Sunday, May 24, 2009

Wolverine, My Love...


The thought of watching 'Wolverine' got me really excited. I remembered vividly how much I enjoyed X-Men 3 a few years ago. It was Busola and I and we sat at the very first row of the cinema hall because it was packed full with people. I think it was the premier night at silver bird, Lagos. The special effects and the special powers displayed by the mutants in x-men have always been applaud worthy. I just remember a crowd full of people, giving commentary and applauding all through the special effects, action-packed filled scenes. It was definitely the best movie I had seen that year. This time it was Ifeoma who invited me to see the movie, it was a planned all girls outing and I thought it would be a great way to spend the May day holiday.

The great thing about my love for X-Men is that I never read any of the comics. My brother used to collect them but I always found the characters so mutant looking that I figured it would have nothing intriguing to offer. So for me, I have no expectations on what should happen or how things ought to be based on the comic.

Wolverine, a man after my own heart. In this movie sub titled 'X-Men Origins', we are taken back where I believe it all began, however the focus is on Wolverine’s life. We are shown the beginning of his mutation and his discovery of who his real father is in what appears to be a fight between his mother and her drunken lover.

The highlight of the movie is when Lagos, Nigeria is chosen as a location for a secret operation. The crowd in the cinema applauded. Lagosians so proud to be featured in a Hollywood blockbuster. I guess I was unaware of the script because I really got more than I bargained for. We are shown how Wolverine's mutation came to manifest. He has the mutation of a wolf; its strength, speed, claws but there is just one thing that shouldn’t be; his heart. For a man with a wolf-like mutation, he does not have a heart to match. At several points in the movie we see him make some emotional decisions. He lacks killer instincts. His heart is larger than life.

It’s amazing how two people from the same family can go through the same experiences yet react to it differently. I guess it’s the same way you have children raised by an abusive parent and one child turns out exactly if not worse than the abusive parent and the other child is the complete opposite. We see this happen with Wolverine and his brother who both go through the same traumatized path but one brother reacts like the world owes him blood. He thirsts for it and from the beginning to end he seems to be on a killing spree while our man Wolverine wants none of it and goes into hiding to rid himself of the gruesome memories of a sordid past.

It makes me realize how different people are. How circumstances and interpretations of our environment can affect our reactions to our environment. Taking examples from my own experience, I have seen how I have interpreted the environments I have worked in and how much it affected the personality I adopted in each environment. I have worked in two environments where I was considered introvert to the surprise of those who know me well. In retrospect I know that my behavior was pretty much governed by my interpretation of both environments which I registered as hostile in my mind. And based on my personality type rather than fight for relevance, I retreated into a shell that I came out of only when I was out into what I deemed a friendlier environment. Now I have done a bit of research and work on understanding behavior particularly as it relates to the work environment. I consider myself an extrovert with introvert instincts. Now let me explain. I am extrovert because I consider myself social. I enjoy good company and good conversation. My idea of fun has people in it. Now I have introvert instincts, what do I mean? In as much as I love good company, I enjoy my own company. I spend a lot of time with myself, reading, writing and doing things alone. In fact sometimes my desire to be on my own is so strong that I would deliberately avoid all opportunities of social interaction when I am experiencing my alone moments. I guess we all are a bit like that sometimes?

Another interesting thing is the romance in the story, not your typical happy ending, as what seemed like pure bliss ended as deceit and betrayal. However, I wonder, must there be romance in almost every story line. It seems there must be some sort of it in one form or the other. I must have underrated the role of romance in life. Man, woman, love, chemistry, biology , tee hee hee.

Writer’s block! Let’s end on this note ‘may we all find love of a far more lasting kind’

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