Yeah yeah, this is probably an excuse by singles who are not or will never experience the meaning of Valentines Day to not feel left out on this faithful day.

But what the heck. Happy Friendship Day to all my friends out there! And of course, to u lucky ones who are spending the night with someone special, Happy Valentines Day!

Movie update. If u remember I've been talking about wanting to watch The Constant Gardener since last year when it first released in the States. Well, finally got a chance to watch it last night, and I'm glad I did.



Excellent movie, and pleased that Rachel Weiss has won a Golden Globe for this role. Is she nominated for the Oscars for this movie too? Anyway, a wonderful portrayal of a passionate activitst who is on the other hand so human that everyone can relate to. Like the many voices on the net, I too am puzzled as to why Ralph Fiennes didn't get nominated for his role in The Constant Gardener! I just love how his character is so soft-spoken and quiet, and how his love for his wife and his determination at the investigation just shone through that quiet front. One of the biggest mistakes of the movie awards industry, I'm sure.

Just last semester, Prof Leavitt who taught our class as a visiting fellow for one module told us things which I was constantly reminded of as I watched the movie. The module was called "Issues in Research and Testing", and a big part of his module dealt with the pharmaceutical industry, how they manipulate their drug test results, and how they coerced or simply coaxed people living in poverty to take part in unethical trials. Basically that was what was happening in the movie, and as I was watching the movie I was totally appalled that this actually mirrors real life and there are indeed poor, innocent, ill-stricken people, especially in the poorest regions of Africa, who are still being used as worthless guinea pigs in drug trials which kills more than it saves. It's not just in the movies my friend. This is happening to our fellow people.

Why don't these companies stop the trials and just improve on the drug if they find that it kills? A simple concept of time and money. Firstly, it takes money to start researching on a drug again. Secondly, usually the reason why pharmaceuticals start researching into a new drug is because the patent on the old drug is expiring, meaning that they would lose money. Hence, they try to create brand new drugs in the shortest time possible before the patent for the old drug expires, leading to the temptation on all sides (researchers, the companies, journals etc.) to mainpulate results to fit their agenda rather than spend yet more time and money on actually improving on it.

So why the poorest people? As the movie poignantly puts it, it's just that they have so many people that no one knows or questions when some of them go missing. Cruel, cold world.

I could go on and on about the big bad pharmaceutical companies and tons of examples but I don't wanna write a thesis just as I graduated from school. Bottom line is, be careful when using drugs, cos the advertisements, the journal reports and even the doctors who prescribed these drugs may be misleading or plain misled (did u know that doctors in the States are not trained at all in research and statistical methods, yet when they graduate they are automatically given the right to conduct research? Few outcomes of this, 1) most doctors do not know how to critically read and interpret test results in journals, 2) they are easily swayed by advertisements, conferences or articles sponsored by these companies, 3) they do not know how to conduct medical research).

Anyway, about the movie? Highly recommended!

Trivia:

While Singapore is showing this in the cinema for the very first time, the DVD is actually already out and may be purchased from Amazon.com. Stupid Singapore film board/theatres... I never get to watch quality art movies until more than a year later.

(the rest are taken from IMDB.com)

Director Meirelles lobbied to have the movie shot in Kenya instead of in South Africa where most of the film industry is located.

After filming, the Constant Gardener Trust was set-up to help the inhabitants of the slums near Nairobi where the crew had been filming.

The makers installed water tanks, a new bridge and a classroom in Kibera, the slum at which the film was shot. They also built a secondary school in the desert of northern Kenya where the final scenes were photographed.

The scene in the slum where Rachel Weisz (Tessa) walks through and numerous children ask her "How are you?" and she responds "I'm fine, how are you?" was unscripted. The children are actual children who live in Kibera and not extras.