Saturday, December 12, 2020

About the movie "The Village"

I happened to watch this movie called "The Village" by Manoj Night Shyamalan a long time ago. The plot had a lasting impact on me. 

The basic plot is like this (as far as I can recall): A bunch of adults unhappy with the way things were going on around the society, setup a commune in a forest and raise their families together, in order to keep the members not influenced/effected by the bad things in the outside world. They try by all means to keep the younger folks not get into the outside world, as they fear that their small commune would be influenced/corrupted by the bad things in the outer world. They keep their contact to the minimum with the outside world. 

But a few of the young folks are adventurous and inquisitive and want to explore the world outside their commune. And no amount of rules or emotions (like fear) can stop them from venturing out. 

In the end the elders have to give in. 

Many a times I felt myself in a similar situation. When I find some bad things in the world, I think what can I do. I am limited by my capacity to change the world, but being part of a society I find it difficult to make the compromises to my values. Then the thought emerges how about we find a group of like-minded people and live in a commune, the way it is shown in the movie. Then at least the number of internal conflicts would be far less. But the problem is that you slowly start to preserve the commune and want the next generation to live by your rules/values. Now you have created a society that others (the next generation) find difficult to be part of.

They don't share your experiences and your world view. Let them find what resonates with them. Let them be free.