Come December, the year-end lists start everywhere and I think they’re great fun. In that spirit, this is the first of a series of posts looking back at the year 2007. First, let me point you to Guardian’s list of 2007’s best films. The list includes Sarah Polley’s poignant drama Away From Her , Clint Eastwood’s war film Letter’s from Iwo Jima and John Curran’s very moving love story The Painted Veil, which is a personal favourite as well. I do have one huge nit to pick though. The list includes Apocalypto, Mel Gibson’s over-the-top period film about the downfall of the Mayan civilisation.

In case, you missed the movie, plot details are here. My beef with Apocalypto was not so much in terms of filmmaking technique. Vivid cinematography, nail-biting action including one exciting chase scene involving Jaguar Paw (the man) and a real jaguar, a hero you care about — it’s all there. And if lots of blood and gore and naked people chanting to the sun or tearing out animal innards is your thing, you probably enjoyed it. Although, the Newsweek review did point out that “the relentless pileup of atrocities becomes self-defeating” and “the harder Apocalypto works to shock and excite you, the less shocked and excited you become”, which I tend to agree with.

But what I was really upset about was the one-dimensional representation of an ancient civilization. By all reports, not all Mayan habits were pleasant but Mel Gibson’s portrayal of them as relentlessly and stupidly savage was off the mark. This article by Traci Arden, a scholar of classic Maya society, pointed out many of the things that were wrong with the film.

The fact that this film was made in Mexico and filmed in the Yucatec Maya language coupled with its visual appeal makes it all the more dangerous. It looks authentic; viewers will be captivated by the crazy, exotic mess of the city and the howler monkeys in the jungle. And who really cares that the Maya were not living in cities when the Spanish arrived?…. The message? The end is near and the savior has come. Gibson’s efforts at authenticity of location and language might, for some viewers, mask his blatantly colonial message that the Maya needed saving because they were rotten at the core. Using the decline of Classic urbanism as his backdrop, Gibson communicates that there was absolutely nothing redeemable about Maya culture, especially elite culture which is depicted as a disgusting feast of blood and excess.

More on this here and here. That they did commit certain brutal acts is not in doubt, but which civilisation including modern ones can escape this accusation? You only need to look at what’s happening in Iraq, Darfur, Burma, Pakistan and some parts of India (and this is just a sampling) to realise that the savage instincts of control and violence are still intact. We’ve just become more sophisticated about the methods. The fact that Gibson chose to showcase the brutality of the Mayans in exaggerated technicolour form without any nuances is problematic.

At the time, many reacted to the accusations saying that they did not see anything overtly racist about the film or that “it was just a film” and people should get off their politically correct high horses. The thing is that a lot of the time, racist messaging is clever, subtle, well-packaged or entertaining. None of this takes away from the long-term impact, unfortunately.

The other issue, of course, is creative freedom. This is a hotly debated topic in many parts of the world today with censorship rules and fatwas zipping around our heads and self-appointed moral guardians brandishing swords at the drop of a pen. I, for one, don’t think that legislation has any place in this arena. Because once you lay down laws about what a person can say, write or show, where do you draw the line? Who decides what is more offensive and what is less? Nor does anyone have the right to burn, beat up or generally act like a savage idiot because they don’t agree with something.

At the same time, it is up to artists to exercise some responsibility while delineating between truth and history, fantasy and fiction, fact and opinion. When these lines blur beyond a point, as they tend to when it comes to genres like historical fiction, it is important to be even more careful. After all, these are the records and documents we are leaving behind for future generations. And over time, the truth may be wiped out altogether and replaced by the imaginations of people like Gibson. It is also important to speak up and voice dissent when someone creates something inauthentic. Just to balance the score or set the record straight.

More on the Mayans here and take a look at this video showing the excavation of an ancient Mayan mural in San Bartolo, Guatemala.

district 9 peter jackson District 9 trailers District 9 halo district 9 myspace 265.

On the night of December 2, 1984, the world’s worst chemical disaster devastated a small town in India. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy has gone down in history and few people are unaware of the facts. Of how 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas came swooping out of a Union Carbide pesticide plant. Of how the lethal fumes engulfed a sleeping town. Of how, by the time, people woke up and realised what was happening, it was too late for many of them. The gas had killed 3800 people and maimed another 11,000. The death toll continues to rise with 15,000 dead and 20 years on, tens of thousands still suffer serious symptoms from contact with the gas.

Twenty-three years later, the people of Bhopal are still battling diseases such as paralysis, partial blindness and impaired immune systems and waiting for justice. Dow Chemicals, the company that merged with Union Carbide, washed its hands off the Bhopal tragedy even though it was clearly proven that negligence had caused the disaster. After much fighting, they finally agreed to give survivors, who have to live with chronic illnesses or brain damage their whole lives, an average of $500 dollars each. In a press release, Dow spokesperson said that “$500 is plenty good for an Indian.” Splendid, isn’t it?

Here is a snapshot of how methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas affects the body.

To date, the abandoned factory continues to pollute the environment. Effluents poison the ground water. Lead and mercury float in the breast milk of mothers. Greenpeace has a detailed timeline. They don’t seem to have updated it after 2003 but it gives a snapshot of events until then. Read and weep.

Meanwhile look at Dow’s tremendous PR efforts here. Frankly, there’s something revolting about the public relations (or ‘crisis management’ as it is called) machinery that kicks into action at such times like a pack of well-trained hyenas. All laughing to the tune of lies.

This satirical website on Dowethics says it best.

We are part of an ever-evolving global society - one that values organizations such as Dow not only for our products and services, but also for the distinctive image we present to our world and its people. We don’t want people to think “chemicals” when they hear “Dow” — we want them to hear “Living. Improved Daily.” We don’t want them to think of a corporation striving to maximize profits, we want them to think of a good neighbor.

Therefore, our contributions must extend beyond profit performance. We strongly believe that if we are to be successful in the 21st Century, we must simultaneously excel in all three elements of development: economic prosperity, corporate responsibility and shareholder stewardship. And unless we’re frequently and visibly expressing a deep concern about Sustainable Development, we’re missing opportunities to position Dow as the caring, concerned global citizen our customers must believe us to be.

Yesterday, survivors marked the anniversary by going on protest marches to demand justice and holding a torchlight rally to remember the dead. They need all the voice they can muster because their own government is certainly not going to shout, or even whimper, for them. In October, a news article reported:

The centre is all set to pave the way for Dow Chemicals to invest in India, by removing all “legal hurdles” related to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, one of the world’s biggest industrial disasters that claimed thousands of lives.

The Department of Industries has moved a Cabinet note asking the government to absolve Dow Chemicals of all legal liabilities.…. The note provides for withdrawal of the affidavit and out-of-court settlement. It is based on the Law Ministry’s opinion that the government can opt to settle out of court with Dow Chemicals as the latter does not own the financial liabilities of Union Carbide, the main accused in the case. The Chemicals Ministry has opposed this view.

The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal spearheads the protest on behalf of Bhopal survivors. Please read what they have to say, sign the petition to Dow Chemicals and send an email to Indian ministries involved in the sell-out. It’s the least we can do.

Images via BBC News.

When is a good time to start educating children about certain things? This is an ongoing debate in many parenting circles. The more conservative a society is in their attitudes towards ‘morality’, the more likely it is that children will reach adulthood without receiving any coherent information on important topics such as substance abuse or sexuality. Here is an interesting commercial telling people to talk to their children early about things like alcohol abuse. What do you think?

This, of course, brings me to the other big one. World AIDS Day just passed by and there was lots of talk in the print and television media about it. (Unlike a lot of other problems, HIV/AIDS does get its share of public attention and funding.) We had a lot of newspaper coverage on this in India as well but — and this is the part that flummoxes me — there is still no proper sex education offered in schools here. So basically, children can access information on HIV and sex and sexuality from the media, but not formally from the educational system in a structured way. As if doing this would somehow amount to giving them ‘permission’ for things they would otherwise stay away from.

It’s quite clear that educational institutions should include HIV and human rights / non-discrimination issues wherever they can and link it to the more formal subjects that they are relevant to. It’s astounding that some governments around the world still fail to observe this basic measure. For those who think their kids should know more and are looking to take things into their own hands, there’s lots of material available on the Internet. UNAIDS and WHO has a detailed cartoon strip that might help. This is an extract but you can go here for the full thing.

Shifting track slightly, this report by Human Rights Watch caught my attention the other day. It seems that Thailand’s success in dealing with HIV is getting a serious shot in the foot because of discrimination against its highest population of HIV positive people — drug users. Now, it’s obvious that there are severe legal implications here and these are getting entangled with the larger issue of providing treatment and creating a mighty mess. The report says:

In 2004, Thailand rescinded a national policy that explicitly permitted the exclusion of injection drug users from antiretroviral treatment programs.

But drug users still face serious obstacles in accessing needed health care. Many health care providers do not know or do not follow HIV/AIDS treatment guidelines, and continue to deny antiretroviral treatment to drug users, even those in methadone treatment programs.

When drug users do receive treatment, it is under complicated circumstances and often surreptitiously because they are worried about being turned in to the police.

Out of fear of reprisal, drug users who do receive antiretroviral treatment are unlikely to tell their physicians about their drug use, or to seek information about drug dependence treatment from their antiretroviral treatment provider. This fear is not unfounded: the report confirms that many public hospitals and clinics share information about drug use with law enforcement, both as a matter of policy and practice. Some clinicians operated a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward drug users, refusing to inquire about patients’ drug use or drug treatment history, in some cases despite knowledge or suspicion of current drug use or methadone treatment.

The government’s failure to ensure conditions in which safe exchange of information is possible compromises drug users’ access to adequate HIV and other health care services. As a result, drug users face harmful drug interactions without health care workers to consult about the dangerous potential consequences for their health and, ultimately, their lives.

The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (PDF), a 120-page document published jointly by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, points to the connection between protection of human rights and effective HIV programmes. The incidence or spread of HIV is disproportionately high among some populations because these groups, being vulnerable in any case, find it harder to access treatment or fight discrimination. Typically, these groups include women, children, those living in poverty, minorities, indigenous people, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, prisoners, sex workers, men having sex with men and injecting drug users. Legally and socially, such groups need to be addressed and included in the battle against HIV. And while this may be easier said than done, it’s important to see that an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ attitude is going to hurt everyone in the end.

district 9 myspace 2 girls 1 cup “district 9 neill blomkamp”