The wonderful gift of life

Lionel Shriver’s So Much for That is a book about life, death and a whole range of things that fit in between of those two. It tells the story of two families, both victims of a deadly disease, and their lives even in the most desperate times. There’s Shep Knacker, a middle-aged man who used to run a successful business but sold it in order to move to a remote island, where he could live the rest of his life away from stress and the western world’s demands. The story begins when Shep arrives at home with plane tickets to Pemba, South Africa, only to be informed by his wife that she has cancer and needs his health insurance.

The situation of Shep’s best friend Jackson is no better. He has two daughters, one of whom suffers from a disease called FD and will be dead by the time of her thirtieth birthday, and another who’s jealous of all the attention her sister gets and compensates for it by eating ice cream. Jackson’s never-ending criticism of the modern society is an interesting theme, which continues to be contemplated throughout the book. It’s true that the few people in charge of society just keep getting what they want, while the rest of us are left to survive in a jungle of rules, payments and punishments. We do what we are told just because that’s expected of us. The lesson is that when you’re arrogant and remorseless enough, you can get away with murder. 

One of the main thematic questions in So Much for That is the value of human life. At the beginning of the book Shep is wealthy, if not even rich, by all standards, but one year of chemo and medication for his wife and he’s one step away from going bankrupt. He’s expected to do everything he can for his wife, no matter how bad his own situation will be when she dies. Basically he’s expected to throw his life away, too, just to give three extra months of pain and misery to the woman he loves. All his life Shep has played by the rules, but in the end he does what we all should do: he decides to live his life and use his money the way he has always wanted, but never had the courage to.

So Much for That is also an insightful depiction of a sick person’s life without all the clichés of seeing everything clearer and gaining a spiritual dimension when you’re close to death. In all its ugliness and despair, it gives you an idea of what it must feel like when people are saying their goodbyes while you’re still fighting, and visiting only because you’re going to die soon. Shep’s wife Glynis is a strong and independent person, and she refuses to give up her personality just because she happens to be fatally ill. In the course of her last year she deals with most complicated emotions, satisfies her most simple and basic needs, and finally, in the end, takes her fate as it is. Even though So Much for That is a book about death and misery, its ultimate message to its readers is that maybe life is worth living after all. We just have to have the courage to make it that way.      

Finnish film production

Many people claim that Finnish films can’t even be spoken of on the same day as American ones, and I’m not a huge fan of the Finnish film production myself either, but sometimes it might be reasonable to try to analyze what makes us form these opinions. Too many people skip Finnish films out of habit and don’t even bother to give them a chance. Sure, the leading roles are always given to the same few actors and you might not be blown away by the special effects, but the truth is that no-one really wants Finnish films to be made like the American ones. It simply wouldn’t be believable.

The best Finnish films are the ones whose makers know Finland’s and Finnish people’s strengths and aren’t afraid to use them. For example in the movie Rare Exports Finnish mythology has been combined with black humor and original Finnish action: not riding in some fancy high-tech motorboat but instead in an old snowmobile. Napapiirin sankarit succeeds in laughing at Finnish people themselves and once again the humor is so bad and tacky it actually makes it good. Somehow it seems that you can’t make a good Finnish movie without snow and winter, but luckily we have more than enough of those.

Finnish children’s movies and animations have done quite well lately. For example Niko - Lentäjän poika has been distributed to many countries and also liked there. Other successful 21^st century children’s movies, which have been acknowledged at least nationally, are Joulutarina and Risto Räppääjä. This might be because with children less is more, and the moviemakers don’t have to try to impress them so badly. When making a Finnish film, for kids or for adults, the best results are achieved with sticking to the kind of homey and down to earth approach to a subject which comes naturally to Finnish people.

Lost in modern art

The headline of this text is quite right if you ask the public’s opinion about modern art. Many people have probably come across it at some point in their life, but despite the effort they just don’t get it. When you used to look at a painting in the olden days, the chances were you could actually tell what it tried to depict. Nowadays many pieces of art can be analyzed and interpreted in multiple ways and this might seem difficult if you don’t think of yourself as much of an art guru.

In my opinion people should be guided and helped more in order to get them interested in modern art. Museums should replace their fancy-term-using guides with people who could translate the language of art into something a normal person understands. When I visited the Kiasma modern art museum in Helsinki I really had no idea why someone had recorded a half an hour image of an empty room, and would’ve loved for someone to have told me. 

There are many good qualities in modern art which unfortunately sometimes go unnoticed when people are so concentrated on not understanding an art exhibition. Modern art is collective: sometimes a work of art has been made by more than just one artist and sometimes even the audience can have a say at what a piece of art turns out to be like. Instead of just a plain picture on a canvas modern art is often three-dimensional, which makes it more impressive. It triggers more senses than just the sight, e.g. it might also contain music.

I think that in a few years’ time modern art could be well on its way to achieving a valuable goal. Art should be for everyone to experience and create, since we all have a need to express our feelings in some way. Modern art has already taken into consideration that painting of scenery is not for everyone: it’s more free and versatile than traditional art. Now people only have to be encouraged to try it out – they might just like it.