Maman Poulet | Clucking away crookedly through media, politics and life

Fairytale of Kathmandu

March 12th, 2008 · 14 Comments · Uncategorized

The film was broadcast on RTE 1 tonight, I don’t know what I was waiting for more – to see it or to hear what Dermod Moore was thinking about it.

As promised Dermod posted his column originally published in Hot Press a few weeks ago. He also has a summary of a DVD released yesterday of interviews with friends of Cathal’s in Nepal.

For me? I think O’Searcaigh came across as silly and naive, hypocritical, powerful and in parts taken for whatever he would give. I felt extremely uncomfortable with what I saw of his personality and what I have determined as exploitation and it was not just the editing. Before tonight’s broadcast I have also had questions of the film maker and her ethics particularly around releases and the understanding of her Nepalese subjects as to what would happen to her work and the way she painted them in her interviews and the whole charity bandwagon she seemed to jump on.

I feel terribly sad, and let down by both O’Searcaigh and Neasa Ní Chianán for some reason – and I still don’t really know why. Don’t ask me to explain the let down thing! I should after watching it just leave it all – but the eyes of the some of the young men in the documentary were very sad and will haunt me for a long time and yet others were full of joy and admiration – but they felt like they were facilitating O’Searcaigh on his quest for acceptance. And how come O’Searcaigh could not find the words in English for what he was doing with the young men? (At that stage I was shouting at the television.) I have far too many questions for this hour of night.

Share

Tags:

14 Comments so far