Thursday 28 Mar 2024

What’s our Power Pill?

Unwarranted ways of earning money may be quick but it does not give one the contentment and neither the peace that one needs at the end of the day

Carlos Luis | AUGUST 25, 2020, 04:00 AM IST
What’s our Power Pill?
Before the outbreak of Coronavirus,the developed and developingcountries flaunted their superpowercard, but was it worth it? TheAmerican hegemony is failing in thefight against the virus, and India is nobetter. Clearly, the pandemic has taughtus that power is not all we need in theworld. An American superpower moviereleased on August 14, 2020, titled ‘ProjectPower’ gives us a glimpse into whathappens when we crave for power. Themovie addresses the power that leaderswant to possess to govern the people.Alongside it, there are journeys of thecharacters that have special talents inthem all and try to realize them withintheir capabilities.‘Project Power’ directed by HenryJoost and Ariel Schulman introduces a‘power pill’ that infuses superpowersin a person for five minutes. But the after-effects of it depends on how manypills one has taken and what kind ofpower one possesses. The movie becamean instant hit for me when it triedto balance the ideas of taking the powerpill and utilizing the power, and realizingone’s talents and trying to make thebest of it by working on it.Art (acted by Jamie Foxx) possessesthe power to initiate super-heatedair that destroys a person by burningwhen one tries to touch it. Frank Shaver(acted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is ableto harden his skin and become bulletproof;he is a cop working for NOPD(NewOrleans Police Department). Robin(acted by Dominique Fishback) isa talented rap artist, and Newt (actedby Colson Baker) has the ability toself-immolate. Well, among these Artand Robin have the abilities naturally.In contrast, Frank Shaver and Newtcan activate these abilities only whenthey take the pill. And that makes themovie interesting. On the one hand,there are people who strive day in andday out enhancing their natural talentsand the others make the use of powerpills. In our day and time, nepotismis a trending word. Nepotism is liketaking the power pill. Nevertheless,why should one worry when one hasthe talent and is able to enchant theworld with it?What gets us worried is the desirefor power; we want to be greater thanthe other. We want to be superior tothe other. And that is what the powerpill does. It renders one superiorand the other inferior. The movie is areminder that we possess our talentsbut we ought to use them for one another’sbenefit and not to overpowerthe others.Art and his daughter Tracy (actedby Kyanna Simone Simpson) gettrapped into the greedy world, whowants to use their DNA to preparethe power pill. Isn’t this hinting uponour unethical scientific advancements?When we notice that the DNAof a child is weak we try to enhanceit with extra medication. We oughtto be grateful to God that we areblessed with life. We ought to focuson the abilities that he has blessedevery one of us with. Robin is toldby Art to utilize her talent and notrun after money, which will not giveher lasting happiness and pleasure.But what will a person in desperateneed do? Robin was the only one whocould be of help to her mother Irene(acted by Andrene Ward-Hammond),suffering from a chronic disease. ButRobin could use her talent of rappingand earn money instead of getting involvedin power dealing.There are ways and means to earnmoney decently and we ought to lookout for those means. Unwarrantedways of earning money may be quickbut don’t give one the contentment ofearning it and neither the peace thatone needs at the end of the day.In a few days, the vaccine for thecoronavirus will be out in the market.Won’t we look at it as the power pill?When the least cared for, the poor andthe sick need it, the rich are going tohave their hands on it is guaranteed.Pope Francis said, “How sad it wouldbe if for the Covid-19 vaccine priorityis given to the richest?” He warnedthe rich on getting the priority for thevaccine. The Pope was clear that thevirus has affected everyone irrespectiveof whether one is poor or rich, butwouldn’t it be injustice, yet again, ifwe produce the vaccine and give priorityto the rich to get the vaccine?The poor must be our top priority.When we have addressed them andtheir problems we will be able to dealwith social injustice and help preventthe degrading natural environment.Now more than ever, we should beable to defend that humanity is powerfulwhen it stands hand-in-hand inlove. We must dispel the darkness ofgreed, hatred, selfishness, and jealousy.We must dress with the idealsof humility, sensitivity, care, and concern.Because these values will be oursuperpowers leading us on a long wayand blessing us with more than whata power pill can give.Let us not crave for it, but aim forit, in the perfect way we can. We shallthen end this fight for the projectpower all over the world.
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