Change Your Image
factgasm
Reviews
City of Ember (2008)
City of Ember: Inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave.
When Jeanne DuPrau wrote her book The City Ember, she was partly inspired by the Allegory of the Cave which Plato devise to encourage his fellow Ancient Athenians to embrace philosophy (See the Youtube channel 'The School of Life').
In the Allegory, Plato explains that when the People go through life without questioning the world around them, their understanding of it is limited; a mere silhouette of the truth - and this poses a danger to both themselves and to wider society. How so?
When the People are uncritical, when they do not think for themselves, then devious opportunists will, for their own twisted reasons, present a dishonest version of the world which can lead the People to adopt views that are both against their own interests and which benefit the opportunist.
(Plato's motivation for devising the Allegory of the Cave was the trial of his mentor and friend, the philosopher Socrates in 399BC).
Jeanne DuPrau's book The City Ember is a modern-day version of Plato's Allegory of The Cave. Its message is simply that there are people who will lie to you and to keep you in the dark (such as politicians and media barons), so if you want to see in the truth and beauty of world around you, you must learn to think for yourself.
When seen in this context, City of Ember is a very good film. That it so did poorly at the box office is a tragedy because it carries a remarkably powerful lesson which everyone needs to heed.
I would have liked to have seen the sequel, The People of Sparks.
Serangoon Road (2013)
One or two Singapore Slings too many.
Given that the series is a co-production between HBO Asia and others, what a shame that HBO Asia's very own synopsis writer clearly needs some lessons in history: "The world is changing, the global balance of power is shifting . . ." This ignores the fact that the early to mid-sixties was the height of the Cold War - a tense stand off between the West and the Communist Bloc. Only one year before this series is set the world had been taken to the brink of global nuclear warfare in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Power wasn't shifting, rather an irresistible force had gone up against an immovable object.
"The colonial rule of the British has finally come to an end and independence is on the horizon." Actually, Singaporean independence wasn't on the horizon - quite the opposite. Starting as early as 1955, as a result of post war austerity the British had been handing over power to Singapore in an orderly and gradual withdrawal. Far from seeking independence, by 1964, when the series is set, Singapore, fearing the loss of British protection, had become firmly entrenched as part of the Malaysian Federation.
"It's an exciting time where the island state can finally forge its own identity." Again, untrue. In 1965 Singapore was, very much against its wishes, expelled from the Malaysian Federation. Singapore had independence thrust upon it, independence it had not sought. Singaporeans had not led some brave freedom fighting campaign in a bid to rid itself of evil oppressors, it had been stood up - twice.
Perhaps it might be more prudent in future for HBO Asia to employ an historian to write its historical synopses rather than a Stepford Wife.