michael clayton

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I just got finished watching Michael Clayton. The best line was in the trailer I think: "I am Shiva, the God of Death." I'm not exactly sure how to capitalize that.. It's uttered twice in the film, once in insanity and then again towards the end as a recovery of that insanity.

It's a beautiful line. On the surface, for its poetry. But there's something buried there that got me thinking. When it is uttered the first time, it's a clear signalling of insanity to the audience. But it's a false signal. There is insanity there, but not the type we're to recognize. Just a conflation of motives.

Anyway, I want to say this more clearly. In any insane communication, there is a muddling of the message for the observer. There is some opacity we can't discern through. Something is ever so slightly off. Or way, way off. But the communication remains untainted. We just can't decode it.

The next time I call someone crazy, I'll do it knowing that there is a gulf between me and she. That that craziness is no more than a dirty window. And that knowing will be like my bucket of soapy water.

*I dialed up the crazy level on this post a bit.