PLASTIK 13

the hero & the hoe...

When Marilyn stood in Madison Square Garden In front of 15,000 people including John F Kennedy, ex president of the United States, at his fundraising birthday party, it was merely an act of charitable nature. She wore a skin-tight flesh-colored bomber with shimmery beds(and nothing under!), and in her heathy, sultry voice, she hummed “Happy Birthday, Mr President!” - the bedtime version. She looked butter-wouldn’t melt-in-her-mouth, but it would in his. They were the two most powerful people in the world. He was the hero and SHE was the whore. It is a story as old as time - a man with all the power in the word is helpless under the spell of an enchanting woman. And a woman with all the beauty in the world is pulled, by nature towards a powerful man. It is as if the universe conspires to create this balance, when powers collide and one is bound to wipe the other out. Even in Marvel’s universe - a comic depiction of our world - they created Superheroes with chiseled abs, death-defying skills and paranormal strength, but they also had to create the sexy “whoresome” siren to humble them down. But would Superman ever divert his powers and use them against Lois Lane? No. It is a natural progression. We spend our whole lives in the quest for money for growth and for power. Yet once we see what we need the most in another, we give our power away. To every young boy who dreams of being a Superhero, and every young girl who dreams of being Marilyn Monroe. 

nadine labaki

Feature

Triggered by the clashes of May 2008 on the streets of Beirut, Nadine Labaki decided to keep her bitter emotions locked down and turn them into a storyline that questions the world we live in today. Her award-winning new film Where Do We Go Now? is a tale about mothers and their struggle to maintain peace in a wholesome Lebanese village torn by concurrent religious feuds. After several screenings at international film festivals, the film reaches its home turf and faces a tough audience that is also the protagonist. labaki is An artist that communicates on a high level of sensitivity, with a tear in her eye, and hopes that her film might somehow make a difference.