Thursday, July 25, 2024

"is it sad or is it good?"

I made time to watch The Goat Life on Netflix. It's on a dominant South Asian theme (immigrant laborers forced into slavery in Saudi Arabia), based on a bestselling Malayalam novel, and I wanted to be in the know. 

It's a long (I had an hour left to go when I thought I couldn't take any more) and disturbing film (the protagonist is forced to become a desert goat herder under dehumanizing conditions). If you thought it was about a G.O.A.T. life, no--it's about living with goats that bleat. 

Anyway, I was sitting around all sad and depressed after I watched the movie (by myself). Nu who came down after their shower was concerned. They listened to my recap and then asked why I was still thinking about it, "is it sad or is it good?" (They meant was the story sad or was it narrated well.) I was momentarily cheered because that's such an incisive question! I'm not sure I can answer it, though. 

Pic: Geese on the Red Cedar. I'm terrified of meeting them on the riverwalk, but they're so graceful in the water.

5 comments:

Nance said...

I'm just not able to watch films like that anymore. Like you, they affect me for quite some time afterward, and I get so down. It's not that I can't appreciate the value or excellence of the film--I certainly can.

I guess I feel like there's enough ugliness and sadness and uncertainty in the real world right now that I don't want to see any more of it By Choice, at least right now. It's something I need to do for me.

Gillian said...

Sad.

Jenny said...

"Is it sad or is it good?" Sounds like a philosophical question we should all be pondering.

StephLove said...

Did you ever settle on an answer?

maya said...

Nance--I agree with you 100%. My taste in movies tends to be quite pedestrian for this reason, much to the chagrin of my kids who like high-concept stuff. I kind of had to watch this for "work" and stay current in the field.

Gillian--Very!

Jenny--I thought so too.

Steph--If I had to choose: sad, I think. There were some plot holes, and some unnecessary dream sequences with Bollywood-style songs... And I feel like a jerk for thinking it, but I thought there was some overacting--though who's to say how someone might act in those horrendous circumstances?!

the drumming in the wilderness

by the time this day ends  I've  run  out  of  prayers but  I've  made  an  altar where  I grimly offer up  my  pride,  my  surprise...