Month: June 2018

Life is Beautiful: I couldn’t make it

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It so happened that I had never watched Roberto Benigni’s film Life is Beautiful. I had heard of it, vaguely knew the plot, but had never seen it.

I decided to correct this, as I’ve never avoided the topic of Jews and Nazism — I’ve watched all the significant films and read many books on the subject.

But the film turned out to be different from what I expected. The first half is a sort of prelude, with nothing about Nazis. It’s about the main character — what he’s like in life. Both the character and Benigni’s acting style (he plays the lead role) were a bit irritating, but I managed to endure it, waiting for other developments.

However, as soon as the film started addressing the story of Jews and the concentration camp, I couldn’t take it anymore. Knowing how Jews were really treated and what happened in the camps, this buffoonery irritated me too much. It seemed to me that this couldn’t have happened in reality. In my opinion, it felt more like an insult to what actually happened.

Maybe I’m wrong, but at some point, I realized that I didn’t want to and couldn’t continue watching. I simply turned off the film, though I understand that many people love it (8.6 out of 10 on IMDB).

Cyprus: our people love to reward themselves

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I’d like to talk about award ceremonies in Cyprus. Perhaps this isn’t exclusive to Cyprus, but in Belarus, for example, there was much less of it.

It seems that, in general, people in Cyprus really love different award ceremonies. It’s always a very important event, and everyone is invited well in advance. A whole occasion, so to speak.

But it all starts with the arrival time. If, for example, the ceremony is scheduled for 6 PM, that means that at 6, only a few idiots like yourself will be there. The majority (sometimes including the organizers) will start showing up over the next half hour.

Then come the obligatory opening speeches from 3 to 5 organizers. Roughly half an hour, just to keep it brief. In the best case, it’s in English or both languages. In the worst case for non-locals — only in Greek.

And only after that do the actual awards begin. There can be up to 300 awardees (as in the Kangourou competition). If the organizers are “weak,” they call up 4-5 people at a time. If they are strong in spirit, they call them one by one, along with speeches about why each person is being recognized.

So the whole procedure lasts several hours, during which you’ll see your child on stage for maybe a minute. The rest of the time, you’re just sitting and waiting.

Personally, after the second time, I swore off going to such ceremonies. My daughters also ask for permission to skip them. And I understand them.

But the locals really love it.

Mark Manson “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”

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I always thought that the midlife crisis was something out of the realm of psychological fiction, until this “fiction” overwhelmed me personally. And then I began to think about a lot of things and to reconsider much.

That’s when I came across the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. No, it’s not about middle age or even about its crisis. It’s more about the values we set for ourselves and how we do so. What we pay attention to, and what we SHOULD be paying attention to.

Some points are debatable, but overall, the author explains in a rather laid-back manner that many of the goals we set for ourselves, the things we strive for, are not actually what we truly need. Society imposes its values on us, preventing us from living happily and growing personally.

On the one hand, the author shows that we shouldn’t beat ourselves up for who we haven’t become or never will be. He demonstrates that it’s often necessary to accept ourselves as we are and not stress over failures. And here lies the second important thing — mistakes and failures allow us to move forward. Self-doubt is a crucial part of our personal growth. In other words, we should doubt ourselves, but we shouldn’t worry about it.

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