Top Ten Movies That Shaped My Life: A conversation with Tebatso Mashishi
Throughout the years, I have heard disturbing stories about how the media control and destroys the masses. Stories about how we are all supposedly slaves to the Print and Digital Gods of this world.
While some of that information might be true, and believe me; most of it IS. I still consciously choose to look at the positives...which I why I decided to pick Matwetwe star, Tebatso Mashishi's brain for a while. To find out which movies, in this realm of mind control, freed his mind.
And...Here they are: 1. The Matrix:
"This movie was such an eye opener about the world we live in. The main character(Neyo) had a purpose and it showed me that I have a purpose. I have never looked at things the same after that movie. I now understand that so many of us have one thing that controls and pulls our strings and that's our ego(s)." 2. The Prophet
"The Prophet is too deep, man...
It's about this Guru that gets put into prison and is schedule to be executed. One thing that stood out for me was when he spoke about marriage, on some...people can be together but can still be individuals. Like a tree they are one, but like branches, they are separate" 3. The Dark Knight
"The way I see it, in this movie, The Joker is a necessary evil and you know, evil isn’t just necessary in films. Bad things need to happen in order for us to appreciate the good. When you look at life, Laws and restrictions are put in place to try to maintain chaos but that ends up destroying us because we don't try to understand it (chaos)first...we get taught manners and become institutionalized at a young age.We don't get a chance to study and understand our internal chaos and now we wonder why we've become such fucked up adults. " 4. The Giver:
"The Giver is about rediscovering life again. It's about getting out of the matrix and social constructs and getting to the core of who you are. Going against all odds to reach your goals...you have to be a 'sterring' and realize that you have a responsibility to accept and fulfill your purpose, against all odds: including yourself." 5. The Divergent Series
"This movie is about identity and not fitting in. Sometimes when you look different and sometimes when you act different then society tends to reject you. We promote individuality but in reality, it makes us uncomfortable."
6. The Dark Tower
“This movie is about the power of Dreams.In the film, bad guys use kids’ dreams to power a dark tower, which goes back to the matrix. Jobs, Schools, Institutions all use our dreams and passion to power their “Dark Towers”.
7. Fight Club
“There’s no limit. There really is no limit to anything in life. The main character unconsciously creates an alter ego (played by Brad Pitt) that goes beyond his limitations everyday. At the end of the movie (Spoiler Alert) The character realizes that the alter ego is actually himself. That he could go outside of his comfort zone and live his life to the fullest. THERE IS NO LIMIT!!!”
8. 3 Idiots
“People sometimes tend to view the world as Black and White...So many think that if you follow a certain path in life (e.g: Go to school, University, get a job, start a family...etc...) you will find happiness. This movie ultimately says that life has no manual, take for example Stan Lee, who would have ever thought that a comic book geek could create a multi million dollar business such as Marvel? There is so much more colour in the world...don’t limit yourself”
9. The Little Prince
“There’s a song that talks about Grown Ups being very odd. This movie is about losing the spunk that you had as a child when you start. ‘adulting’. Never Lose your light, even if you find yourself surrounded by the night”
10. The Good Lie
The Good Lie is a bittersweet story about purpose, destiny and sacrifice. I don’t want to give much away with regards to this movie, It is that beautiful. You have to watch it to understand.”
Tebatso is in Kagiso Lediga’s new Feature Film: Matwetwe, which starts airing in South African cinemas in January 2019.
“I play Papi, a friend to the lead character.We basically sell weed in the hood to raise funds so that my friend can go to varsity while having altercations with some bad people. It’s a good action comedy which, I hope, launches my acting career.
