But, genie...
A whole new take on ‘Delhi belly’! It can be said that the whole episode never really rises above ‘toilet humour’. Certainly, it never rises above the rim! Of the bowl, of course!
It has been a contention of this blog that we can read ourselves into the stories told by others and, thereby, gain insight into personal or human matters. In a sense, then, all stories are valuable – repositories of human wisdom and psychology, whether profound or profane. In that sense, there is even room for stories like ‘Badlaa’, for somebody somewhere will have need of the ‘butt genie’.
For the life of me, I cannot imagine the mess a life must be in if ‘Badlaa’ is where one turns for answers or insights but, under certain circumstances, there is probably something meaningful to be found.
For instance, whatever one might think of 7th Grader Trevor teaming up with 6th Grader Quinton to murder the monster-of-the-week, it’s a fine example of how adversity throws strange bed-fellows together and, despite their differences, are able to tackle the problem at hand.
But that’s just me making sense of an episode that makes no sense whatsoever!
Who is this Indian beggar and why does he go to such extreme lengths to get to the United States just so he can kill a handful of complete strangers? And don’t give me that Bhopal nonsense!
Maybe, the whole point of this episode is that foreigners are not the same as Americans. Different cultures, different religious beliefs, different ways of doing what needs to be done on a show like the X Files.
Once you get past the childish idea that such a portrayal of foreigners is inherently racist, there is a simple lesson to be learned. Ignorance of other cultures is, or can be, dangerous. The United States, of all countries, should know this better than most – though Britain probably has some idea. Any country that wanders into another and shoots up some shit and blows up some other shit, is gonna find out that not understanding the culture has repercussions!
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any reason why an Indian terrorist would target America rather than Britain – apart from it being an American TV show – except, of course, for Bhopal; Union Carbide being an American company. But, what, he’d been developing his butt genie powers for seventeen years, just waiting for the moment when Hugh Potocki would provide him a useful vehicle into the United States?
The simple truth of the matter is, unless you have some dire need to find meaning in a story like this, it is probably best to dismiss it out of hand – any serious thought would probably cause far more damage than it’s worth – thanking your lucky stars that you have no reason to find meaning in the butt genie.
It has been a contention of this blog that we can read ourselves into the stories told by others and, thereby, gain insight into personal or human matters. In a sense, then, all stories are valuable – repositories of human wisdom and psychology, whether profound or profane. In that sense, there is even room for stories like ‘Badlaa’, for somebody somewhere will have need of the ‘butt genie’.
For the life of me, I cannot imagine the mess a life must be in if ‘Badlaa’ is where one turns for answers or insights but, under certain circumstances, there is probably something meaningful to be found.
For instance, whatever one might think of 7th Grader Trevor teaming up with 6th Grader Quinton to murder the monster-of-the-week, it’s a fine example of how adversity throws strange bed-fellows together and, despite their differences, are able to tackle the problem at hand.
But that’s just me making sense of an episode that makes no sense whatsoever!
Who is this Indian beggar and why does he go to such extreme lengths to get to the United States just so he can kill a handful of complete strangers? And don’t give me that Bhopal nonsense!
Maybe, the whole point of this episode is that foreigners are not the same as Americans. Different cultures, different religious beliefs, different ways of doing what needs to be done on a show like the X Files.
Once you get past the childish idea that such a portrayal of foreigners is inherently racist, there is a simple lesson to be learned. Ignorance of other cultures is, or can be, dangerous. The United States, of all countries, should know this better than most – though Britain probably has some idea. Any country that wanders into another and shoots up some shit and blows up some other shit, is gonna find out that not understanding the culture has repercussions!
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any reason why an Indian terrorist would target America rather than Britain – apart from it being an American TV show – except, of course, for Bhopal; Union Carbide being an American company. But, what, he’d been developing his butt genie powers for seventeen years, just waiting for the moment when Hugh Potocki would provide him a useful vehicle into the United States?
The simple truth of the matter is, unless you have some dire need to find meaning in a story like this, it is probably best to dismiss it out of hand – any serious thought would probably cause far more damage than it’s worth – thanking your lucky stars that you have no reason to find meaning in the butt genie.
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