Thursday, October 15, 2009
Broken Psyches: Flipping Out in India
I came across the BBC documentary, Flipping Out, a few months ago. It contains some stunning and evocative images of both India and the Israeli backpackers who inhabit the notorious guesthouses.
Drug-use is prevalent among backpackers. From the full-moon parties in Thailand to the rave-soaked beaches of Goa, hash, coke, MDMA, LSD or heroin are the various drugs of choice. These substances are cheap, potent and readily available to young travelers in search of existential freedom from their mundane, lawn-covered suburbs.
Flipping Out dives a few fathoms deeper than I expected from a documentary on this subject. Besides interviews with ex-soldiers on "why they come" to India in the first place, only to be surrounded by other Israeli ex-soldiers, the film focuses also on the people who feel called to come to the rescue of those who've "flipped" - spiritual healers who attempt to re-member the shattered fragments of Self back into a functional consciousness.
Highly recommended, this documentary captures the essence of the quandary my writing deals with - that of what happens when paradise is permanently accessible to droves of outsiders.
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