On Koyaanisqatsi
I recently watched a very bizarre film. It cannot rightly be called a movie or a documentary. It had no dialogue at all; it had no plot or story. It consisted of images and music. The images began with images of dry dessert, then water, then sky, and ended with the fire of a rocket launch. (Yes, this will sound like an artisitc film review at first, but I will eventually deviate from that.) It seems clear that this was to show the four traditional elements of nature, yet the fourth element was actually caused by man. From that point on -- about 15-20 min in -- the film showed scenes of everyday life, scenes of business, of people doing their thing. This continued for about an hour, except that the movie began to run in fast forward, such that, cars were scene as a blur across highways from a distance, skyscrapers looked like flashing crystals with their lights switching off and on at high speed at night, crowds of people on escalators became a constantly-morphing mass. The music matched this feel, becoming more rushed and intense. And then the film ended... without a word of dialogue.
By the way, koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi Native-American word for something to the effect of "life out of balance" as in "unbalanced life".
The director, I think, wanted to show visually the crazy business of people, the constant, ceaseless flow of people and technology in our culture. While, I would bet chocolate that I do not share the same world view as the director, this seeming mindless rush of the masses is something that has always bugged me. I hate following crowds. I find my own way through airports and subway stations. I hate lines, not because of impatience -- I will sit and wait twice as long if it means I don't have to stand in line. Lines make me feel like a cow being herded somewhere.
I'm not sure what my problem is with this, but I just know that I hate it. Perhaps I am too individualistic. But I think it has something to do with not wanting to feel mindless.
I'm not sure that was the point of "Koyaanisqatsi", but it was brought to mind. Were I just to read the title, I would not have pictured the images the film showed, I would have thought of another point. In very many situations and decisions in life, balance is the answer it seems. Extremes tend to be bad. I am not speaking of compromising; this is different. Compromising is doing something you don't want to do to avoid doing something you hate to do, whereas the balanced choice is the one that I usually want to choose. For example, take government. Contrary to modern popular belief, this country was NEVER intended to be a democracy. The founding fathers found such a government far to extreme. Democracy leads to anarchy; anarchy leads to chaos and the downfall of a nation. Nor did they desire a republic. A pure republic turns into and oligarchy rather quickly and the people likely suffer. So they went for a better solution, a democratic republic. They set up a government intentionally of checks and balances.
But then, that wasn't the point of "Koyaanisqatsi" either.
I think the point of the film was just to demonstrate how crazy and busy technology has made us, how no one relaxes anymore, no one sits still and just lives. Here, I would go for the more balanced choice. I do not think living sans technology would be as beneficial as many environmentalists seem to think. No, technology has done wonderful things. I want to live a life where technology benefits, but does not mindlessly control me, where I can enjoy the world around me, but not in ignorance or laziness. In line with this, my dream house has always been in a very natural setting, yet still within close distance of a city. It would contain high technology tools, yet feel rustic.
Anyhow, three thoughts brought about by the film that make for a medium-length entry....
By the way, koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi Native-American word for something to the effect of "life out of balance" as in "unbalanced life".
The director, I think, wanted to show visually the crazy business of people, the constant, ceaseless flow of people and technology in our culture. While, I would bet chocolate that I do not share the same world view as the director, this seeming mindless rush of the masses is something that has always bugged me. I hate following crowds. I find my own way through airports and subway stations. I hate lines, not because of impatience -- I will sit and wait twice as long if it means I don't have to stand in line. Lines make me feel like a cow being herded somewhere.
I'm not sure what my problem is with this, but I just know that I hate it. Perhaps I am too individualistic. But I think it has something to do with not wanting to feel mindless.
I'm not sure that was the point of "Koyaanisqatsi", but it was brought to mind. Were I just to read the title, I would not have pictured the images the film showed, I would have thought of another point. In very many situations and decisions in life, balance is the answer it seems. Extremes tend to be bad. I am not speaking of compromising; this is different. Compromising is doing something you don't want to do to avoid doing something you hate to do, whereas the balanced choice is the one that I usually want to choose. For example, take government. Contrary to modern popular belief, this country was NEVER intended to be a democracy. The founding fathers found such a government far to extreme. Democracy leads to anarchy; anarchy leads to chaos and the downfall of a nation. Nor did they desire a republic. A pure republic turns into and oligarchy rather quickly and the people likely suffer. So they went for a better solution, a democratic republic. They set up a government intentionally of checks and balances.
But then, that wasn't the point of "Koyaanisqatsi" either.
I think the point of the film was just to demonstrate how crazy and busy technology has made us, how no one relaxes anymore, no one sits still and just lives. Here, I would go for the more balanced choice. I do not think living sans technology would be as beneficial as many environmentalists seem to think. No, technology has done wonderful things. I want to live a life where technology benefits, but does not mindlessly control me, where I can enjoy the world around me, but not in ignorance or laziness. In line with this, my dream house has always been in a very natural setting, yet still within close distance of a city. It would contain high technology tools, yet feel rustic.
Anyhow, three thoughts brought about by the film that make for a medium-length entry....