most mundane things - heating up food in my microwave, walking home from the train station, separating whites from colors while doing laundry; these flashbacks of my childhood are popping in and out of my head, one after another. I remember smells, I remember images, I remember the names of places and people more vividly than I can remember what I did last Friday night.

And there's one place in particular that just wont leave me alone. It's an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, where lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. I spent most of my childhood in the LAPL, and my closest friends went by the names Clifford and Madeline. Clifford being a ridiculously big and red dog, and Madeline being a little red-headed girl that went to a Catholic girl's school in Paris. My favorite children's book is Pat Hutchinson's "The Doorbell Rang" - where "Ma" is also a red-head. This takes me to the first adult novel I ever read, The Shining, by Stephen King - Red Rum anyone? I've just realized the significance of the color RED in my first experiences with learning to read, while doing my laundry.

Now, more about Madeline. I'm also writing this while watching Anthony Bourdain's episode on New York. By pure coincidence Mr. Bourdain is visiting Bemelman's Bar at the Carlyle, named after none other than Ludwig Bemelman. Here's what the hotel's website says about the bar:

Best remembered as the creator of the classic Madeline books for children, Ludwig Bemelmans once joked he'd like his tombstone to read: "Tell Them It Was Wonderful." Well, wonderful it was, and still is, at Bemelmans Bar. Named in honor of the legendary artist, Bemelmans is a timeless New York watering hole that has drawn socialites, politicians, movie stars and moguls for more than five decades.

The Carlyle was the city's premier luxury residential hotel and served as second home to socialites, politicians and movie stars when Ludwig Bemelmans was commissioned to paint large-scale murals in the hotel bar. The creator of the enormously popular Madeline children's book series as well as a successful artist working for The New Yorker, Vogue and Town and Country, Bemelmans transformed the bar with clever, whimsical scenes of Central Park (including picnicking rabbits). Instead of being paid for the art, Bemelmans exchanged his work for a year and a half of accommodations at The Carlyle for himself and his family.

For those of you living in New York, or just passing though, please be sure to check this bar out. Where else are you going to find art as precious and timeless as this.

Surrealism & Un Chien Andalou

Surrealism is an art movement that emphasizes achieving the liberation of the mind through the imaginative powers of the subconscious. In the study of cinema, one of the first avant-garde works was the surreal film Un Chien Andalou (1929), directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel and Spanish surrealist artist Salvardor Dali. The reception of this film mimicked that of the reception of most cult films: its distribution was severely limited. The reasons for this include the controversial nature of the film as well as its illogical content. The film’s run-time is approximately seventeen minutes long; it is silent, black & white, with a disjointed chronology. The film lacks any real plot, and follows an almost dream-like narrative flow; essentially emphasizing the imaginative powers of the subconscious.

The film begins with a title card reading "Once upon a time", it then continues with a shot of a smoking man holding a razor blade while staring at the moon. The next shot is a close-up of a young woman sitting on a chair. A man is seen standing next to her. She stares calmly straight into the camera; the man then lifts a razor blade up to the woman’s eye, suggesting that he will cut across her eye-ball horizontally with the blade. Before this happens, the next shot is of the same moon the original man was staring at, except now a thin cloud has cut across the moon horizontally, almost replicating what is soon to happen to the woman’s eye. The next shot is a close-up of what seems to the eye of a human being cut horizontally with a blade. The cutting of the eye-ball is shown from start to finish.

What has just occurred represents only the first half-minute of this sixteen minute nightmarish experience. A “persistent dream built upon disconcerting images.” The film then continues by presenting a series of random and extremely bizarre events; ranging from a bicycling man in a nun’s outfit, a severed hand placed inside a wooden box, and a dead couple buried in sand. The effects of discomfort and disturbance are largely felt while viewing this film. This film’s controversial nature and series of shocking images and events help in justifying why its distribution was so limited and why it was, in most cases, banned from public viewing. Un Chien Andalou was generally only viewed in private clubs or the studios of surrealists and artists.

The film was based on two separate dreams that Bunuel and Dali had experienced. Bunuel had recalled a dream in which a moon was sliced by clouds (similarly to an eye being sliced by a razor), while Dali had recalled a dream in which a hand was engulfed with crawling ants. They later decided to make a film that included these distinct images, their only rule had been that “no idea or image susceptible to reasoning would be allowed.” The film has been described as Dali and Bunuel’s quest to “goad the dull bourgeois mind.” It is representational of surrealism at its best, it follows no predetermined limits and is not designed to meet any specified expectations by its audience, and instead it is heavily invested in free association and the liberation of the human psyche. To be able to present the innermost ideas and creations of the subconscious and to defy all that society had deemed as acceptable was the main purpose of this film.

Its popularity amongst cult film fans is based on the film’s pioneering movement to defy the conventional and to present a form of art that was representational of alien ideas and concepts. It was unique and provoked audiences to think outside the box of what a film could or could not be. The film’s quality of excess coupled with its surrealist nature is what has distinguished this film amongst cineastes as avant-garde and noteworthy.

Cult Film Archive: Delicatessen

Delicatessen is a French cult film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro; it explores the taboos of cannibalism and even includes bizarre characters such as underground vegetarian terrorists. The film falls into the category of black satire, a genre in which films deal with darker issues and themes, such as death, and treat these themes in a satirical or comedic manner. The film’s main character is a circus attraction that becomes the manager of a dilapidated building full of residents; other characters include a butcher, a man that recycles bicycle patches to extend the life of a condom, a woman with tin cans attached to her feet, prostitutes, and gangsters. Perhaps the film’s popularity amongst its fan base is based on the film’s uncomfortable themes, its unique characters, or twisted plot; but nevertheless these fans must also appreciate the unique and brilliant film-making involved. For instance,

In the words of Allan Havis,

“Delicatessen indulges in very close-ups and wide-angle shots rendering attractive and hideous faces into topographic maps. Jeunet and Caro’s inventive camera work highlights odd angles, ludicrous tracking shots, aggressive editing, and live actor animation.”

The film’s specific compilation of shot types helps in enhancing the overall tone of the film, one that is character based and is meant to overwhelm audiences with uncomfortable closeness to characters that they might find the most difficulty empathizing with. The use of out of the ordinary tracking shots also helps in providing viewers with unique vantage points that are meant to enhance the specific film experience the directors are trying to emulate; in the case of this film, an up-close experience with a “depressed and despoiled” society.