Watching "Gandhi" earlier, I was easily taken with his life, his struggle, and the ultimate fruits of his labor; Indian independence from the British.
Always dancing in the back of my mind were the facts I've learned surrounding him and the situation. His young teenage "bedmates," or the fact that India then and now oversees the levels of brutality and human misery that can sadly be expected of such a populous area.
Was this enough to discard the message altogether?
I can't pretend that fiction is not crafted and whittled to inspire and alleviate from what we know is "real." That life is sometimes is painful medical tests, or death of a loved one, loss of a limb or sense, ostracization and lack of companionship through these struggles, all that nasty shit.
So when something, maybe designed to invoke emotion, maybe just to make a shitload of money, comes along and offers me, at the very least, something more pleasant to think on, should I slap it out of hand and say "No, that's not he way it is. Life is brutal and I have to work every day until I'm dead and no one seems to want to fuck me in the interim and... ?"
Or, should I take the gift that's been offered? Should I say "Yes, I know Gandhi was a shitting, fucking, idealist who lived a very human life with all of the faults, but not in this portrayal. Here, he is something else."
Should I not, when I encounter the real hardships, try to draw strength, or simply ruminate on the heroic?
I think so. It's what I do anyway.
Many would say this was denial or even "bluepill" thinking. And I could see withdrawing and living in your fantasies as being exactly that. But a living person never truly withdraws. Even in your NEET cocoon or in your quiet antisocial academic life, you come up against the real struggles; The pain of existence, and the boredom when not in pain. So does it really help to constantly reinforce all of the negative things you know about life and the tragedies of others, or could it be more helpful to draw inspiration from heroes that never existed, at least not in the form presented to you; Heroes that never could exist?
You don't have to believe it's real, but if it's my life, and I have some minuscule measure of control, I think I would rather use even a fantastic template to guide me, rather than the rehashed drudgery of what I already know all too well.
Always dancing in the back of my mind were the facts I've learned surrounding him and the situation. His young teenage "bedmates," or the fact that India then and now oversees the levels of brutality and human misery that can sadly be expected of such a populous area.
Was this enough to discard the message altogether?
I can't pretend that fiction is not crafted and whittled to inspire and alleviate from what we know is "real." That life is sometimes is painful medical tests, or death of a loved one, loss of a limb or sense, ostracization and lack of companionship through these struggles, all that nasty shit.
So when something, maybe designed to invoke emotion, maybe just to make a shitload of money, comes along and offers me, at the very least, something more pleasant to think on, should I slap it out of hand and say "No, that's not he way it is. Life is brutal and I have to work every day until I'm dead and no one seems to want to fuck me in the interim and... ?"
Or, should I take the gift that's been offered? Should I say "Yes, I know Gandhi was a shitting, fucking, idealist who lived a very human life with all of the faults, but not in this portrayal. Here, he is something else."
Should I not, when I encounter the real hardships, try to draw strength, or simply ruminate on the heroic?
I think so. It's what I do anyway.
Many would say this was denial or even "bluepill" thinking. And I could see withdrawing and living in your fantasies as being exactly that. But a living person never truly withdraws. Even in your NEET cocoon or in your quiet antisocial academic life, you come up against the real struggles; The pain of existence, and the boredom when not in pain. So does it really help to constantly reinforce all of the negative things you know about life and the tragedies of others, or could it be more helpful to draw inspiration from heroes that never existed, at least not in the form presented to you; Heroes that never could exist?
You don't have to believe it's real, but if it's my life, and I have some minuscule measure of control, I think I would rather use even a fantastic template to guide me, rather than the rehashed drudgery of what I already know all too well.
.
