Shades of Gray: Moral Ambiguity in Cinema

The greatest performances in cinematic history have invariably been of characters that cannot categorically be labeled as either "good" or "evil". Rather, they have been characters who inhabit the shadowy middle ground between the two extremes—characters who represent the profoundly human experience of ethical ambiguity.

Brando is the classic example. Arguably one of the the all-time greatest of on-screen performers, the characters he played were typically shadowy, liminal, ethically conflicted figures who escape any moral judgment or categorization. Consider his most noteworthy performances—Mark Antony in Julius Caesar; Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire; Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront; Johnny Strabler in The Wild One—all the way down to the classic performances towards the end of his career, namely Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather and Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now—all these characters are characterized by a profound moral ambiguity that ultimately reflects the sorts of ethical struggles that are only too human.

This is why these characters resonate with audiences so much and come across as honest, truthful and powerful, often brutally so, much more so than, for instance, the one dimensional, morally absolutist characters of a Medieval morality play would. Their humanity is what makes them identifiable and their moral ambiguity is what makes them human. Marlon Brando was, arguably, one of the most expert performers at conveying ambiguity on screen—it is impossible to categorize, label or morally judge any of the characters he played; his screen performances can only be experienced at a profoundly human level. In fact, Brando was only continuing a tradition of playing morally ambiguous anti-heroic characters that possibly goes all the way back to Rudolph Valentino's classic performances on film as Sheik Ahmed ben Hassan in The Sheik and Juan Gallardo in Blood and Sand. In theater, the tradition of playing moral ambiguity goes back at least to Shakespeare's classic anti-heroes such as Hamlet, Macbeth and, of course, Mark Antony.

I was recently watching Oliver Stone's new film "W" and was struck, even mildly amused, by the inherent irony in the very concept of the film. Here was a film that was loaded with irony and subtlety about a central character whose personality was completely devoid of those traits. It is a film loaded with all sorts of moral ambiguities about a character for whom the world is purely black-and-white, a character who is incapable of comprehending or appreciating the subtle shades of gray that permeate human existence. In essence, Josh Brolin, in his performance as President George W. Bush, captured all the tragic irony, subtlety, moral ambiguity and, ultimately, humanity of a personality who happens to be, equally ironically, completely incapable of any of those qualities or traits in and of himself and who has no appreciation of nuance, subtlety or ambiguity in the human experience. It is one of the profound ironies of life, therefore, that the character "W" as played by Josh Brolin resonates with the audience much more so than the real-life George W. Bush, because the portrayal has all the qualities that the actual man lacks, namely irony, subtlety, nuance and moral ambiguity.

Moral ambiguity is one of the centerpieces of great art and cinema and it is one of the qualities that Horizon Cybermedia aspires to capture in its media productions, so be sure regularly to check out our website at http://www.explorationtheseries.com for plenty of exciting, ironic, subtle and morally ambiguous content to come in the future. By the way, look for a cool new look to the website that will be unveiled in a few weeks, as the website is currently undergoing a complete redesign.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Individuality

As we move closer and closer to election day, it becomes more and more apparent that our culture and our politics are driven by oversimplification more than anything else. When political season looms over us and political candidates start to sell their party brand to the public, they tend to reduce the ethically intricate issues that drive party politics into a populist message that is easily palatable to the electorate at large. As a result, what they sell to the public is a heavily distorted, simplified message that is sometimes so far removed from reality—from truth—that it becomes absurd.

Art is about the truth and about human individuality and the complexities of life and reality. Populism—whether in party politics, advertising, mass media or any other sphere—is about selling something—about promoting a brand or message—and, thereby, about oversimplifying complex realities and inducing conformity to this reduced "reality". It's about labeling people as "liberal" or "conservative", "blue" or "red", "left" or "right", whereas the reality is always far more complex and complicated—only because human individuality is complex and complicated. On the other hand, the mob or collective typically needs some oversimplified slogan to unite them to a common cause. More often than not, the "common cause" tends to degenerate into a "common enemy", which is how scapegoatism is often born.

Of late, I have been reading and re-reading some of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and short stories—and I say this mainly because the new Bond movie is due in theaters soon. The original stories by Fleming are subtle concoctions of mood, personalities, ideas and, of course, nail-biting action, each with a unique, distinctive flavor that is hard to characterize or categorize. Of course, one can lump them into a broad category such as the genres of "spy fiction" or "suspense thriller," but that would be doing the stories a profound injustice, because they address so many themes and issues.

It's really interesting to see how some of the familiar characters from the movies were originally conceived in Fleming's imagination, as documented in the novels. For example, take one of the best of the Bond films, From Russia with Love—and the characters of Red Grant and Rosa Kleb, the "bad guys" in the movie. In the film, they are pretty one-dimensional nasties. Grant is a mindless thug and assassin, while Kleb is an evil Soviet harridan, both intent on murdering Bond for no clearly established reason. So Bond has, basically, to kill them before they kill him—which he does—and so the movie ends "happily ever after" for Bond and his hot Russian girlfriend.

True, the movie is an action film about visceral responses, so maybe one doesn't really care about the characters' back stories all that much, especially if you happen to be the average audience-member who is catching a popcorn flick after a long week at work. Yet, in the novel, these one-dimensional characters each are unique and distinct individuals with complex histories and motivations. They are not defined by their political allegiances, be it to the "evil Soviet Empire" or the "good old British Empire", or by their appearances or habits. Rather, Fleming goes into Red Grant's history and psychological profile in depth to paint a grisly portrait of a soulless, psychotic murderer recruited by the Soviet state, while rendering him a strangely empathetic figure at the same time. And he does much the same for Rosa Kleb. He explores the motivations of the characters in much greater depth, and the impression you get is not so much that the characters can easily be categorized as "goodies" or "baddies" but that each is a distinct individual with complex motivations and unique psychological profiles that define them—as opposed to their political allegiances or ethnic or cultural origins. That's what makes these novels interesting to read—and also, probably, why John F. Kennedy found this particular novel interesting enough to list it as one of his personal favorite works of fiction.

Some might argue that the complexity in the novel is due to the nature of the medium, and is, as such, not easily translatable into the medium of film. And this might especially be true of an action film, which is about visceral audience response, in which the complexities might only get in the way of the action. That is partly true, of course—films are about giving you an entirely different experience from literature. But that's not to say that films can't be about complex themes and characterizations while being visceral and entertaining at the same time. Hitchcock did it, Kubrick did it, Coppola and Spielberg continue to do it. Art, in any form, is supposed to do it—art is about exploring complex themes, personalities, ideas and issues. When it oversimplifies and dumbs down the complexities, it tends to become propaganda, not art. As John F. Kennedy put it:

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.

Propaganda is aimed at brainwashing the masses into conformity and subservience. Art is about awakening the human soul to the complexities of life. Propaganda is about inducing mindless conformity whereas art is about engendering human individuality.

Horizon Cybermedia aims to do just that. We are a company aimed at producing art—not propaganda or populist oversimplifications. We are about exploring the complexities of life, hence our flagship series, Exploration with Uday Gunjikar. We hope that you will continue to support our endeavor with your continued viewership and stay tuned for much more interesting content to come.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Soundbite Culture

As we move into the political season, it becomes increasingly apparent that we live in a "soundbite culture"—a culture of marketing slogans that simplify things and tell us how to think and what to believe. When politicians speak, what sells, as advertisers already know, are the soundbites—the slickly crafted slogans that stick in your brain in spite of yourself.

Political slogans have a long history, dating back, at least, to the French Revolution, when the slogan "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité", epitomizing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen adopted by the revolutionary government, incited the French mob into action.

However, while this is a classic example of the noblest of causes to be adopted by a rioting mob, it is also a classic example of how mob violence, even for the noblest of causes, can quickly turn ugly and horrific and result in the most terrifying of situations. The French Revolution, which began with the Storming of the Bastille on Bastille Day—July 14, 1789—and was quickly followed by the decapitation of the French aristocracy, including the French King and Queen, by guillotine, rapidly devolved into a state of complete political anarchy.

In 1793, lawyer Maximilien Robespierre took control of the nascent French Republic and unleashed what came to be known as The Reign of Terror—a fascist regime characterized by universal paranoia in which as many as 40,000 accused political prisoners were summarily executed by guillotine without the benefit of a trial. One of the most prominent casualties of the Terror was Danton, one of the architects of the Revolution, as recounted in the 1983 film Danton, starring French thespian Gérard Despardieu in the title role. The Reign of Terror continued until July, 1794, when Robespierre himself was arrested and executed as a political threat to the French Republic.

Thus, the Revolution, which began under the noblest of pretexts, as encapsulated in the revolutionary slogan, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," turned into a blood-thirsty monster that devoured its own leadership and architects—the mob, once unleashed, took control and, running amok, devoured anyone and everyone in its path.

While this is a somewhat extreme example, it is a classic case of how one of the earliest and best known of political slogans, representing the very noblest of human instincts and political causes—namely, human rights and equality and justice for all—is closely linked to one of the biggest political fiascoes in history—the Reign of Terror—and, ultimately, to the rise of the proto-Fascist dictator and self-proclaimed emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Horizon Cybermedia is about getting past all the slogans and soundbites that permeate our culture, whether from politicians or corporate advertisers, dumbing down and simplifying the complex realities of our world—and getting to the complex truth through the sophisticated medium of self-expressive art. Check out our website at http://www.explorationtheseries.com and stay tuned for continually updated media content, including the 30 second promo of our next film on the Wine Country of Sonoma, Ca., coming soon.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Horizon Cybermedia Progress Update

As you might already know, Horizon Cybermedia, Inc. is a small media shop with epic ambitions. And in spite of even the global economic meltdown, we continue to grow and make steady progress.

Some of the projects in which we are currently engaged are:

• Finalizing the DVD version of the first film in the Exploration series—Exploring Elephanta. This DVD will soon be available as a collectible—at online retailers like Amazon.com and at various film festivals where the film will be featured.


• The film Exploring Elephanta has been submitted (in DVD and BD formats) to and is currently a contender at the Beverly Hills Hi-Def Film Festival. We are also working on and entertaining other film festival submissions. Details will be released as soon as they are available.


• We are currently editing the second film in our Exploration series on the Wine Country of Sonoma County, Ca. Principal photography for this film was completed last year in November. Stay on the lookout for a 30 second teaser trailer of the film that will be available online at iTunes, YouTube and other outlets very soon.


• We have also completed principal photography for a number of other short films, including several films in the Exploration series. These films will continue to be produced and released online and on DVD as and when film and sound editing for each film is completed. After we have completed a run of 5-6 short films, the entire series will be released on DVD and, possibly, BD. The films will also continue to be submitted to various film festivals in the US and overseas.


• We are currently working on a number of scripts and script ideas and we anticipate producing short and feature-length independent films in the near future. We have already copyrighted two feature-length scripts (under US Copyright law), one of which was a finalist at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in 2006.

As Horizon Cybermedia continues to grow, as a media company focusing primarily on new media, our projects will continue to become increasingly ambitious in scope. Based in the vicinity of Los Angeles, right next door to Hollywood, Horizon Cybermedia plans, eventually, to become a major Hollywood player. Keep on the lookout for our growing list of projects and accomplishments!

If you are interested in finding out more about Horizon Cybermedia, Inc., you can contact us by email from the contact form on the About Horizon Cybermedia page at our website, http://www.explorationtheseries.com.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Religulous!

I recently saw comedian Bill Maher's hilarious and informative documentary Religulous, which takes a satirical look at the absurdities of religion, especially from a 21st century point of view. I highly recommend this film as it makes a strong case for religious skepticism, a point of view that I fully appreciate, even though, personally, I happen to be a free-thinking Christian baptized in the Episcopal church.

Before heading out to check out this film, however, I was watching a T.V. panel discussion on CNN in which the issue of "culture" came to the forefront. After a few minutes of watching panelists issue strong condemnations on some of the cultural artifacts of modern society, such as violent video games and explicit T.V. shows, and decry the proliferation of pornography in our society thanks to the internet and cell phones (none of which I am personally terribly thrilled about)—all on the grounds of espousing morality in our society—and in the very next moment, proceeding to rationalize and justify the selective use of torture and incarceration based upon racial profiling—it got me wondering—how far do double standards and hypocrisy have to go before they reach the level of the sort of blatant absurdity exposed by Bill Maher in his documentary film, Religulous?

It is an unfortunate reality that, throughout history, the elements of religious fanaticism have been at odds with "art" and "culture"—very often violently so. In fact, you have to look no further than recent times to see how the forces of religious fundamentalism and fanaticism—in the form of the Taliban, the extremist Islamic movement in Afghanistan, which promotes religious zealotry and authoritarianism, narrow-minded provincialism, ignorance, fear, superstition and misogyny—have waged a violent war against art and culture in their own country. In March, 2001, Taliban forces destroyed a pair of monumental statues of the Buddha in the Bamiyan province in Afghanistan, about 150 miles from the Afghan capital, Kabul. Check out this link for further details. This was an outrage against art and culture that was committed only a few months before the Taliban-sponsored Al Quaeda terrorist organization launched their unprecedented and horrific terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.

The forces of religious fanaticism rival only the forces of radical socialism in their blind hatred of "art," "culture" and "civilization." For every "cultural revolution" inspired by some deranged socialist dictator, there is a "witch-hunt" called upon by some radical, puritanical religious sect. History is full of examples of such scenarios, and I don't want to get into a recitative laundry list of historical case studies.

Suffice it to say that the forces of religious fanaticism and the values that they promote of authoritarianism, fear, ignorance, submissiveness and radical misogyny, have nothing in common with the values that Horizon Cybermedia stands for, namely the promotion of civilized values through the appreciation of art and culture.

With regard to the issue of culture vs. morality, let me cite, for the record, Horizon Cybermedia's mission statement, as posted on our website http://www.explorationtheseries.com:

To be a positive voice in the media space; to put artistic integrity above mercenary interests; to make a truthful, meaningful artistic statement.

And let me point out that Horizon Cybermedia has, from the very outset, spoken (in this very blog) about maintaining the highest ethical standards. All we can hope is that the self-appointed agents of "religious morality" in our society—or, should we say, the agents of blind hatred and intolerance who use religion to justify their own ignorance, xenophobia and antipathy for culture and the arts—abide by the same standards of morality that they seek to impose on others!

Meanwhile, Horizon Cybermedia hopes that you will continue to check out our website, http://www.explorationtheseries.com, which is regularly updated with fresh, new content.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

The Evidence of Civilization

Suppose you're an archaeologist on a dig in some remote corner of the world. As you laboriously scoop away gravel and sand from your dig site, you shake your head in exasperation and scowl. There is nothing of value to be seen amidst all the accumulated rubble and dust—the products of millenia of soil erosion.

Then, after hours of back-breaking exertion, your trowel happens to strike against a strange object half-buried in the dirt. It resounds with a hollow, metallic clang—or, perhaps, a dull thud. Immediately, it intrigues you and you scoop it up out of the ground and hold it to the light to get a better look. It glitters mysteriously in the half-light of dusk as you turn it around with your fingers. Then, you notice strange carved markings around its rim—a design of some sort, with concentric circles and esoteric runes or hieroglyphs, catches your eye.

"Remarkable!" you whisper out loud. "It could not possibly have been created by the random forces of blind nature. Whatever it is—it has to be the product of design, of some form of artistry or artifice." What you hold in your hand is, in fact, an "artifact"—l'objet-d'art—the product of conscious, premeditated design or artifice. What it tells you is that "someone" at some point in time "created" that object—and, therefore, had the necessary ingenuity and sophistication to do so.

A single "artifact" unearthed in the wilderness is evidence of "civilization." Imagine the sensation that would result if such an artifact were to be discovered on the moon or on Mars—it would constitute undeniable evidence of an alien civilization!

Because an artifact constitutes evidence of the design, sophistication, technology and artistry required to produce it, the artifact, thereby, represents the "culture" or "civilization" that provides the setting for the emergence of those cultural traits. It may be argued, therefore, that "civilization" is, in essence, the "artifacts" that it leaves behind. After a culture or civilization has vanished into the mists of time, all we have left to prove that it ever existed and to testify to its accomplishments are the artifacts that were produced by that culture.

Myths and legends do not constitute evidence. The myths of Atlantis or the minotaur in the labyrinth of Crete do not prove that either ever existed. But a single Grecian urn or Renaissance painting speaks volumes about the cultures that produced them. Therefore, because a civilization is defined by the artifacts that it produces and leaves behind for posterity—i.e. those that are discovered by archaeologists and historians in subsequent ages—it may be argued that it is the artists and artisans who define and create "civilization."

Our concept of the past is never static—it shifts constantly, like the shifting sands of time. With every new artifact that is unearthed, our prior preconceptions are proven wrong and a new picture of the past emerges. We discern sophistication, complexity and artistry where previously none existed (in our minds, at least). What we previously assumed to be factually infallible is subsequently exposed as being illusory—a prejudicial misconception.

Remarkably, this entire process hinges upon the discovery of "artifacts." Artifacts become the determinants of our concept of history and have the potential to transform it radically—a fact that tends to be overlooked because it so rarely happens.

Artists and artisans create the artifacts that define civilization and, consequently, their actions determine history. The archaeologists and historians of the distant future, examining the cultural artifacts of our age, would inevitably come to certain conclusions about our civilization. I wonder—would they be favorable or unfavorable? For all we know, they might be grotesque oversimplifications or even outright distortions based upon limited surviving evidence!

A culture is invariably judged by its treatment of and regard for its artists—its creative people. For example, cultures like the Stalinist Soviet Union and Nazi Europe were notorious for their brutal suppression of artistic and creative freedoms and of the perversion and misappropriation of the arts to serve propagandist and political ends. The brutal subjugation and politicization of the arts in these societies are powerful indicators of the oppressive natures of these regimes.

In stark contrast, cultures such as Renaissance Florence or 18th Century Vienna, which are famous for having sponsored a flourishing of the arts, are now seen, in retrospect, as the pinnacles of civilization and cultural achievement. The proliferation of artists, poets, musicians and craftsmen who had the opportunity to thrive in those societies, enjoying the self-expressive creative freedoms afforded by those cultures to their residents to produce sublime works of artistic creativity, constitute undeniable evidence, from a historical standpoint, of the cultural advancement and heightened civilized sophistication of those societies.

Science and technology, while also being powerful indicators of a society's advancement, are not necessarily good indicators of its soul or humanity. A highly advanced technocracy with no artists or artistic accomplishments appears to indicate a soulless, dreary and mechanistically oppressive culture in which individuality and artistic self-expressiveness are stifled by the state and its institutions.

On the other hand, religious zeal is not a very strong indicator of cultural advancement either. More often than not, a "religious" society suggests a society steeped in superstition, ignorance and misogyny—a backward, even tyrannical culture.

However, when all is said and done, it is the culture that is characterized by remarkable artistic accomplishments, such as Renaissance Florence or Classical Athens or Vienna in the Enlightenment, that is, in spite of its technological limitations or religious shortcomings, perceived to represent the pinnacles of cultural sophistication and are the paragons of the ages. Truly, it is the artists who "create" civilization, in whatever sense we take it.

Horizon Cybermedia, Inc., is a company that aspires to be the artistic beacon of our time. We hope to leave behind a cultural legacy that will inspire future generations to reflect favorably upon the level of our artistic advancement and cultural sophistication. We hope that you will join us in our endeavor by supporting us with your viewership. Please do check out our website at http://www.explorationtheseries.com, which is regularly updated with brand new content.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.