I have watched all movies in the Final Destination series with mixed feelings. The plot that death claims one by one those who had managed to cheat it the first time around is fascinating because it runs contrary to the Hindu belief that you can do absolutely nothing to prevent death if it is your time to go. Well, one can argue that the individuals in question were able to cheat death once because it was not their time to go. But that's beside the point. The other predominant feeling is one of intense unease when you realize that there are just too many ways to die - even during the course of a routine healthy life. The word 'fragile' seems like an apt adjective to describe human existence.
I get the same mixed feelings when I watch episodes of 'House, M.D' every day. I don't know about doctors but for someone like me who doesn't come from the field of medicine these hospital shows are immensely interesting. But at the same time, it is very unsettling to watch the doctors struggling to make a diagnosis in the face of contradictory, and often inexplicable, symptoms. In some cases, it is even shocking when the administer some medicine just to see if they can eliminate one or more possibilities based on the patient's response. That explains the origins of the word 'practice' I guess :-)
That said, the disparaging tone about Asia in day before yesterday's episode was jarring. I fail to understand why Calcutta (BTW, it is "Kolkata" now!) and leprosy were mentioned in the same breath. Such stereotyping could have been ignored in the last century but now (the first season of this show was aired in 2004) that globalization is the mantra why do we still keep seeing it? The notion that lepers roam the streets of India is as absurd as the notion that the streets are shared by pedestrians, tigers, snakes and elephants! I have never heard of anyone who got infected with leprosy after staying in an Ashram - even if it is Baba Amte's Anandvan, and he never claimed to provide answers to life's troubling questions. I don't even want to think about how many stereotypes this reference fosters. Shouldn't the makers of such show be more careful about their content because these days they aren't aired exclusively in the US of A?
I just hope that that episode would prove to be an exception rather than a rule in this show.
I get the same mixed feelings when I watch episodes of 'House, M.D' every day. I don't know about doctors but for someone like me who doesn't come from the field of medicine these hospital shows are immensely interesting. But at the same time, it is very unsettling to watch the doctors struggling to make a diagnosis in the face of contradictory, and often inexplicable, symptoms. In some cases, it is even shocking when the administer some medicine just to see if they can eliminate one or more possibilities based on the patient's response. That explains the origins of the word 'practice' I guess :-)
That said, the disparaging tone about Asia in day before yesterday's episode was jarring. I fail to understand why Calcutta (BTW, it is "Kolkata" now!) and leprosy were mentioned in the same breath. Such stereotyping could have been ignored in the last century but now (the first season of this show was aired in 2004) that globalization is the mantra why do we still keep seeing it? The notion that lepers roam the streets of India is as absurd as the notion that the streets are shared by pedestrians, tigers, snakes and elephants! I have never heard of anyone who got infected with leprosy after staying in an Ashram - even if it is Baba Amte's Anandvan, and he never claimed to provide answers to life's troubling questions. I don't even want to think about how many stereotypes this reference fosters. Shouldn't the makers of such show be more careful about their content because these days they aren't aired exclusively in the US of A?
I just hope that that episode would prove to be an exception rather than a rule in this show.
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