"The Namesake"

Today I watched the Mira Nair movie, "The Namesake", which is quite good.

It's an interesting example of the film that explores the cultural melting point of contemporary society. The speed bumps of that new cultural assimilation. In this case, it is the story of an Indian family struggling with the Americanization of its children, while at the same time, it is the children dealing with being Indian Americans.

Oddly enough, I really did intend to speak about cultural notions, but I think the issue that comes up for me while watching this movie (yes, I am still watching the movie as I type this) is the notion of cruelty. As a writer, how can you be cruel to your characters. These entities of your own creation, and it is up to you to destroy them. I mean, let's be honest when we say there is little dramatic interest in a film (or play or story) where nothing bad happens to the protagonist. A question begins to arise, in my head at least, is it possible for a story to be dramatically interesting sans cruelty....

Perhaps, we shall see....
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