I liked aspects of the film Earth but agree with the reviewer that the characterizations were not well established. I did not completely buy into the idea that the events were being seen through the eyes of a child. Lenny baby was for me a completely unsympathetic character. Her breaking of the plate at the film's beginning established her, at least for me, as a spoiled brat.
Symbolically, I saw Lenny baby as the new generation of India - crippled, and seemingly torn between two worlds unsure where to settle in. Her family is also torn between two worlds. I didn't see them as being neutral as much as I saw them as embracing British traditions and cultural norms. They spoke English, wore western dress (note both Lenny and her mother's short, western hairstyles), drive a car, ballroom dance, eat english custards etc. They are reaping the rewards of British occupation, often out of touch with the horrors around them.
Lenny baby is always in the background, always watching, observing. Shanta brings her to the park, to the spring celebration, to her various meetings with the ice candy man and the masseur. Lenny baby is treated almost as a talisman, she is constantly being picked up and carried and moved from place to place. Like the Mulsim man in the riots being torn limb from limb, Lenny baby is pulled by the radical Hindu (ice candy man) and the more moderate (masseur). In every scene either one man or the other picks her up and carries her. She doesn't listen to those around her, when told not to mention his sisters' deaths to ice candy man those are the very first words out of her mouth. Her betrayal of Shanta in the end, does not surprise me. As the new India, she feels that she owes no allegiance to relationships in her past. The last scene of the rioting has the mob pushing her to the ground, rushing past her and leaving her in the dust. Is this how Deepa Mehta sees the new generation?It is a generation without a chance at success. It is starting out crippled and being run over by the tensions of the time before it can even begin to establish a true foothold. Lennny baby:"That day when I lost Ayah, I lost a large part of myself." With independence came a loss of what it had meant to be an Indian. Even 50 years later, Lenny baby still is limping along perseverating over what had happened a half century ago, unable to let go of the horrors of separation from her Ayah and the separation of India as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I agree that Lenny acted like a spoiled brat, however, I was surprised by her betrayal of Shanta. I believe that she trusted ice candy man and had no idea the consequences. She paid for it in the form of a lifetime of guilt.
If you take my original analogy to the extreme and say that Lenny baby represented, at least to some extent, the new India or the India to come;then its true that she did not know the consequences of her actions. India divided into Hindu and Muslim someone, somewhere thought that was a good idea with no real thought or introspection, no consideration as to what it would mean to physically move people etc from one part of the country to the other. So you are right, she "had no idea the consequences", in its infancy the new India was pushing forward without really considering where forward was or how best to get there.
You're on to something with your talisman description of Lenny. I'm still perplexed by her character in the film. She's handicapped by polio and can be found in the most dangerous and inappropriate of places. I would never allow my children to be out at night as people rebelled or demonstrated their ire and pulled a man apart with jeeps. But there she is with the friends of Shanta as everything goes to hell.
I agree with how you stated, "symbolically, I saw Lenny baby as the new generation of India - crippled, and seemingly torn between two worlds unsure where to settle in." However, I didn't see her breaking the plate as a sign of her being a spoiled brat. I saw it as her frustration (that of a young child) of not fully understanding what was happening in the world around her, which was the soon to be division of India. I think she had a lot more exposure to politics and diversity than the average kid of her day due to her parents status and that made a difference as to her reality. Anyway, food for thought and nice post.
"the characterizations were not well established." I agree. I loved the character of Shanta and really wished she'd been better developed...I'd just as soon L-B's parents had been left out...except we needed them for the neutrality aspect.
"I did not completely buy into the idea that the events were being seen through the eyes of a child." Me neither. She was a very benign character for an 8-year-old, however I didn't think of her nearly as spoiled as her mother.
"I saw Lenny baby as the new generation of India - crippled, and seemingly torn between two worlds unsure where to settle in." Great observation! I thought of her braced leg as being symbolic of the unbending state of affairs.
I, too, agree with your assessment of Lenny as spoiled. I was also shocked at her betrayal of Shanta, but I do not believe she expected quite the consequences that occurred. I wonder if it was normal during that time period and in that culture for children to hide under the table during dinner parties. No one seemed surprised at all to find them there!
Great analogy of Lenny-b as symbolic of the newly emerging India. I too was alarmed at Lenny's presence many places not appropriate for a child. But I suppose if Shanta was charged with taking care of her and wanted a personal life she didn't have much choice.However, I was surprised by her betrayal of Shanta since she had witnessed their intimacy in the countryside and then their sexual encounter. She must have sensed Shanta's love of Hasa.I was reminded though that her mother makes a great show of the importance of telling the truth in the beginning of the film, so maybe the desire for parental approval overrode her loyalty to Shanta.
I think you're all OVERANALYZING Lenny-Baby.
She's a kid! She's infatuated with Ice Candy Man! She loves Shanta, too. She wants to pair them up, and is irritated with Shanta because Shanta appears to like Hassan more.
Re: Lenny-Baby's behavior and being allowed to do "dangerous" stuff...
One of my closest friends, when I was young, was a polio victim, with an even more-badly affected leg. He did the same things as everyone else -- but just couldn't run as fast. (He tried, though.) His parents let HIM set the limits, and allowed him to have as normal a life as he could have. In Lenny-Baby's case, she had a care-taker with her, in Shanta, to look after her -- which she did (sometimes calling her back from things that might be a problem.)
Post a Comment