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For the first time in years I just again watched "Gandhi" starring Ben Kingsley.
After watching it I had the impression that maybe Gandhi liked the limelight a bit too much? Made it more about him than it should have been.
I'm not questioning his goals or the need to get the British out of India. Nor am I questioning his ultimate success. But after watching the film again after all these years I remember wondering the same the first time I saw the film upon its release.
Well, getting media attention to one's cause, and to one's protests on behalf of the cause, is one way of getting things done, no? I think he was a very savvy guy.
For the first time in years I just again watched "Gandhi" starring Ben Kingsley.
After watching it I had the impression that maybe Gandhi liked the limelight a bit too much? Made it more about him than it should have been.
I'm not questioning his goals or the need to get the British out of India. Nor am I questioning his ultimate success. But after watching the film again after all these years I remember wondering the same the first time I saw the film upon its release.
Just curious what some of you think about it?
I think its a reasonable question. One of Gandhi's most formidable opponents, Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah summed Gandhi up in just two words: Wily Gandhi.
No one should forget in Gandhi's early life he was a British educated barrister. He enjoyed success in that field in South Africa where he first developed his tactics of protesting and non-violent resistance to oppression.
I think he did enjoy the limelight and his decisions to dress like a native Indian, eat a vegetarian diet, and even clean his own toilet were motivated by a desire to gain attention as well as they were to "fit in" with average Indians as much as possible.
What made Gandhi and his tactics effective was an ability to perceive how his opponents would react to them. I give him an A for "strategic thinking".
Almost everyone likes attention. Gandhi was probably no less guilty of it than anyone else was.
I think its a reasonable question. One of Gandhi's most formidable opponents, Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah summed Gandhi up in just two words: Wily Gandhi.
No one should forget in Gandhi's early life he was a British educated barrister. He enjoyed success in that field in South Africa where he first developed his tactics of protesting and non-violent resistance to oppression.
I think he did enjoy the limelight and his decisions to dress like a native Indian, eat a vegetarian diet, and even clean his own toilet were motivated by a desire to gain attention as well as they were to "fit in" with average Indians as much as possible.
What made Gandhi and his tactics effective was an ability to perceive how his opponents would react to them. I give him an A for "strategic thinking".
Almost everyone likes attention. Gandhi was probably no less guilty of it than anyone else was.
But the attracting of attention had a goal; it was to further his cause. Dressing like a native Indian, cleaning his own toilet, etc. were highly symbolic acts that sent strong messages. He knew exactly what he was doing, and why he was doing it. It was all highly strategic, and it worked! That's the main thing, IMO. The question of whether he was ego-involved in it all, or did these things only with his selfless goals in mind is a secondary concern. Does it even matter?
For the first time in years I just again watched "Gandhi" starring Ben Kingsley.
After watching it I had the impression that maybe Gandhi liked the limelight a bit too much? Made it more about him than it should have been.
I'm not questioning his goals or the need to get the British out of India. Nor am I questioning his ultimate success. But after watching the film again after all these years I remember wondering the same the first time I saw the film upon its release.
Just curious what some of you think about it?
" a prophet is without honor in his own house".
They threw the brits out but the brits got the recipes for curry first.
Mission accomplished.
But the attracting of attention had a goal; it was to further his cause. Dressing like a native Indian, cleaning his own toilet, etc. were highly symbolic acts that sent strong messages. He knew exactly what he was doing, and why he was doing it. It was all highly strategic, and it worked! That's the main thing, IMO. The question of whether he was ego-involved in it all, or did these things only with his selfless goals in mind is a secondary concern. Does it even matter?
For the first time in years I just again watched "Gandhi" starring Ben Kingsley.
After watching it I had the impression that maybe Gandhi liked the limelight a bit too much? Made it more about him than it should have been.
I'm not questioning his goals or the need to get the British out of India. Nor am I questioning his ultimate success. But after watching the film again after all these years I remember wondering the same the first time I saw the film upon its release.
Just curious what some of you think about it?
Two things occur to me:
He seems like a shrewd guy, in his way, and likely knew that the route to success was getting in the news.
What would make it "too much"? Wallflowers don't tend to be successful movers-and-shakers.
MLK wisely did the same thing. He knew the power of the images hitting our tv screens. The beatings, dogs, water cannon etc. was something that couldn`t be ignored.
Sociopaths and psychopaths dominate the world stage. They have single-mindedness in pursuit of their goals that by definition is not gonna win them Mr. Nice Guy awards. There can be benign sociopaths, Mother Teresa was perhaps one. You can always find some "fault" they had but looking at the sum total of their achievements you'd have to say we need as many "good" sociopaths as possible.
Ghandi did not treat women very well. Does that make him bad? Or simply a product of his time and country?
He achieved tremendous things.
Joan of Arc was accused of egocentrism because she said God talked to her and told her what rulers should be doing. Priests and kings didn't like that God talked to her and not them and she was made an example.
At least Ghandi was not assassinated. Oh wait he was. For advocating unity between India's Hindus and Muslims.
I think its a reasonable question. One of Gandhi's most formidable opponents, Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah summed Gandhi up in just two words: Wily Gandhi.
No one should forget in Gandhi's early life he was a British educated barrister. He enjoyed success in that field in South Africa where he first developed his tactics of protesting and non-violent resistance to oppression.
I think he did enjoy the limelight and his decisions to dress like a native Indian, eat a vegetarian diet, and even clean his own toilet were motivated by a desire to gain attention as well as they were to "fit in" with average Indians as much as possible.
What made Gandhi and his tactics effective was an ability to perceive how his opponents would react to them. I give him an A for "strategic thinking".
Almost everyone likes attention. Gandhi was probably no less guilty of it than anyone else was.
LOL."like" a native Indian? He was native Indian, how else will he dress? His tradition was strict vegetarianism, how else will he eat? He was furthering social reform in a country that was deep into caste conciousness, and he wanted to show work has no caste, because he was leader, people listened to him. Yes, he wanted people to pay attention to wearing hand woven cloth as a protest to British imperialism, and to promote home industry such as weaving.
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