“The Only Thing I Do Know Is That We Have To Be Kind. Please, Be Kind. Especially When We Don’t Know What’s Going On.”
Waymond Wang
I finally got to chance to see this year’s Oscar darling last week, it left me feeling a wave of emotions which I thought best to pen down. Apart from the wackiness of it all, the first thing that had stuck with me for quite a while was the title which at times felt aptly summarizing my work and personal life. It’s a feeling that all of us probably go through, are we stretching ourselves in all directions all at the same time such that we ultimately feel – Nothing really matters ?
The film had multiple genres coursing through it and homage to multiple filmmakers (loved the Wong Kar Wai back alleys shots), but what struck me the most is the ultimate message that we need to regain control of our lives through kindness. TLC (tender loving care) is often what is missing in our interactions with other human beings and with nature in general, being mindful of our thoughts, our words and our actions is ultimately the balm to how the universe treats us or at least how we feel we deserve to be treated. It’s another way of mentioning the key message in other books – The universe manifests around us what we want the most, the universe treats us in the manner that we wish to be treated, our destiny is what we make it to be not of what was written in our stars.
Of the many themes presented, I wanted to delve deeper on the following :
Integration as an Immigrant in America
Being an immigrant in a new country is one of the hardest experiences that humans voluntarily undergo. As an immigrant you are willing giving up the familiarity of our your surroundings, your family and friends for the chance to make a better life in a new land.
One of the most difficult things integrating as an immigrant child is the role of your native language in interactions with your parents and elders. In my own life, I have at times jumbled up words and even forgotten a language (Hindi) that was a language we spoke outside but not at home.
In the movie the way the characters alternate between Mandarin and English is very reminiscent of how we revert to the language that we are the most familiar with to express ourselves but can’t help the slow creep of the foreign language in our daily talk. Altering between languages at time also feels at times living in different realities, I feel varying levels of creativity, conformity and expressiveness when switching between languages.
Concept of Metaverse and Adjacent Realities
The idea that a slightly different micro action leads onto a different reality that exists in the realm of possibility is one of the mind distorting concepts introduced in the film. At times, we often reminisce on moments of what-ifs but that is often at the level of major life events, however the understanding of how even a minor interaction proverbially acts through the butterfly effect to alter our realities is fascinating.
Where the idea takes the great leap is bringing out the ability to merge or glean from the adjacent reality anything that maybe useful at the moment. The lead character gains special martial arts powers thinking through about the universe where she trained specifically for it.
In my mind, metaverse as a concept that is being commercialized by the likes of Meta would benefit from these environment dynamics. Can people switch between alternating realities and only live out the good parts consciously ? Would that lead to a situation where the hardest situations in all the simulations are rather played out by autonomous agents who merely act in consonance with the best perceived action maybe as per past actions and behaviors ?
The Role of Cults in attaining Salvation
We are all seeking guidance and the answer to the ultimate truth of why are we alive and what is our purpose in this life. Cults thrive on this natural tension, corral you with similar individuals on the path and help you believe you are closer to your goals in the group.
A fundamental flaw here that people overlook in their internal confusion is that salvation is ultimately a very personal thing. My need for self actualization and the underlying dissatisfaction in life can be very fundamentally different.
An everything bagel that sucks in everything towards it is the unlikely totem of the cult in the movie, but it represents a singular answer for people who can’t choose. A singular answer doesn’t work, we need the sane cream cheese and exotic lox with our bagels to make life interesting.
Acceptance of Elders
Our ideas on life, morals, money and finances may be different from our elders simply due to the different macro factors that we have been exposed to in our lifetimes. Generations growing up during recessions behave differently from generations growing up in war and also from those in periods of never ending prosperity.
However, if we always bring in our knowledge of priors into our decision making framework as it applies to relationships there will be hurt on both sides of the relationship. At it’s core the movie is about the unending and unexpressed angst that the main characters have against their parents that manifests itself in less than ideal behavior. The resolution comes about only when everyone realizes the importance of being heard, of being together and trying to resolve the issues as one unit.
Even though families may appear together, they truly aren’t together unless a crisis puts them to test. But like in any crisis situation if we imagine our troubles predate us or are the faults of factors outside our control we will never be able to take hold of the steering wheel. At the end it’s about truly cherishing the moments we have together with our elders and being present in the moment and the situation.
The Lucid Monk 