I like it funny, hopeful, short and colourful.
In a world that is engulfing many of us in different levels of despair, desperation and helplessness, I seek escape through entertainment. This has been a trend for a few years now, where I’ve expressly avoided dark, gritty, realistic films or series (except for The Game of Thrones which I had to finish because I signed up for it in 2012 :-/) – I’ve begun to feel there’s enough drama and horror in real life that I don’t need to see it on screen. I wept when watching Asuran because I was sad that caste is still ruling and ruining lives across the country. So to avoid such situations, I’ve happily given up on entertainment that mirrors real life – something that I would have enjoyed a few years ago and appreciated the creators and actors for.
My recent attachment has been to Studio Ghibli films that I’ve grown to love more and more with each new film I watch (they’re on Netflix). My first was My Neighbour Totoro, with two little girls who tumble out a countryside home discovering pleasant magical creatures. My next was Kiki’s Delivery Service, about a little witch discovering herself. And so it goes.
I’ve always loved animation films because they have the potential to pack in some really deep ideas in a child-friendly, hopeful way. Studio Ghibli films take my affinity to animation to another level, because they are Japanese and are often set in Japan, and the animation is magical. For the first time in my life, I pause a film every now and then to take in the artistry involved – the colours, the textures, the elements, something that Hollywood animation has never inspired me to do. The beauty of it all is quintessentially Japanese – simple but stunning. I laugh every time one of the characters goes ‘Haaaaaaa?’ because that reminds me of my first time in Japan, when I used to listen to conversations in cafes and wonder why people kept making these animated sounds of exclamation. But most of all, I love that they have happy endings, even though the protagonists go through life-changing experiences.
For the laughs, it’s been Modern Family, which finally closed its curtains recently, and Brooklyn 99, whose seventh season I’m waiting for on Netflix. Both shows have been consistently funny and made me laugh out loud. I realised how deeply I’ve enjoyed them when someday characters from both shows appeared in my dreams: I’ve helped Mitch and Cam and Lily move to a charming little cottage somewhere in France (!) – they only moved cross-country in the series but my dreams offer people bigger ambitions. Funnily enough, the French cottage has toilets scattered all over – nearly every room has a toilet that has both an “Indian-style” squat one and the WC. And a washbasin outside each toilet, to top it all. I think I transferred an 80s-style Chennai house to another location! On a walk to get them some groceries – I still don’t know why I’m being this helpful – I encounter Caleb, the cannibal from Brooklyn 99, who’s out on the streets (yikes!) and tells me where I can find a grocery store nearby in Brooklyn. Now that I’m in Brooklyn (!!) I go where Caleb tells me – a dingy “shopping complex” where the ground floor is being thronged by people wanting to buy air tickets, and in the middle sit three flustered women, shushing them all and asking them to be patient.
I’m glad that my entertainment gives me funny dreams, not nightmares – there’s enough of that to see in real life, so much so that very often, I’ve to make myself see the good and hopeful things that happen and that people do amidst all the chaos in the country, the world.
I wish I could back to enjoying serious stuff, but for now, at the end of a long day, if I choose to see something on screen, I’m delighted if it gives me laughs, happy tears or hope.