Calculated spontaneity
God, on stage
Prometheus | 07 May, 2004 12:04
Couple of months back, went to this play of Woody Allen's, called GOD. The storyline was a little vague, set in ancient Greece with Socrates and Diabetes, also Hepatitis. A play within a play -- all searching for that "Golden Ending" that authors usually crave. The whole play was about the question -- does God exist?? If he does, then Man is not responsible for his actions, as his actions must be directed by GOD. This would only mean chaos in the world. At one point in the play, the actors realise that they are in a play too, and this brings them into denial -- are they free, or are they just doing things they were designed to do. Then the twist is that the audience is also fictitious and the product of some other playwright. One lady from the audience comes up and declares that she is real and nothing can change her mind about it, till the playwright points out that she has never had an Orgasm though she has slept with so many people -- and faked all of them, as she wasn't real.
Basically, it's a Greek Tragedy which ends up being a hilarious comedy. The actors were fabulous and the girls were hot... literally. I would say the plot was inspired by The Matrix, was it not for the fact that the play was written long before The Matrix saw the light of day. But the questions are the same... If 'we' got out of the matrix, would it change our way of thinking... What would a person do if he realised that all his life he had been dreaming -- only the dream had felt so real, he had not waken from it. Would it make people less responsible for their actions to know that this world isn't real. Are we truly free???
Alvin Toffler, the great economist, writes in his book, The Third Wave, that the right to choose ones leader has been utilised by many civilisations to provide a fig leaf for their rulers. He says that even in a democracy, the members of the leadership are decided by the people once every four or five years, akin to a batch process in engineering, whereas the lobby groups and pressure groups which actually control the levers of policy and decisions in the Government have a chance to continuously alter the course of the decisions, akin to a continuous flow process. Hence, even the best democracy in the world does not truly give power to the citizens. It is always the administration that holds control over the country.
This line of thought reminds me of the English comedy series, Yes Minister, one of the few really imaginative comedies I have enjoyed. In that we have the Administrative Officers acidulously moulding the Minister, and later the Prime Minister towards their own goals -- it might be very subtle, but it still exists. And we have no respite from their hanky-panky, for they themselves declare that Politicians might come and go, but they are here to stay. The only option would be to decentralise decision making and encourage the growth of smaller countries and states.
Well, I've finally reached Writer's Block. So, that's it for today.
Basically, it's a Greek Tragedy which ends up being a hilarious comedy. The actors were fabulous and the girls were hot... literally. I would say the plot was inspired by The Matrix, was it not for the fact that the play was written long before The Matrix saw the light of day. But the questions are the same... If 'we' got out of the matrix, would it change our way of thinking... What would a person do if he realised that all his life he had been dreaming -- only the dream had felt so real, he had not waken from it. Would it make people less responsible for their actions to know that this world isn't real. Are we truly free???
Alvin Toffler, the great economist, writes in his book, The Third Wave, that the right to choose ones leader has been utilised by many civilisations to provide a fig leaf for their rulers. He says that even in a democracy, the members of the leadership are decided by the people once every four or five years, akin to a batch process in engineering, whereas the lobby groups and pressure groups which actually control the levers of policy and decisions in the Government have a chance to continuously alter the course of the decisions, akin to a continuous flow process. Hence, even the best democracy in the world does not truly give power to the citizens. It is always the administration that holds control over the country.
This line of thought reminds me of the English comedy series, Yes Minister, one of the few really imaginative comedies I have enjoyed. In that we have the Administrative Officers acidulously moulding the Minister, and later the Prime Minister towards their own goals -- it might be very subtle, but it still exists. And we have no respite from their hanky-panky, for they themselves declare that Politicians might come and go, but they are here to stay. The only option would be to decentralise decision making and encourage the growth of smaller countries and states.
Well, I've finally reached Writer's Block. So, that's it for today.
Philosophy |
Next |
Comments (3) | 
Trackbacks (0)
Comments
1[No Subject]
romu | 08/05/2004, 13:59
no the play was not bad at all!!
In fact the lead was played by my friends brother,and he did a pretty good job of it too!.It was really well portrayed!
[No Subject]
drp | 16/07/2004, 18:37
the Nut's play.....hmmmm
Menu
Search
Calendar
| « | September 2023 | » | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |
[No Subject]
patch | 07/05/2004, 21:51
hm i remember that play. it was really quite bad. really poor acting, except for a couple of guys. comedy and the absurd really shouldn't be attempted by people who don't know what they're doing. and woody allen is especially tricky. it was a debacle, man.