Harsh Times

Christian Bale never fail to convince anyone if he ever take up a psychopatic character. If you look at him as the child in Empire of the Sun, you will know it runs a long way. To many that character was a lost soul during the war, to me, it was the most crazy kid I ever saw on the silver screen.


This time the core of the craziness derived from a war too. The Gulf War to be exact. Christian Bale stars as Jim, an ex ranger, hoping to change his life getting his dream job and marrying the woman he love. It goes both ways, the society that seems to be dragging him into the dark, or it was his own fault.


His rage began after LAPD rejected his offer. Literally right after. He was never the same Jim again.


The harsh reality of how friendship, loyalty and ambition, not to mention also love would change your life in a split second. Your misjudgement. Mistakes. The dark side of the society.


I grew up as a kid who smokes weed every Monday night claiming for a walk at the night market. Every weekend also, we would puff up, and the take the mini bus right down to KL city. Upon reaching the town, we would walk up to Parkson and buy ourselves a bottle of cheap liquor where we would go buy soda and distribute it among ourselves. High as a kite. Dunlopp glue. Cough mixture from the Kelantanese. Distributing motor cycle parts. Underage sex. Fruit stealing. Shoplifting. House breaking. Every little things you pray your kids doesn't do, I guess I have almost done it all. Except for murder of another human, though I had killed two dogs in my life.


In this movie, it teaches you that in a very subtle way that you cannot blame society for all that is happening to you. Though I would not exactly know what would be of my life if Ms. Wah did not decide that we should move out once and for all.


But can you really blame society?


I believe the answer is still no. The path was laid out. You chose the destination. You've done things on your free will. Remember. No one pointed a gun at your temple and force you to do so.


So stop blaming.


Yes I might be talking to you O Mr. Government.