The traits of a home sapien

The movie I saw last night made me think about the people in various cultures. I have always been critical of the Indian public being supportive of mindless potboilers and the Hollywood, on the contrary, generating intelligent flicks. Not that they don't come out with formula potboilers but they always had a b-grade stamping on them. Not really. I saw National Treasure yesterday. The story is just one meaningless line, the performances are pretty insipid and sleep-walky and the movie severely questions ones very basic comprehension skills, leave alone the intelligence. In a very valiant attempt equivalent of T. Rajendar wearing Mani Ratnam's shoes, the director of National Treasure has attempted an Indiana Jones. Very ambitious, I must say. But I have my doubts if this director has really seen Indian Jones. Those who have seen wouldn't even be dreaming of a clone.

That apart, what really stumped me was my friend telling me that this movie is a huge hit. Of course, National Treasure's pulp patriotism will put Roja and Bombay to shame. And it just goes to show that you can kindle some cheap nerve chords in people and make pots of money. Whether you're in America or in India. I can't see why National Treasure be any way superior than any of the potboilers the Indian directors have cooked. And believe me, despite my own contempt for Indian (especially Tamil) movies, some of the Indian potboilers are indeed very entertaining and intelligent ones.

This brings me to another story, Hurricane Katrina. About the starving, looting, and violence in New Orleans, a reporter from New York Times wrote thus 'It can't happen here. It's not a third world. It's America for god's sake'. Last night, I felt like screaming, 'if National Treasure can happen in your country, so can violence and looting during the floods'. It is because, irrespective of whether you are white, black, yellow or brown, or rich or poor, as long as you're a home sapien, you behave exactly in the same way. Especially during a crisis.

Actually to contradict the New York Times reporter and various others who think such things happen only in third worlds, I must humbly prod him to read S. Gurumurthy's article (Indian Express, 7th Sep) comparing Kartrina and Mumbai killer rains. During the rains in Mumbai rains, there were no looting, rape or violence reported. And to prevent the affected from starving, people opened their kitchens to outsiders. There were stories of community kitchens being setup and the feeding the 'aditis' and various organisations from the army to the RSS jumping into the slush waters to helps the needy. And certain neighbours walked out of their safe houses to rescue a group stranded in a double-decker bus. Such stories were enough to fill three volumes of chicken soup book.

And yes, THAT perhaps, doesn't happen in America.