Saturday, November 14, 2009

It is 9:59pm, 14 November 2009, and my 4H2 time-table will commence in 2 days time and end in 12 days time. Hopefully in this time period I will strengthen my foundation on my 4H2s so that I can concentrate on improving my English Vocabulary to tackle GP the next year, and of course, sadly, I have to study "a little" during the December holidays.


Just went to watch 2012 with my family, and I think that you guys should know you are in for a 'treat'. Ok maybe not treat, who would want to listen to my opinions anyway, especially our favourite passer-by who still resides in my tagboard. Nevertheless I shall post some of my reflections after I've watched the movie.



Warning: If you have not watched 2012 and plan to watch it soon, PLEASE STOP HERE AND CLICK THE RED X AND GET OUT OF HERE. What I'm about to say will totally be no fun if you have not watched the movie. So please, I did warned you guys!






















Still here? Have you really watched 2012? Please, there is still chance. Get out of here if you have not watched.


























Anyway if you don't plan to watch it at all, you can still continue. It is really up to you...































Hope I didn't make any grammar mistakes... O_o




















Ok, 2012. The movie lasted for 2 hours and 40 minutes and basically I was holding my bladder throughout the movie and at the same time trying to piece all the information together. First let me give my ratings:



Effectiveness: 8 / 10
Computer effects: 10 / 10 (You gotta believe it)
Overall acting: 9 / 10


Overall rating: 9 / 10


Yeah so if you have reached till this point I assume that you already know the contents of the movie, and wish to find out what I thought so here it is.



I believe that the whole movie is designed such that it is able to invoke some form of reflection within each individual about life as a human being. Well the movie was basically about this guy named Jackson, who divorced with his wife and lived as an artist writing stories. He is unable to get on to this ship together with his loved ones because he hasn't enough money to buy a pass. For some reason(probably the script of the show), luck is always in his way and he is able to ensure safety among his loved ones and eventually survive the disaster. In between friends were removed from them, but their sacrifices are obviously worth it. Add the computer effects in and the whole movie was able to grab everyone's attention back in the cinema.




Overall the movie is quite sad and rather meaningful as it is able to depict 3 ideas that are occurring to us right now, which may soon get the better of us if you know what I mean. Let me list them down first and slowly elaborate on each of them.



1. Selfishness
2. Globalisation
3. Trust


... and then I shall give a summary.




1. Selfishness



I mean, this is basically the general thing that was portrayed effectively throughout the entire movie. The world is coming to an end at 2012, and the rich and the abled are the ones that care primarily about themselves first and cease to put themselves in the shoes of other people, namely the poor and "lousier, insignificant" people. In the movie, there are these ginormous ships that will hold every "abled" people safe while those that fail to get their tickets can say goodbye to their lives. Throughout the movie there are certain scenes which I shall name which would be kind of realistic in real life.



Scene A:

The part whereby the huge guy, I think by the name of Bentley, has the green ticket and is able to get on the helicopter to get to the ship. The way he disregards the rest of the main characters and proceed onto the helicopter with his twin sons was quite aggravating to say the least. I mean the point is that he has the ticket which can "guarantee" him safety, which he realised later that it does not. The situation whereby Bentley sees himself as superior and leaving the Jackson family in the lurch is quite realistic if put to real life. Well, best put yourself in a better position and dump potential obstacles and competitors, yeah?



Scene B:

The part whereby the black guy announces to the whole ship that they should let the other people in, claiming that if we don't care for each other, what's the point of escaping the disaster anyway? His white colleague barged in and claimed that the "rest of the people" are not allowed in and their resources are pretty much limited and therefore they should continue carrying out their operations and forget about them.


Black guy: So you're leaving them behind. Won't it pain you to see them left behind, helpless?


White guy: There is no time to lose! The point of us escaping is to save our SPECIES!


And the argument goes on and on, with the verdict in the end that the people would be allowed in. This is the point whereby Bentley died by the way. He kind of made up for what he did previously, but it was still sad nonetheless.


That argument in the ship was one of the more controversial mini-debates in the show. People are getting killed, innocent people specifically, but in times of crisis, sacrifices have to be made no matter how cruel and ruthless they are and the important people should stay and try to survive no matter what their ways of thinking are. In the movie, the white guy's overall stand is that they should make plans to escape as soon as possible, disregarding all other innocent lives in the way as during that time, the tsunami was raging. The black guy challenged him that if the ship can afford it, why not let the workers at the port as well as those who "got the green tickets" in as well? There is basically nothing to lose, just some precious time.


The idea of selfishness is clearly portrayed here and I know that I've emphasised it alot of times. This is definitely the most realistic part of the movie as I believe anybody would react like the white guy in that time of crisis. The black guy is perhaps the cliched good guy that tries to save everybody. Just a thought.




There are other smaller scenes which depict this point but I guess they are not really important to the show as it flows along. Well lets see how things go on when the real Armageddon strikes.




2. Globalisation




This is just one short insight that I thought of after the movie is over with a little help(discussion) with my mum. Notice that one year after the disaster had occurred, the only continent left visible and ready to be set up is the continent Africa. Europe, Asia and North & South America are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps other people would think that it is just some random land left for the people to begin their lives proper again, but I think not.



Right now, the world is basically divided into the developed, developing, not so developing and non-developing countries, developed countries namely the USA and China and Japan, and the non-developing namely Africa. The situation now is that trees are being uprooted to be replaced by new infrastructure as the demand goes up. While building the infrastructure, notice the strong and deep foundation that has to be laid within the Earth's crust in order for the building to stand. Notice also that in Africa, none of these are happening as resources are merely extracted from them in the form of labour and the land remains as natural as possible. This is exactly my explanation of why the writers of this film choose Africa as the final place for human beings to start over again.



You may disagree, but I think that on the whole this could be true. Why would the land that buildings sat on be the first to crumble and give way. It is obviously due to the alterations of the land through the setting up of wires and pipes, foundation setting and so on. This further encourages the "Earth Plates Displacement" or something like that as it happens in the film.



3. Trust




This still remains as the strongest force that keeps us alive. I mean, when Jackson rushed to save his loved ones, they don't believe him at first until the Earthquakes strike. They totally reacted in the way that all people would in times of an emergency, but luckily they trusted Jackson enough to follow him in the Limo, then it was just luck that favoured them throughout their entire journey to the ship or ark, whatever you call it.



Here's actually something that is based solely on my opinion. Religion does not help in times of crisis. I mean just look at the scene whereby the entire population holds a candle and pray and the building still caves in and kills all of them. Prayers have absolutely no effect. I totally disagree with Christianity.com. Praying to that "superior being" is no different from praying to ice, or your handphone and so on.



Still, the idea of trust within the family of 4 was really quite moving to say the least. The boy helping his father solve the problem in the hydraulics, the girl insisting in following her father to give him moral support, all excellent portrayals of trust. Religious praying... nah...




When the End of the World is really nearing, there will be pandemoniums and uproars and so on. In this case, it is the eruption of volcanoes and earthquakes resulting in massive tsunamis which ultimately owns everything. There is this scene which shows the American president staying behind with the citizens. Perhaps the point of this scene is to show that when the world is really coming to an end, people are equal beings no matter what their statuses are. When the tsunamis strike, there is basically no hope for survival for those unprepared.


Well, that's it. I really must give credits once again to the computer effects - they kept my eyes glued to the screen all the time! =)




Haix. Tomorrow I may need to go to the Salvation Army and ask them if they want donations. Well obviously they would but I must write up this proposal for my CCA. Dang it.



Well best of luck to myself to make the best out of the next 12 days. Seeya readers. Case Study coming up!
I posted at 9:57 PM