For all those who view stability as a virtue, sincere apologies; this post would not appeal to you. And for those who are always on the verge of tipping, rise and shine, this one’s an ode to your devil-may-care attitude. Vulnerability is indeed making waves across the world.
How often do you remember the guy who consistently performed well in school, versus the one who was constantly chided for his idiosyncratic questions? How many times do you speak of the one who was offered the highest pay package on campus, as against the one who always created a scene with his girlfriend? Moving to a different context, it’s more likely that you would recall an actor for his off-screen outbursts than his on-screen ones, or a sportsperson for his vengeful performances than his technically perfect ones. Time and again, the vulnerables have been more interesting subjects to speak about than the rather stable ones. Not that I have anything against the latter, it’s just that the former make for a far more interesting post.
Perhaps that’s the essence of all reality shows too, even social media probably. Anyone who’s seen Ashmit and Veena on Bigg Boss would vouch for their entertainment quotient. Who the hell wants to see a steady Samir Soni, when you have Ashmit and Veena launching verbal volleys at each other? Ditto for MTV Splitsvilla – it could very well be the home ground for vulnerable, wanna be models. That also explains the success of Emotional Atyaachaar. And no character a better bet to go viral on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube than a vulnerable one.
Doesn’t Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks make for an interesting read with his forever-on-the-run, Government-antagonizing stories? Or Shane Warne for his womanizing ways, as much as his winning ways. Most could have played it more diplomatically, more subtly, more carefully. But then that’s not the DNA of the vulnerables, right? Winning or losing (by their audience’s benchmarks) doesn’t matter to them. It’s not why they do what they do. Their definition and scale of victory is their very own. Always on the edge, always susceptible to danger, completely exposed to attack, forever restless – that’s the vulnerable for you!
So what is in it for them? Attention, of course. At any cost, for anything. Positive or negative. It does help further causes close to their hearts at times and sometimes their passions are contagious; at times they could even inspire a revolution. Most often it is the more casual, ‘I don’t care a damn’ attitude. No judgments here, but the carelessness does inflict as much pain on the victims, as damage for the vulnerables. But it’s only when they genuinely believe in whatever they do, that their following comes close to being a mass movement.
And what is it about such folks that make them so interesting, so mentionable, even memorable? One – their deep passion for their subject (the one that they are vulnerable for), two – the sheer unpredictability of what they would do next (and the certainty that they won’t disappoint you), and three – the opportunity they give you to place them on a pedestal one moment, and slide the ground beneath them next (come on, we like to destroy our heroes as much we enjoy ‘creating’ them, so eventually we can prove that they too are mortals, if not lesser, just like us)!
Love them; loathe them. Either ways, you can’t ignore them!
Julian Assange is holding the attention of the world, not just the US authorities. Of course, he wouldn’t appreciate too much from the latter, especially since they seemed to have restricted his movement and funds more diligently than they have of hard core terrorists or international criminals in the past.
And why? Because now there is documented evidence that the US thinks of the Italian Prime Minister as “vain but ineffective”, or the French PM as an “emperor without clothes”? Quite interestingly, it compares Russian Medvedev and Putin to “Batman and Robin”, (I wonder now who the Tom and Jerrys are), and that Prince Charles lacks charisma! But didn’t the world already know all this? What’s new here? Just that it was documented by some American diplomat, and worse still the document came out.
It is like being chided by your big brother for exposing your school antics at home, when your parents have already heard it from the victims. At best the judgmental audience has now found a credible witness and some substantive evidence. But what the heck! Where’s the court? And who would dare try a superpower, let alone confront it? In the end, all the victim stands to gain is a rather useless, soft edge, considering that the big guy would be on (an apparent) guilt trip for the embarrassing words.
But boy, isn’t the scale of the leaks massive? Over 250,000 classified documents being released in batches. It is like slow poison. And with every drip some head is rolling in some part of the world, and another down in shame. But what’s surprising is the frenzy of activity on the sidelines of the release. It is almost like some fast-paced thriller straight out of a Hollywood studio or more relevantly Dan Brown’s books. Amazon has thrown WikiLeaks out from its servers (some say on Federal pressure) and the site’s domain is constantly changing. PayPal has suspended all funds to the account, and Assange is on the run for charges of rape. Yet the site appears time and again, releasing batch after batch of explosive documents, as Hillary Clinton apologizes to world leaders for the embarrassment.
And perhaps it is the embarrassment that is driving the search for Assange – embarrassment for the intelligence failure as much for the weird remarks. Not to mention that it is also motivated by some damage control. With less than half the documents causing so much damage, one can only imagine what the rest could do. Assange though is playing it safe, announcing an automatic release of all documents in the event of his arrest. How long he can manage that is questionable, irrespective of his notoriety of not spending 2 nights at the same place.
Anyways, as everyone debates whether what Assange and WikiLeaks did was right or wrong, I am sure each of us has harbored a secret desire to know some more ‘around-our-world’ secrets. Here’s my top 5 wish list, which while bordering on the paranoid, I would bet is something you have hoped for too:
- What do the powers that be at work think of me?...and this one has ample extrapolations possible to pretty classmates, co-workers, opportunistic acquaintances and in-laws!
- What was the true price of the apartment I booked?...very relevant to the offer made while accepting a new job offer too!
- The reality of reality shows
- Sheila ki jawaani – what’s the secret of those curves?...I am told Rajnikanth knows this!
- What are the judges of this (http://tinyurl.com/35lkhr8) contest really looking to while picking the winner? Fine, this is blatant self-promotion, but hey it’s my blog! Nevertheless, sincerely appreciate your vote on this one
So what is it that you would want WikiLeaks to expose for you? Feel free to comment here. And while you are at it, do have a look at what the Wikipedia page says of WikiLeaks here. Some very interesting facts (probably debatable too) that could as well inspire a movie! Also check out this collection of some very nice cartoons!
For all those who view stability as a virtue, sincere apologies; this post would not appeal to you. And for those who are always on the verge of tipping, rise and shine, this one’s an ode to your devil-may-care attitude. Vulnerability is indeed making waves across the world.
