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Reviews
2 Broke Girls (2011)
Constant casual racism against the Asian character
This mediocre sitcom is made much worse by the constant barrage of casual racism against the Asian character on the show. The writers intentionally created this character and cast someone to make this minstrel show possible.
Anyone enjoying this show might be someone that has the luxury to ignore people being treated this way. It's appalling that we're still dealing with such characters in this modern day and age.
Pharma Bro (2021)
Reveals interesting parts of the story, but remains shallow and incomplete.
If you didn't follow the Shkreli story too closely this documentary will bring some interesting parts of it to light, e.g. He constantly livestreamed and took calls from random people. It is mostly about the public scandals surrounding him.
The main journalist who practically stalked Shkreli for a year has nothing meaninful to add. Whilst an interesting angle, nothing came of his efforts and didn't deserve a good chunk of the documentary. Instead he too just got caught up in the public drama and failed to do any meaningful journalism.
The documentary attempts psychoanalysis via the people that knew him personally, however this just ends showing people that keep empathising with him. What about the people that were hurt by his actions?
A question that I wanted answered was "how many people did he kill because people couldn't afford medication?"
Instead you have his friends and ex-girlfriends saying what a sweet misunderstood guy he is; if you ignore the psychopathy he is actually quirky and likeable. The interesting angle here is how various people have failed to apply any ethical standards to their personal relationships. Several women wanted to date him only after he became known as a menace and just ignored his other actions.
Because he was so reviled by everyone the new perspective the documentary is trying to bring is to paint him as "only human". The real discussion to be had is about the US healtcare system and how Shkreli has become a symbol of bad things can get. There's the briefest talk about that.
At the end it's still not clear what is driving Shkreli, other than a desire for quick money, or what makes him so callous.
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
A moving and multi-faceted biopic that stretches the audience's knowledge of maths
A sincere and empathetic depiction of Ramanujan's life in India and England, and the phenomenal work he did.
The movie packs in a lot in brief vignettes from Ramanujan's devotion to his deity, his relationship with his wife and his colleague/mentor Hardy, his unique approach to mathematics and the casual (and not so casual) racism he endured in England.
There is just the right amount of detail in every scene that communicates a great deal if you know the cultural context. Ramanujan's difficulty balancing his religious conviction and an Eastern holistic approach to life in my opinion stand out the most. Their worldviews are worlds apart. Hardy leads with his logical head and Ramanujan with his insightful heart. Together they create history.
Ramanujan would've been nowhere without Hardy and Hardy's life amiss without Ramanujan. Ramanujan persevered despite constantly being belittled, second-guessed and at one point violently assaulted just because of his race. It's a vital reminder of the geniuses that may have been missed because of the ravages of colonialism. Fortunately for us, he managed to slip through.
By the end of this movie I was itching to pick up a book on mathematical theorems and try to see the world through Ramanujan's eyes.