Editor’s Picks

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What to read and what to watch is subjective. But any gentleman would say, “Suggestions are welcome”. Sicario, Day of the Soldado has already released in Chennai. I loved the first part of the series and the trailer of second part was also promising. As I haven’t watched it yet, please wait till August! So, here are my picks for the month of July.
Hereditary – Ari Aster
Running in Chennai and Bengaluru, this nerve chilling tale has already gained cult status. Despite some easily predictable & clichéd twists, the movie excels in creating the atmospheric dread. The impact of sound and silence, which are quintessential for horror films, is psychedelic and eerily. Purposefully slow in exposing the complexities of the plot, it whips away all the holiness imposed in the name of motherhood and it discovers itself at times rather than being presumptuous. It has few never-seen-before blistering moments too. The horror elements are intense and noteworthy as it has beautifully blended DNA (as the name goes) and a mythical ghost story. Visually terrifying, it also provides space for the spectators to sink into it. Above all, it doesn’t make you a fool. Go for it to get haunted by ‘Paimon’!
Bullshit Jobs – A Theory, David Graeber
I haven’t read anything in English for a while. The never ending ‘must watch’ list piled on and on and I had almost forgot the pleasure of text. Recommended by a trust-worthy friend and an avid reader, the title kindled my curiosity.
 
The economist John Maynard Keynes predicted in 1930 that we will be living in a world of a 15 hour working week. He relied greatly upon technology and dreamed that most of the manual labor could be done by machines and the rest could be shared across a large workforce, leaving ample leisure time for all of us. But things did not turn that way. Now we work for around 40+ hours a week and the big bosses expect more and more. (1)
 
We are slaved to jobs under the presumption of being useful to society in a way or other. The thought of ‘being useful’ is related to our existence. Graeber questions the need for two-fifth of the jobs that most people do to “exist” and dismisses them mercilessly as bullshit. The writer goes to the extent to declare that the world would be unharmed or even better off without those jobs. To one’s surprise, research scholars of various diversities fall under the bullshit category.
 
The author is definitive that engaging large volume of people in scratching their desks has political motives too. Leisure time leads to loads of dangerous unwanted thinking and awareness is wary. Any government is not gonna love that! So, keeping your heads down or looking at the monitor brings harmony and that is why exactly the system drags us into loathing. It makes us like it, feel it as worth living and feel guilty if unemployed.
I would accept that it was an interesting read and because of my current (all time?) mindset against ‘working’, I had an immense pleasure to know I was bullshitting. Like, everybody is in hell, why bother the heaven. But the writer’s alternative choice to amend the ongoing crisis and save the world is quite unclear to the author himself and ideas like ‘universal basic pay’ is practically impossible.
 
The book does not mind the fact that one’s luxury is another’s burden. For instance, Countries like Sweden have lesser working hours when compared to third world countries. A developing nation is eager to work more and increase whatever, than the all-settled one.
 
Until an impressive alternate is found out to enjoy more, happy bullshitting. Ciao!
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