THE X MEN

The X-Men

There is a growing obsession of Hollywood with the weird and wonky which is creating an all-together new genre in Hollywood movie making. I saw the movie X-Men. ‘Mutants’ as they say, was the exalted subject on which this movie was based. People genetically different from normal and having the X-gene that bestows on them some type of super human capability. A 20^th Century Fox creation of Marvel Comics.

It seems Hollywood has run out of themes. Regardless of what international critics say about Bollywood, I think they make very good movies and regardless of the fun the some people make about the song and dance sequences of the Bollywood movies, I think they are still a major source of entertainment for a substantial section of homo sapiens which tread this plant. The complexion of their movies too is changing though as the multiplex audience is now a major revenue source, and describably more wannabe than the erstwhile cine goers.

Indian movies seem to be acquiring a larger reach and greater impact also. Times have travelled beyond the popularity of Raj Kapoor socialist films and Avara Hoon melodies in the communist world. Traveling in the London cab, a cabbie once asked me if I was a Thakur, taking a cue from my family name. It turned out that he had seen the film Sholay many times over. Sholay indeed portrayed a significant panorama of Indian life.

Another immigrant who was from Iran in his considered opinion believed Bollywood movies always carried a message - something I would not disagree with. Sholay too promoted widow re-marriage – a taboo still in much of India. Therefore, Bollywood’s were the only movies this Iranians daughters, brought up in orthodoxy were allowed to view – for the good message. Indian pop cinema was making a dent though in a fashion at best desultory.

If you would take the theme of mutants, then X men is a stupid movie. I think the Ramanand Sagar was much more creative than Stan Lee. Ramayana is much better take on the concept of Mutants. Albeit, true that Sagar can at best be credited with depiction. The original creation of our holy mutants predated Sagar by only 5000 years. And Sagar just took the rights free of charge as the content was open source. I don’t intend any irreverence whatsoever to the Ramanyana, which I can say with certitude is one of the greatest epics of the world, I can aver with even greater certitude that Valmiki or who ever the creator was, clearly leaps ahead of Homer, but speaking specifically on the aspect of mutants, I think it beats the creativity of Stan Lee hands down.

But it is clear, much of the Hollywood mega budget creativity like AVATAR or X Men are over rated. But the power of the media is such and muscle of money and propaganda is so potent that audiences are scared to criticize or even objectively judge. They are impelled to like and lap up the product even though they may not have internalized its import so much.

In fact, in the mutants that constantly dot our mythology have something that Stan Lees mutants grievously lack, that is bestowing their power by transposition on some faithful subject by way of a boon or blessing. Stan Lees or Bryan Singer imagination falls short of this. But there is time for them to catch up.