Showing posts with label Quantico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quantico. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 07, 2017

Binge Watching Two Seasons Of Quantico






Binge Watching Two Seasons Of Quantico
  • The Big News Is Priyanka
  • Too Much Reliance On Unexpected Plot Twists
  • The Setting Is A Concrete Message
  • Cultural And Gender Diversity Is Social Sci-Fi
  • Gunning For A Global Audience From The Get Go
  • TV: A Medium All Its Own
  • Wither Hollywood?
  • Season 1 Dramatic End: Well Handled
  • The Segway
  • Democracy's Propaganda?
  • What Next?
  • Season 2 Vs Season 1 Vs Season 3
  • The Trio: Alex, Shelby, Raina/Nimah
  • Critique
  • Quantico



I have binge-watched a few others as well: House Of Cards, 24, Amitabh Bachchan's Yudh. And Quantico is of comparable quality. It too is gripping. But this is not a movie on TV, it is just a different format. A marathon is not just a longer race. It is a different flavor, a different animal altogether. I can't imagine a movie Quantico. But I can imagine a gaming experience Quantico. The show relies heavily on unexpected plot twists and would be a perfect game plot.

The Big News Is Priyanka

Priyanka is a first. A Bollywood-Hollywood crossover has not happened before at this level and scale. She is a cultural phenomenon or rather a cross-cultural phenomenon. There is a reason the Alex Parrish and not the Ryan Booth character has made it to Time 100 or the Forbes 100. although both play very important roles in the show.




PC's move is borderline geopolitical. It is also a gender statement. Hollywood remains white. But TV has thrown up Quantico and several other shows where people from non-traditional backgrounds are in starring roles. But India is not just another country. It is a continent all on its own. And that's what makes PC different. That she has not broken into the LA scene with an equal splash - yet - might be a hint at the fast-changing movie making trends. Maybe the right positioning for her is global and not necessarily the US proper. Quantico Season 1 was a big hit worldwide.

Too Much Reliance On Unexpected Plot Twists

It must be the need to get the viewers to keep coming back week after week. Granted you have to get the eyeballs or you are no longer in business. Granted holding attention for 20 hours is more than 10 times as challenging as holding attention for two. But the FBI is the FBI and movies are movies. The dramatic pace has to be kept up. But I thought there was a little too much reliance on unexpected plot twists.

The Setting Is The Concrete Message

I read somewhere once one thing Robert DeNiro made a point to work on was to make sure he dressed and looked just like the character he was set to play. It was not just about the thought process and the emotion of the moment. The physicality mattered big time. The physical settings of the show's episodes and the component scenes are a major accomplishment. If the idea is to make the audience more sympathetic to the institution that is the FBI, mission accomplished. If the idea is to get the FBI to attempt and become a more culturally diverse place, message delivered. If the idea is to get the audience to step inside the FBI for a second, done and done.

Cultural Diversity Is Social Sci-Fi

There is science fiction, and then there is social science fiction. An FBI agent is a white male. Everyone knows that. That is the image. That is the bias. That is the fact. That is the stereotype. That is America's original sin. In the show trainees and instructors come in all sorts of cultural and gender flavors. That is the social sci-fi part. It has not happened yet but will happen down the line. One hopes so. I mean, if you can make a hijab or two sit comfortably on heads, that is a point to be noted.

Gunning For A Global Audience From The Get Go

Hollywood makes the majority of its money outside of America these days. PC taking the lead in Quantico has been a top Bollywood star coming to America. That gets said. But equally it has been Hollywood prying open the Indian market, the global market. There are a lot of young women around the world today who work professional jobs and spend money on entertainment, among other things. PC's face speaks to them.

TV: A Medium All Its Own

TV is not lesser than the movie theater. At least, not anymore. It is self-sufficient as a medium. Shows like Quantico celebrate that. In fact, the web is a more natural extension to TV, it's not the movie theater. I binge watched on Netflix.

Wither Hollywood?

Hollywood has its advantages in LA just like Silicon Valley is a geographical location with its advantages. Both are doing great. But just like you could launch a tech startup most places on the planet today, you can make a good movie anywhere these days.

Season 1 Dramatic End: Well Handled

As I watched the final episode of the first season, especially the final moments, I was prepared to forgive the overuse of dramatic plot twists, because the end was very well planned, and even the dramatic plot twists perhaps drive home the larger point that the FBI as an organization struggles with itself as much as it struggles with the world it finds itself in. After all, it is people on both sides of that thin membrane that separates.

One season is almost 16 hours. This material could not have been given the right treatment in a two-hour movie. This is not a mini-me version of a blockbuster movie. The movie format is small. This format is bigger.

The Segway

9/11 caught the intelligence agencies of this country napping at the wheel. They were caught not talking to each other. A major counterterrorism effort since has been about breaking down the walls and barriers, about intelligence agencies not only within but also across countries talking to each other. The segway from one season of Quantico to the next pays homage to that. The FBI and the CIA kind of talk. Agent Parrish is a human bridge. It is symbolic.

Democracy's Propaganda?

Both seasons of Quantico do a wonderful job of the viewers becoming a little bit more informed, a little bit more sympathetic to the doings of the FBI, the CIA, and the like agencies. But this is a private sector venture hinging on the size of viewership. It is democracy working. The hard questions do get asked, scenarios do get imagined in the process. Is the FBI its own worst enemy? Is the CIA its own worst enemy? Viewer discretion is advised. Democracy or no democracy, Quantico is great drama, makes for great television.


What Next?

Baywatch was a dud (not in China, though), and not Priyanka Chopra's blockbuster Hollywood debut her fans expected it to be. But Quantico is still on, there is a season 3, and PC will likely have the last laugh on bigger things. She did 50 movies in Bollywood. Many top Hollywood actors have retired before hitting that kind of number. But nothing she did in Bollywood remotely approaches her role in Quantico, her best screen persona yet. The role is the woman taking her rightful place in the most precarious of situations. Perhaps there is a corporate version of that that would be even more riveting, more global and fitting multiple screen sizes all at once, gaming included. When you have India, America, and China already in your bag, you perhaps target Russia next.

Season 2 Vs Season 1 Vs Season 3

Data shows the viewership for Season 2 has been lower than the viewership for Season 1. I can see why. The formula of relentless plot twists does not work as well for political intrigue as it does for sheer physical action. The mind starts spinning and you lose people. Also, Season 1 had the freshness of the FBI training school. I don't know yet what Season 3 is about, but if it be about physical action in the Global South (like Jason Bourne in Tangiers) the viewership could again spike. But, I must say, it was kind of nice to see a woman president.

The Trio: Alex, Shelby, Raina/Nimah

Alex, Shelby and Raina/Nimah make for a powerful trio. The Alex-Ryan pairing does a good job of showing the toll life as a FBI/CIA agent can take on one's private life. Often it is hard even for a fellow agent to understand you. But once it is firmly established as to who the more gifted partner is, it is smoother sailing. Some small roles like Simon and Harry truly stand out. Conflicted emotions make for great drama.

Critique

The writer(s) of the show obviously is better at spy action than at political intrigue and should go back to spy action. An international backdrop would be exotic now. Alex and team collaborating with foreign intelligence agencies on their territories (the narco wars in Latin America, the Middle East with the obvious terrorism angles, Pakistan, South China Sea, Korea, Kenya) would provide so much more room for unexpected plot twists. Street scenes in densely populated countries look great on camera. Fight scenes on such streets give so much more room for choreography. There are numerous movie parts, and there is a huge in your face human element.

Quantico

It is a great TV show that would make for a great XBox game. You would allow gamers to let decide on multiple outcomes. There is also market for merchandise. There are women out there who would like to the Alex Parrish look, obviously. Creating multiple revenue streams might give the show a Season 4, and a Season 5, and a Season 6 perhaps. It should not be a US first release. The release ought be global. There's terrorism, there's cybercrime, there's human trafficking, there are civil wars, there are riots. Alex Parrish would shine in each such scenario. And it would be exotic to show the ground reality of law enforcement across diverse countries.


Monday, February 13, 2017

An Actor Can Not Exceed The Script

The script is everything. A show or a movie floats or sinks on the strength of the script, or lack thereof.

In India there is a saying. A bad cook adds extra chili powder to everything. Mindless plot twists, and mindless use of sex and violence are often used as that extra chili powder.

There are countless movies about people falling in love. But the theme of deepening of love in an existing relationship is not much explored. How do you go deeper after you have been married 15 years? Such themes are not much explored.

Law enforcement is another perennial topic and rightly so. But law enforcement does not only struggle with those that might cross the law. Law enforcement struggles with itself, it struggles with diversity issues.

Why only law enforcement? What about commandment enforcement? The complex organizational structure of something like the Catholic Church is not any less fascinating than that of a large police department or intelligence agency.

And the four constantly intersect: human love, divine love, law enforcement, commandment enforcement.

Diversity is not just about sprinkling a few different kinds of faces on to the screen. Culture is a body of knowledge. Gender is its own culture. And gender, as we know by now, is not binary, but a spectrum, not just in society but also inside individuals. Inside every man there is a woman.

Technology changes the basic assumptions. Digitization is a huge force. For one it creates numerous fragmented markets of different sizes. Costs can go down.

Story telling is as old as humanity. Movies might be a new art form. But not story telling. Art speaks to society. Society speaks to art. Movies as an art medium are uniquely positioned to help humanity make progress on race and gender issues. I am talking social science fiction.

A better actor can better respond to the script but an actor can not rise above the script.

In the post 9/11 era intelligence agencies from different countries with fundamentally different languages and cultures have tried to collaborate. But pre 9/11 the two major intelligence agencies in this very country acted like they were in different countries.

Cultural diversity is not just skin pigments. Were that so it would be so much easier. Diversity is primarily sociology. You can have everyone speak English and try to cover it up, but it does not go that way.

This is now the era of global movie making where you confront diversity head on. You actually immerse into the different cultures in their natural settings across continents. Stereotyping falls flat. Intellectual laziness falls flat. The texture of diversity is real.

God has decided to come into mainstream movies and music, big time.

Monday, February 06, 2017

Stephen Colbert, White Guy From North Carolina



Colbert tried. Very hard. He made all the right noises on "Bollywood" and Priyanka Chopra's "50 movies." And then, boom, just like that, he gave it all away.

When you are a talk show host, and you have a guest on the show, you are like a cab driver, and the guest is that person in the back seat. But Stephen just could not resist. You might be the Quantico TV Star, seen in over 100 media territories in the world, Miss World, Bollywood heartthrob, but guess what, I am the one in the American living rooms every evening! I am The Stephen Colbert! Successor to The Jon Stewart! I am The.

He just had to do it. It is like Mitch McConnell saying to Barack Obama, you might be President Of The United States, twice elected, but guess who the white guy from Kentucky is! Wanna have beer?



What would it take to cure the attitude problem of the white males? A Great Depression maybe?

Hollywood is a specific place. Like in Manhattan there is Chelsea, or Hell's Kitchen, or the East Village. Hollywood is a place like that. And it must have been a forest at one point, hence the name. Somebody was looking for cheap real estate. In Mumbai, they have an unnamed Film City. It is still a forest.

By that token the right name for the counterpart in India would simply be Mumbai. There is Hollywood, and then there is Mumbai. But Mumbai is like Los Angeles. And Hollywood is no longer a place. It is the figment of imagination. It is a dream factory in the sky.

White liberals are the most racist people on the planet. The people in the other camp at least know they are being racist. White liberals walk and talk like they have no clue. They say being dead is like being stupid, you have no idea how hard you are being on other people. Being racist is like being dead and stupid at the same time. You have no clue.

Jesus Is Back, But He Is Hard To Look At

Live With Kelly, on the other hand. She is exemplary. She misses out on the racism like she was not even white. Maybe it is not racism, maybe it is sexism. Easily both.



Tuesday, January 31, 2017

A Movie Production House Big Enough For PC



Steve Jobs could not have created the personal computer working inside Hewlett Packard or another similar company. The existing movie studios are like HP. Truly revolutionary cinema would ask not just for acting chops but also an entrepreneurial spirit. The paradigms of racism and sexism that are the firm frameworks of the current corporate arrangements, both in terms of movie production houses and their twin counterpart, the mass media, especially television, would make truly revolutionary work impossible.



Source

A successor franchise to Star Wars, not just in terms of science fiction, technology fiction, but also social science fiction, imagining the woman of tomorrow, is necessarily an anti racism idea. The intelligent life they have been looking for is in Africa and India; the vast cosmos was created so you may feel special, so humanity may feel special. A successor franchise to James Bond, a Cold War relic, is just a nod to geopolitics. The post World War II world order is over. A successor franchise to Jason Bourne, which had a shelf life of a total of three movies anyways, is that Bourne is slightly biologically enhanced; there is massive room for enhancement in the sociological sphere. You would end up with more dramatic results. Would make for great entertainment. It would be a major departure from current ground reality.

The earth is your only home. If God wanted to destroy humanity, He would send one meteor to earth, and another to Mars at the same time, if you might also be on Mars.



I have already started to flesh out the concept. I have no plans to approach any existing movie studio. I am going to create a new company to cocoon the movie franchise. I am going to create a family of companies anyways. What's one more company?

A truly global release would be big money.

Racism is Lucifer's final grip on humanity. That grip is to be broken. That is why I am here. That, and a few other reasons.

Your racist arguments are being supplied to you by Lucifer. He gets insider your head and talks. And you listen.

Sometimes, or maybe often times, the best way to break the glass ceiling is by walking out of the glass house. It's called entrepreneurship. It's called out of the box thinking.

Everywhere to go, everywhere to be.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Priyanka Chopra: The Non Movie Aspects



I think people in general vastly underestimate the non movie aspects of Priyanka. Look at it this way. Here's the first person who reached the heights of Bollywood, the largest movie industry in the world by sheer production volume, and then quickly also reached the heights of Hollywood, the largest movie industry in the world by dollar volume, without losing her stature in Bollywood. This has never happened before. And she is a college dropout along the lines of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. She is a trailblazer. She is not even a dropout. She completely skipped it. She is obviously a very smart person (she was top of class at high school, and angling to be an engineer when her mother sent out her portfolio, and next she knew she was first Miss India, and then Miss World), a voracious reader more happy in a bookstore than in the stereotypically female shopping destinations.

Time magazine captured it though. The best is yet to come. I look at her trajectory and see she is going to be the top paid actor in Hollywood. It will happen sooner than most realize.

There are a lot of women (and men) around the world who want the idea of a career woman to no longer be news. Her role in Quantico (which is now seen all over the world, as on Indian television) speaks to them.

Art feeds society. Society feeds art. It is a non stop two way conversation. In that I think of movies as an art medium uniquely positioned to recreate gender roles and help make them more equal across the board.

As seen from the platform, Lefferts Blvd, final stop in Queens on the A train: World Trade Center and the Richmond Hill Gurudwara

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Richmond Hill Gurudwara, A train to the last stop in Queens, Lefferts Blvd

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A Train last stop in Queens.... Bollywood music.

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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Get Well Soon, Priyanka Chopra

Street Food Delight: Lamb Over Rice

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@priyankachopra Pride of India, Get well soon. From the good people of the Woodside Gurudwara.

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Pigeons by St. Patrick's

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Candle Offering

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Sunday 10:15 AM Service, St. Patrick's

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