Skip to main content

'Girl in Yellow Boots' and 'Confidence Game'

I saw a film by the former title and read a book by the latter.  They were both random choices to fill the so called empty time and a much needed respite after trying to figure out what the governments at the federal and state level wanted of me and my spouse by way of tax liabilities.

 Tax season for Americans is approaching and we like to get the moronic adventure of filing tax returns out of the way the earliest we can but it turns out to be a taxing exercise for some reason.

 Anyway to further expand on the intersect between these two enjoyable events - the film and book - both engage and enthrall and are a study of con men/women in society.  But it's about so much more: trust, belief, and deception at their most basic and human levels.

 The film directed by Anurag Kashyap, stars a woman (of French heritage who I will call KK - initials of her name in real life) that plays the part of a determined but anguished twenty year old who has left the UK to come to India looking for a long lost father.  She supports herself by working as a masseuse in a shady parlor in back streets of Mumbai and offering hand jobs for some extra cash.

 As an actor she fits the role well as somewhat anemic and desperate yet able to figure out the corrupt and lewd practices of the citizenry in India while maintaining the quest to locate her dad.  Subtle and not so moments in the film showcase the emotion and character of a large city like Mumbai and its people.  There are many facades and masks but the true character of people hides within.  Sometimes it surprises pleasantly (the obnoxious massage parlor madam that hires KK and has a potty mouth is at her core a caring human) and at times its harsh (the climax where one of her hand job customers is in fact KK's lost father who has been stalking her as she tries to find him).  Oddly Naseeruddin Shah (another customer who only needs the massage and is repulsed at what KK does to earn some extra bucks)  was the eye candy in the film with no real role except perhaps to garner some audience dollars.  KK's character is able to in a couple of instances manipulate her hunters into being scared away as she learns about their psyche and uses that knowledge to her advantage.

 The book is written by Maria Konnikova (an author of Russian descent) who studied human psychology to pen her ideas describing how the best confidence artists (hence the phrase CON artist) can often manipulate you as they are able to earn your confidence and masterfully manipulate you into doing something for their gain.
Labels:

Comments

  1. RajendraMarch 6, 2016 at 4:34 PM

    Does reading about Con artists make you more Confident?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
2 comments
Read more

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...
2 comments
Read more

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
2 comments
Read more