Walking around Liberty

So a couple of days ago I decided to be a little brave, and take my fancy camera out in the market streets.

Since I’m not really a professional at anything, and socially awkward and unable to communicate at times this was big experiment for me. I mean, its one thing to cover events and festivals that happen at my university, but it’s another to actually go out at night on the streets. For that I believe a phone camera is more practical , because a big camera is a little too much. Even the TV people have shifted from traditional cameras to cell phones.

Besides the bigger ones ask for attention in your hands, and I guess people are not really used to random kids going around taking pictures of their shops. But then again all of Pakistani Instagram is full of pictures like that, and a good amount of amount of those pictures focus on the rural areas and country people. Which is a good thing, but there should be more I believe.

As in, I want local awards for those pictures, and something more substantial for those photographers who bend over backwards and travel to far out places and capture the culture. It should be something special for us, and I want their pictures to be in our magazines and in documentaries. Because looks like our favorite kind of photography is wedding photography .

And yes, I understand that some pictures are just more iconic than the others, more loved and captivating then others, like that chaiwala picture, that everyone loved. It’s an amazing picture, and the best thing is that Jiya Ali the girl who took that picture got her due credit. I want all of our other talented kids to get the same, I want there to be love for ourselves, and visibility of out own, in our own. Something we own and something we control.

Okay, either way, I had a lot of fun at liberty, and I found lots of cute Sindhi stuff.And jewelry, and hopefully with more practice I can get better at this.

I even bought a bansara, now I will be the new ranjha.

Mockmentary : On Documentary Now

They say that some of the best things happen  by accident, or that some of the best ideas come out of play, when people are enjoying themselves instead of stressing over the next big idea. 

That , or maybe they come out of a drinking spree while on the road . 

Earlier this year three big names on the former SNL (Saturday Night Live ) cast got together and came up a creative idea for a new show called Documentary Now . 

A series that takes iconic documentaries and transforms them into mockmentaries , but with a little more dignity and visual appeal.  And so far we love it. 

When you get comedy geniuses like Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Seyers Meyers together,  you better some magic and your stomach and muscles  tired from laughing.  Fred and Bill are ofcourse two amazing actors/comedians/accent experts and Seth Meyers are charming host and amazing writer. 

This really is a show I think many people should give a chance, for several reasons, like the writing is extremely good with very direct and simple lines, which go well with the format . 

It’s not educational exactly but it does give someone exposure to a different culture or knowledge of a documentary that the public enjoyed. I don’t  think someone has to be a documentary lover to enjoy this because all the episodes are complete and comical in there own like extended digital shorts  . But for the people who do enjoy documentaries this is going to a trip  , when the spell is broken and they can appreciate how silly everything is. 

I personally believe that’s one of the most amazing aspects about comedy . A joke can make something complicated very simple and break down logic in such a way that it loses its power over the mind. Nothing is dramatic or emotional anymore it’s still deep and humanistic but not serious,  which is a good thing,  because laughter is what people need. 

Ofcourse not everyone was happy with the series or concept, because generally a documentary is treated with a lot of respect and considered a high art or something respectable that should be taken seriously . Which is understandable, but there is a fine line between mocking something and making a joke about it. It’s not easy to  be able to differentiate between the two unless one is an expert or  at the other side of the joke or just not in on the joke. An example would be of the Sandy Passage episode which is a parody of Grey Gardens . Grey Gardens was a heartfelt look into the decline of a once almost royal family , a mother and daughter of eccentric natures dealing with issues ; and Fred Armisen and Bill Hader basically turned them into crazy cat ladies who are full of themselves and crave attention while feeding a racoon. 

And that might seem offensive to some people,  but I think the joke is not the subject of the documentary,  it’s on the nature of documentaries. Here the enemy of comedy is cheap sentiment ; which is how a documentary normally works with dramatic lines , awe inspiring music and artistic  cinematography.  But it’s all a trap or part of the trick sometimes.  

There are lots of small documentaries on the Internet and some award winning documentaries that have logical flaws and are historically inaccurate but since they have their own soundtrack people buy into the story .

Documentary Now shows the audience that very thing . This is not an attempt to rewrite history or mock anyone it’s more of a play of cinema and visual media , while maintaining a level of conformity with the original form. By using the same colour pallettes or lens to get the same look but fulfill the basic goal of making people laugh. 

So this is a tv show you have to watch out for and give a chance, because I think season two is coming out soon. 

They get four stars out of five because I like them.