A Few Words from the Omniscient Editor-in-Chief

The Hurt Locker won Best Picture at the Oscars, and a columnist of The Star named Johan Jaaffar wrote: “It was sweet victory for Bigelow for The Hurt Locker is a lot better than the over-hyped Avatar” (The Star, March 13).

This, of course, is a matter of opinion.

The fact that the modern-day Oscar ceremony is a platform for unashamed political correctness has apparently eluded a whole lot of people. The Hurt Locker, a reasonably good action movie about the Iraqi war directed by a woman, didn’t win because of its original script or its groundbreaking cinematography. It won because it presses home two (socio-)political messages: that the Iraqi war is a sham, and that it’s about time a female director won the dull-looking gold-plated statute. Last year’s winner, the overly idealistic, tepid Slumdog Millionaire won for the exact same ‘poetic justice’: that life in a Mumbai slum is embarrassingly subhuman, and that if you’re an underdog, you don’t have to remain one if you have a few tricks up your sleeve. Best Pictures, at least for the Oscars, are no longer about Art for Art’s sake; they are now moral yardsticks with which moralists can measure the length of their humanist sympathies. This is a crying shame. For Art has great potential when it’s freed from the confines of moralism (think The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; think Lost in Translation and The Hours). It has the power to transform the fluid landscapes of the imagination and interpret the obscure meanings of our lives. The problem with moralist art is it preaches and oppresses, delineates artificial boundaries of dos and don’ts, curbs and chains the workings of the mind to strict moral codes approved by a forceful majority. The small man, the one with a slightly different voice, is effectively silenced so that the majority can rest easy in the nest of conformity.

This is thus my stance on morality, this month’s discussion topic. A most challenging, amorphous topic. I take my hat off to those who have attempted. You’re much appreciated!

IB5 have now come to a crucial crossroads. In about two weeks they’ll have their last IB lesson ever, and in about a month, there’ll be the final showdown. Two years of sweat and tears have brought them to this moment. I hope they’ll take the time to re-evaluate their study strategies and look closely at past year papers and mark schemes. If you want to win the game, you must be familiar with its rules…

In case it hasn’t crossed your mind, Opinionated Monthly has just turned one year old! We started exactly a year ago, under chaotic circumstances, and look where we are now! I’m indebted to the OM staff and all the contributors. To celebrate this occasion, I’ve selected several vintage pieces which I thought represent the spirit of OM best. I’ve also added some comments of my own to explain why I’ve chosen them.

The OM blog is ready for access (flip to the last page). We’d like all our readers to visit and join us online. If you have a private blog and wish to be affiliated with us, contact us today, right this minute! Why do we need a blog? you ask. Its existence is to provide you young opinionated writers out there with a forum where your voices can be heard. Being heard is not always a given, so seize this chance and show us how nimble you are with the written word. I wish I myself had been given this chance when I was a hopeful teenage writer.

One last important message: If you haven’t bought a ticket to the Step Up, Help Out Charity Dinner on 30 April, do so today by contacting Ms Geraldine Phillips, Pratik Raghu or Cassandra Teo (IB students). The price is RM70 and it comes with a night of revelry and good food (see p. 2 for more information).

Remember that you’re special and wonderful even though the world may try to tell you otherwise.

Edward Ong

Editor-in-Chief