Say Sorry, but not for this

Benedict Cumberbatch apologizing for using the phrase “coloured people” is as absurd as it gets. First of all, he was talking in the defence of black people who can’t find work in the industry as easily as white people. And if the term ‘black’ which is preferred to ‘coloured’ isn’t even more obnoxious a term, I don’t know what is.

I remember Oprah saying years ago that she found the ‘nigga’ used by coloured/black guys offensive and Terence Howard trying to convince her that the term ‘my nigga’ was a term of endearment. She wasn’t buying it. Like I don’t buy into the suffocating political correctness of the times we’re living in. You know what’s really offensive? That we see humans in terms of colour first, and their humanity or lack thereof, second. Be judgmental by all means, (is there a more loathsome lot than the people who say, “I’m not here to judge”? What are you here for, then? If I wanted a teapot for a friend who will only soothe and not speak the truth, I’d buy one), but judge others for their acts, not the phrases they use in speech or in books or in cartoons.

Speaking of which, this entire ‘free speech’ thingy is so depressing – because it depends entirely on who’s delivering it. In America, Seth Rogen and Michael Moore have been ostracized for saying ‘American Sniper’ sucked big time. If you read what Chris Kyle has written, and you don’t shudder, irrespective of class, creed and country of origin, you need a padded cell, my friend. In Texas, they have a Chris Kyle Day instead.

How does patriotism and dishonesty merge and so few see it happening? How can so few lack the courage to accept what is wrong with their country and try to fight against it, no matter how unpopular it makes you. Not even God occupies a place impregnable to criticism. Unless you follow a very strange God indeed. Then again, I follow @TheTweetOfGod and he does no wrong in my book, so mea culpa.

The dangerous thing when some lines blur is that the lone voices that attempt to be raised will be extinguished one by one, either through 50 lashes a week or by people saying after seeing ‘American Sniper’ that all they want to do is go out and kill as many ‘ragheads’ as they can find. Come to think of it, that's not patriotism, or dishonesty, it’s deep-seated neurosis.

The Theory of Men

It’s a pity that not one but count ‘em TWO people were snoring in the cinema hall half-way through The Theory of Everything about one of the greatest thinkers in the cosmos. This is less a reflection on humanity and more a sad glance towards director James Marsh. An homage to the dude who tackled the concept of Time and you are responsible for making it lag? I wouldn’t want to be you, James, any time soon.

I understand the movie wanted to focus on the relationship between Stephen and Jane but where is the work this man is renowned for? You can’t give me a clichéd image of cream swirling in a coffee cup, yes, yes, brilliant morphing into the Milky Way, and even present the dynamics between the Hawkings as the most milk-and-water bilge running down the drain, and expect me to be satisfied.

But the extraordinary portrayal by Eddie Redmayne lifted this experience to the realm of unforgettable, it has to be said. There is just one scene where I think Marsh showed a certain grasp of his subject matter, and that’s when Stephen/Eddie uncoils at a lecture and imagines an act as simple – and undoable, for him – as bending down to get a pen and return it to its owner. It’s a point where you see both how Eddie transformed himself for this role and how Stephen suffers every single day.

Charlie Cox was wonderful, the emotional suffering he presents almost matches Stephen’s physical one (almost, because nothing can ever do that).  I’ll never forget Firdaus Kanga asking Hawking, “What do you think is the best thing about being disabled?” And Stephen replying, “I don’t think there is anything good about being disabled.” You want to believe there is some reason for the fresh horrors that rain down on your head every other day, but you know what, there isn’t. It’s all a random collision of matter and circumstance, much as the beginning of the universe that Hawking has roamed to its farthest reaches in his mind, while his body has remained so cruelly tethered.
So unfortunate, then, that all this movie showed me was 1. The smartest men are seriously dumb when it comes to women, and 2. Harry Lloyd is hot.