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?!

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