March 4, 2012

The Spectrum (write-up on ViBGYOR film festival 2012)


The odds of regular people thinking in wide terms on society’s impoverished, disenfranchised masses are close to zero, especially in this age of corporate culture which feeds our superficial desires rather than our rational needs. Democracy is a concept that’s regularly been twisted and turned to meet the agendas of the people in power or influence. Greed is today’s primary moral, suited of course to meet the ideological mentality of the age that success, a supposed sense of moral high-ground and material gain are the most important elements for self-fulfillment. This is of course absolute nonsense, but that’s part and parcel of living in a culture in which narcissism and self-aggrandizement are moral necessities.

Let’s look at the idea of democracy. Democracy has been an idea that’s been introduced over and over again since before the Ancient Greeks, and is still used now. But it isn’t a perfect concept. For instance, the Ancient Greeks seemed to believe that everyone had equal rights, and everyone should have an equal say in the goings on in a country – except women and slaves. Modern democracies often combine morals, values, ethics, fundamentalism, corporate interests and lobbying, lifestyle choices aided by advertising – by which democracies all over the world have transformed into Corporatocracies, and turned us into a culture of fad-driven, brand and salary slaves.

What humanity needs to understand is that every distinction we create – based on race, culture, country or religion – is a human invention, and perhaps should be considered a bad invention if it harms people more than helping them.

ViBGYOR Film Festival seeks to understand the problems and inconsistencies in ideologies, governance, living conditions and genuine morals – whenever they occur freely in what we ironically term a Free Society.