Coffin Ride of the Classics

The bullet’s pace at which modern media content is penetrating the adolescents worries me sometimes. It is excellent that thanks to John’s master creation – the telly, kids know who President Bush, Osama Bin Laden, President Musharraf, Saddam Hussein, Tony Blair, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and etc are. They know the chemistry between them and they can tell the good guys from the bad guys. However, some very important areas of creative concern are in jeopardy. A complete extinction of some cultural, literary and moral values is in progress.

I have grown up reading fairytale classics; evolved from times when probably my parents were in high school, and the media during my young days wasn’t so threatening. Fantasy tales today are being molded into box office giants like the Harry Potter series, what would become of Cinderella? She and her glass slipper would live as Hilary Duff and her jewel studded cell phone dropped at the staircase while running at the strike of 12 from a high school ball from a football team captain whose a hot stud! Fairytales which have been manipulated as movies and exaggerated by hot movie stars would live on. No one would remember the witch’s house made from sweets, gingerbread men and tarts from the Hansel and Gretel tale in comparison to Johnny Depp’s exotic chocolate factory!

Classic movies which are the foundations of the many modified versions would also wear out. Today I feel that the laser beam from the Tripod’s from War of the Worlds; whose highlight was the dashing and debonair Cruise, would wipe out the fragile creatures from Neverland. In addition to that, Peter Pan’s automatic death would occur with the entry of the third sequel of the red and blue; now available in black, Spiderman. And Superman’s esteem would be hurt due to Hrithik Roshan’s own version - Krish!

The death of classic creativity is mainly because of the glamour that has been added to modern stories. If we compare, we’ll find that the essence is the same but the portrayal is what differs. You are making the same dish but giving it a different garnish and a different name. Ali Baba and 40 Thieves is conveniently replaced by the James Bond phenomenon where instead of Ali Baba and Marjeena we see James Bond and Halley Barry. No one would like to know what happened to Jack when he climbed up the Beanstalk but everyone would tune in to find out what happened to Harry Potter when he entered the Chamber of Secrets! That is the magic of glamour.

Good poetry; the caliber of Ghalib, Iqbal, Kazmie and Mir, is out of the question. In its time, these words of gold were converted to lyrics for movies. Mod-times have influenced even my mind so remarkably; I boast of being the bard, that instead of remembering the name of the maestro who wrote:

“Mujhe duniya walon, sharabi na samjho,
Mein peeta nahi hun, pilayee gai hai”

I remember watching the forceful promotion of Shootout at Lokhandwala in Ekta Kapoor’s famous K-Series by the song:

“Aye Ganpat, chal daru la.”

The creative classics of every genre are on life support systems and those who get them in the form of sequels, re-dos, movies etc make it to the modern flashy minds. Yes! All that flashes is gold today! Those that cannot, they will expire either as pages of old parchment and end up in stomachs of pests and parasites that gnaw on them in dusty libraries or rot as old film reels which would wear out without anybody bothering to preserve them!

Laraib at Boat Basin serves to be the only place in Karachi city which is selling classic film pieces from the 1920’s eras like The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, and how many who go there to shop unless film history fanatics would know what the German Expressionist film is all about? Though a silent, the movie is a masterpiece of its own time. But who would dust off the cobwebs from this piece of art another 10 years down the lane considering the change in tastes in the Gothic/horror movie genre? When the movie was screened in my History of Cinema class at my Media Sciences second semester, there were unmistakable moans and sighs of displeasure because instead of a silent subtle thriller, people today expect to see blood and gore like Final Destination and Saw sequels which sometimes really go overboard and make no sense. German expressionism at least had a message of art and psychological distresses during the World War era. Us Media Science students, later had a different opinion about the movie – good! But there is nothing to be happy about, because everyone cannot be compelled to watch the movie and given the chance to appreciate it. For us, it was a matter of getting a grade.
But the experience would never be regretted.

Classics are dying and there are very few ways to actually save them because the rate of saturation in media today is exponential. Pirates of the Caribbean was an exclusive of its kind. We didn’t mind the sequel. But the short span given between the Dead Man’s Chest and the following sequel was crazy. This way, one product is not even given the breathing space and the other pushes it in the line.

Commercialism is also killing creativity because genres and sub-genres add to labels. The labels segregate the audience and limit content. Initially, a movie was a combination of themes and there was something for everyone, so all masterpieces had an equal chance of reaching all eyes. However today’s action movies and the stars associated with them have a restricted theme. Van Damme movie is definitely an action packed affair and some ladies would not even consider it.

God bless the classics which are already being loaded on the hearse and transported to the cemetery of extinction.