Plunga Infomercial 3 from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
password: Plunga (note the capital P)
Feedback questions:
1. Are there any moments that are particularly funny/entertaining?
2. Is there anything that makes you think? Is there's the potential for leading into a more serious topic with this. If so, what topic/s do you see it relating to?
3. As the infomercial developed it turned out to be more for video then a live performance then I had originally expected. I do still imagine that there could be some audience interaction, like teaching them to meditate while using the plunga wand etc. When you watch it, can you imagine any live elements (would the announcer be live and the dancing and yoga be on film, or vice versa?) Or could there be live performance that is related to this?
4. What are the politics of commercialization in relation to this piece? Is there a possibility for empowerment of herself and her community through selling the Plunga Flow Workout, or do you think she's "selling out"? Please explain your answer
5. is there a relationship to the comic book theme? how so? Do you see any connections to other (Un) epic Wonder Women characters or themes?
6. Who do you think the uninspired woman, the plunger dancer, and the yogasana demonstrator are? (are they Plunga? are they Nirmala (before turning into Plunga)? are they different ordinary people?)
7. Any other comments, suggestions, ideas?
password: Plunga (note the capital P)
Feedback questions:
1. Are there any moments that are particularly funny/entertaining?
2. Is there anything that makes you think? Is there's the potential for leading into a more serious topic with this. If so, what topic/s do you see it relating to?
3. As the infomercial developed it turned out to be more for video then a live performance then I had originally expected. I do still imagine that there could be some audience interaction, like teaching them to meditate while using the plunga wand etc. When you watch it, can you imagine any live elements (would the announcer be live and the dancing and yoga be on film, or vice versa?) Or could there be live performance that is related to this?
4. What are the politics of commercialization in relation to this piece? Is there a possibility for empowerment of herself and her community through selling the Plunga Flow Workout, or do you think she's "selling out"? Please explain your answer
5. is there a relationship to the comic book theme? how so? Do you see any connections to other (Un) epic Wonder Women characters or themes?
6. Who do you think the uninspired woman, the plunger dancer, and the yogasana demonstrator are? (are they Plunga? are they Nirmala (before turning into Plunga)? are they different ordinary people?)
7. Any other comments, suggestions, ideas?
1. On this viewing, I found the cut to the close-up of your mouth as you say "Your brain is literally full of shit" and the ending medical disclaimer particularly funny. The timing of "Now only $19.99!" was funny too. In general I enjoy it whenever you engage in word play that integrates bathroom humor and bowel movements (mental diarrhea/constipation, etc).
ReplyDelete2. The infomercial seems to have the potential to connect to a critique of the commercialism of new age spirituality, and the way that it promises quick/instant fixes to real problems rather than dealing with the underlying issues.
The political potential that I saw of Ganga's origin story -- regarding environmentalism or ethnic and religious riots -- doesn't seem related to the informercial, however.
There is a slight shift in tone when you recall your vision of Ganga that is different from the saleswoman spiel, which might have the potential to touch upon something more serious.
3. I could see the announcer perform live more easily than the tired, sluggish woman, perhaps bringing audience members up to learn plungasanas or plunger dances. Think about how motivational speakers or TV evangelists often utilize video and audience interaction. I do think the rhythm of the infomercial -- parts stretched out, etc -- would have to be changed to accommodate live performance.
4. In my understanding, superheroes are supposed to work selflessly for the greater good, not for their own empowerment. Indeed, often they sacrifice their individual happiness for the public -- think about Spiderman's sacrifice of his love of Mary Jane. I cannot think of superheroes who use their superpowers for their own financial gain; that would probably be considered an abuse of their powers.
Whenever I watch an infomercial in real life, I am automatically skeptical -- I don't believe that the product does all that it promises. As such, I don't feel convinced that the Plunga Flow Workout actually works rather than being a commercial hoax, especially because it is so preposterous, and so the prospects of empowering the community seem unlikely.
Also, Plunga is rather melodramatic and diva-like, so I don't feel very sympathetic towards her when she talks about how poor she is -- actually, I'm not sure I believe her.
ReplyDelete5. Yes, you refer to Plunga as "your friendly neighborhood yogic superheroine," she has a superpower and an origin story, and she wears a mask and thus has a disguise (though she does reveal that she is/was Nirmala the yoga teacher, so I'm not sure why she needs a disguise, or if the new outfit simply marks her transformation). The use of exaggeration and melodramatic larger-than-life performance techniques also seems to resonate with the comic book world.
I wonder if Plunga would dislike Super Ruwaxi's body odor, since it's "unclean"? Or if there is some other connection with excrement and bodily functions.
I also see potential connections between Ganga (less so Plunga/Nirmala) and Saleye in terms of breaking down divisive stereotypes.
There seems to be a TV/movie theme running throughout all of our work: Saleye is from Planet Bollywood, Super Ruwaxi has a television trailer, and this is an infomercial. Perhaps there could be some potential for structuring the show as a TV show or Bollywood movie with commercial breaks?
6. While it all seems fairly logical when viewing the infomercial, I get a little confusing when I try to identify everyone in detail, as you ask here, since it is always you performing and some of the costume pieces are used in multiple settings. But if forced to make a decision, I'd say the following:
The uninspired woman is an ordinary person.
Plunga is the one wearing the mask.
The plunger dancer, in the first cut, is Nirmala having the vision of Ganga, because it coincides with the line, "I had a vision...." It might also be Ganga herself, though I thought the watercolors were Ganga. In the second cut, however, I'm not sure who the plunger dancer is.
The plungasana demonstrator is an ordinary person, probably a fairly advanced student or employee (a certified plungasana teacher) of Plunga.
7. I'd love to see a deeper connection between Ganga's superpower and mission and Plunga's. I see the connection between their ability to provide (spiritual) cleansing, but somehow the politics of the two characters seem quite different. Telling Ganga's story in more detail might provide more depth.
How do you see this staged? How can multimedia be effectively integrated in live performance? We chatted about this, but there might be interesting potential for using live feed technology to create different textures (integrated actual substances like water, dropping dye in, or your water colors, perhaps with some simple Isadora filters) to create Ganga's world.
Do you see Plunga existing as a separate piece in a shared evening with Saleye and Ruwaxi, or somehow their stories weaving together?
Great work, Shy! A very entertaining video with nice production.
ReplyDeletehere are a few suggestions and comments:
1) there is a part in the middle of the video where the tone changes suddenly for a while - it's like a more conventional artistic dance video. It's beautiful but it's an abrupt change in tone away from the frantic comedy. Perhaps that abrupt break is meant to signify an aspect of the character, but I couldn't work it out.
2) It seem like the superheroine and the yogini are the same personality in this video? Might make more sense for the superhero trope if the superheroine was the yogini's alter ego. This might create more space for comic contrasts too - between the yogini being her normal/too serious self in teaching yoga, and then transforming into the frantically comic Plunga.
3) the health warning "small print" at the end works better if it's done at a faster pace (don't worry if some people can't understand all of it - they will know what it signifies)
4) I think a critique of yoga in all its various forms is a good generative angle to pursue, but I think the critique could be made clearer (e.g. more directly addressing comically aspects of how yoga teachers/students really behave perhaps e.g. yoga teachers wouldn't do TV infomercials in real life, but what would they use instead? (that's not to say that you shouldn't use the infomercial - I think that works here, you could even, I'd suggest, expand/push the realism of the infomercial details further - it is after all a very successful genre that has a lot of potential for comedy (I wonder how the genre translates to Indian TV though - I imagine there are differences)
5) Regarding Cynthia's point 4 above, if we are talking about pre-postmodern superhero comic books, I think is probably broadly true, but the key point to remember is that the struggle over what to do with one's superpowers and what that means for one's soul/personality/identity etc. is a core dramatic tension in the genre. It doesn't just work out as superhero OR supervillain. there are nuances in-between too - Iron Man (already a powerful billionaire inventor before he becomes Iron Man, but being Iron Man makes his powerful billionaireness even more powerful), Catwoman, The Incredible Hulk etc.