Tuesday, February 01, 2005

happy gilmore

just the other morning, i was fortunate enough to find happy gilmore playing on tv. i was about to leave for the university, but tell me, is it humanly possible to tear yourself away from adam sandler smashing a prosthetic hand with a golf club? so i stayed. the movie chronicles the unexpected rise of happy gilmore, played by adam sandler with his trademark comedic mastery, from small-time hockey player to national golf superstar. the structure of the film is entirely predictable--a bumbling but lovable outcast who, through sheer chance and a freakish golf talent, attains stardom (and gets the girl, and gives his money to his grandmother), despite the expected setbacks created by the conniving members of the establishment who wish to exploit his naivete. what makes this kind of movie throroughly enjoyable is that, since we already know the plot, we can focus on the details. at any stage we know what will happen next, but we don't quite know how it will happen.

unfortunately, though, this movie could function as right-wing propaganda at its finest. if an untrained, uncouth fellow like happy gilmore can make it in life through sheer force of will, then the bums on the street are just plain lazy. abolish welfare, abolish taxes. this is not unlike bollywood's own pavitra nari paradigm against which other women are judged (if bipasha basu could forgive her husband's infedilities in raaz, how come you can't do the same? slap!)

abbe oye!