The Sanskrit term Bodhisattva is the name given to anyone who, motivated by great compassion and wisdom, has generated bodhichitta, a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. What makes someone a Bodhisattva is her or his spontaneous and limitless dedication to the ultimate welfare of others.
(May we suggest that you view this at least two times? Get comfortable.)
It's not the destination, it's the voyage.
Merci Christine.
World/Streets.
# # #
Credits:
The scenarist and director of "Merci" is Christine Rabette (she is the one reading the book). Produced by Patrick Quinet and Artémis Productions, Belgium - www.artemisproductions.com With the support of the Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté française (CCA), Belgium -- //www.audiovisuel.cfwb.be/
------------------------------------------
Paris, Monday, 29 March 2010
PS. What is it supposed to mean?
I was afraid I might be asked this question, and indeed I have on several occasions in the last day. So in all respect let me give this a stab, although I really do hesitate because in a way I see this as an intrusion on your interpretation, which is the only one that counts. So be it.
Essentially I had three thoughts lurking at the back of my mind in wanting to share this short film with you. None of them being ha-ha jovial.
The first is that I see it as pure Zen, by which in this case I mean it is what you want it to be. If you have the patience for it (your call!), it is well done, it is about life, and it is oh so gently about people. So to me, even as a World/Streets guy, the fact that it takes place in an urban transport mode is not at all the main point. But to each of us, her/his own.
The second idea was to see if this might serve for some as a quiet, close to subliminal call to encourage us all to get comfortable with different thinking about our mission, and more generally that of planners and policy makers when faced with the challenges that World/Streets among many others attempts to address. I hope I am hurting no one's feelings greatly when I make the point that much of the work that is planned and executed in our sector all too often combines high technical virtuosity, or at least talent, with a bit too narrow vision as to what cities are all about. Too much attention given to infrastructure, and not enough to people. (Did that come across for you?)
Finally, I wanted to see if this might reinforce one of our fundamental precepts here at World/Streets, which is that we need to give more attention to happiness as a goal of our work and choices. As a reformed economist I certainly do not want to surrender all of the terrain of happiness vs. your favorite indicator to Amartya Sen and Joe Stiglitz (as per their exemplary contribution via the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress). They have helped to blaze this path, but we now need to take it further in our own work.
More happiness in transport, more happiness in cities. Tell me that this is not a noble goal?
Eric Britton
Editor, World/Streets
PS. And oh yes, tell us what you think this is all about. That's what the Comments section just below is for.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Bodhisattva in the metro
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
This brightens up my whole day! We need a few hundred thousand more bodhisattvas scattered among the world transport systems.
ReplyDeleteSpoiler alert, this comment is not in the spirit of the item posting by Eric, so read no further if you share or seek his Saturday mood of tranquility.
ReplyDeleteAs a regular transit rider, I found this film both funny, and very disturbing! It made me so uncomfortable I was pacing the room while it played ... couldn't sit still.
Oh yes, I began laughing too.
But first, the episode is staged fiction of course. The posting of this film at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH3Vwej4o74 states "2003 Golden Wave for best Short Film (Court-Métrage)"
I wonder if this obituary describes the Patrick Quinet named as a first credit: http://www.myspace.com/patrickquinetchansons I hadn't heard of him, but wish I had met him.
Group behavior of collected strangers on transit vehicles is an interesting topic. In almost 50 years of riding, mostly in USA, I haven't seen very much of it beyond self absorption, which I presume is typical.
But not everywhere. In Detroit, Michigan USA, where I began my transit riding in 1960 and only visit now, there is apparently a present day phenomenon of frequent conversations on issues of the day involving many passengers. I experienced it on several rides a few years ago, and have read a claim that this happens frequently on Detroit buses. Even the driver was involved on one of my rides. Great fun.
As for hysterical laughing by a stranger on a bus or train? Yeah, I've seen that. What is shown in the film doesn't happen. In a vehicle with a driver, or a non-shy fellow passenger, there may be a request to get off the bus. Otherwise, other passengers start moving toward seats closer to the driver, or off the bus. 9-1-1 may be dialed on a cell phone. In a train car, a security staffer may remove the laughing one if he or she doesn't stop. Regular passengers would look for the hospital ID bracelet indicating someone recently released who forgot to take prescribed medications.
Just saying, you meet a lot of interesting fellow humans riding urban transit. Nothing wrong with that for me and many, except it's another motivation for some others to find a way to drive a personal vehicle.
I have many vivid memories of public transit incidents that went beyond collective, routine boredom. Many are not pleasant.
But I'm sure Eric wasn't trying to illustrate a reason for many folks avoiding public transit.
Hello there,
ReplyDeleteI have to react about this. I'm Christine and I directed this short film called "Merci!". And believe, it did happened to me in Paris, in the metro and on a crawded hour. I was the reading girl and this guy sitted in front of me. My first reaction was "Oh no, not a jerk again" and then I started to laugh with all the people in the wagon. We could'nt help it, and we laughed during 5 stations. It was incredible. I named the film "Merci" because I wanted to thank this anonymous guy who brighted our day and our life. I think I could'nt imagine such a story if I did'nt have lived it. So yes, those things can happened!
Kindly yours
Christine Rabette
Thanks for posting this, Eric. Your line about there being too much focus on infrastructure and not on people reminds me of the ethos of a small software and design firm in Chicago, 37Signals: "PEOPLE solutions -- not software solutions."
ReplyDeleteMs Rabette, thank you for making me laugh. What a wonderful film! I kept thinking, at first, how hard it must have been for the actors to keep laughing, take after take, but then finally let go and starting laughing myself.
Excellent video. It is slow to get started but well worth the wait once it does. It reminds me of being stuck during a strike in a crowded Paris metro when someone yelled out Fresh strawberries, I am farting fresh strawberries. Can you smell the wonderful smell? Some people laughed. Then he yelled out "Framboises!" (raspberries) and more people laughed. Finally he yelled out "pasteque, oui pasteque !" (watermelon) and by this time everyone was laughing. Thanks for sharing this video Eric! Salamaat
ReplyDeleteAlon Rozen, Paris
Christine Rabette:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification that events depicted in your wonderful film taken on the Paris Metro really happened! Good that you had a camera at the ready.
John N
hi-
ReplyDeleteI just saw this video -- how fun! I want to understand it better if I am going to spread it around. Are you saying, Christine, that it first happened in real life and then you redid it for the camera? Otherwise you could not have gotten so many different angles on the various people sitting on the metro. It made me laugh a lot too!