Ready to Sacrifice for Your Wants?

The new NETFLIX original series AR*S wants to know.

The psychological drama premiered on Friday, January 17, 2020, and not only ask what do you want but what you are prepared to sacrifice to get it.

“AR*S” stars 26-year-old Dutch actress Jade Olieberg who plays a multi-ethnic medical student who’s had enough of people in her world phoning it in. She wants more and is willing to do what’s necessary to get it. The fact that she comes from a working-class family with a mom who is struggling with mental issues -advances the series’ plot in ways that are not obvious in the beginning.

After viewing the 8 episodes, my initial reaction was the .5 % wealthiest of society will not be happy. But then this portrayal of secret societies targets any of us who “belong” to one.

Cutting to the chase and without spoilers, the series forces us to look within. It wants us to answer if we have what it takes to conquer the world or even our hamlet?

The message focuses on the family legacy, ambition, desire, and last and the often forgotten, love. The streaming series turns those concepts on its head. It reveals the greatest of these things, but without any consolation.

image of a scene from Netflix series ARES
ARES
Photo Credit: NetFlix

The show’s message remains with you long after you’ve switched to something else. I couldn’t binge-watch the series – it was a little too intense.

AR*S  is Netflix’s first Dutch series, but it’s dubbed in English. Although the lip movement syncs up better than most international programming – I enjoyed listening to the original language while reading subtitles.

AR*S is not for the easily offended. This show doesn’t care about your “feelings.” If you’re not ready to investigate your triggers. Don’t watch it. If you do,  share with me what you think about “AR*S.”

Looking Thru the Window | The Revolution is On

Going through life with your nose pressed up against the glass might be one way to see the world, and it might even be safe but how does it differ from watching life unfold from in front of a tv screen?

Both give you a buffer zone between you and the world’s events. Or maybe looking through the window simply brings the world closer to you.

“objects appearing in the mirror may be closer than you think”

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use,
By Source (WP: NFCC#4), Fair use,

In the Netflix original film “The Fundamentals of Caring,” the caregiver challenges his charge to go out to speak to a hitchhiking woman. He tells him if he doesn’t and instead watches the caregiver do it from the safety of the window, it would be no different from watching the action on television.

Life in the 21st century was becoming one giant television screen – or rather a computer monitor… Whether Americans wanted to admit it, they were afraid to move beyond the window or screen following the 9/11 tragedy

…And then it happened. In 2014, people began to leave the safety of the homes and take to the streets in protest. The rallying cry was injustice, and it was 13 years overdue.

Every year, after that, the marches attracted more and more crowds.  Soon everyone will be in the streets.  The only way to control the masses will be to scare them back behind glass.

Gil Scott Heron sang, “The Revolution will not be Televised.” 47 years later, his prophetic vision is not one bit hazy.

“The revolution will not be televised, it’s live.”

And no one’s home to watch it.  They’re in the streets.