The Greek myth revolving around the character called Narcissus tells us a story of an individual who fell in love with his own image and rejected the love of a beautiful fairy in the woods (nymph), called Echo.
The term narcissism thus denotes an excessive degree of self-esteem or self-involvement, a condition that is usually a form of emotional immaturity. According to the myth, the rejection from Narcissus had made Echo fade away with great pain in her mind until all that was left of her was her voice.
Echo's hopeless love for Narcissus who fell in love with his own image is reflected on the contemporary society to great extent.
The launch of the music video ‘Mama Donkarayayi’ (I am Echo) based on a song written by Asoka Handagama, composed by Chitral Somapala and sung by Indika Upamali was held at the NFC’s Tharangani cinema recently.
The event was graced by scholars, fans and a gamut of celebrities who added much glamour. The song, ‘I am Echo’ based on two mythical characters, Narcissus and Echo from Greek-Latin mythology, is set in the contemporary society.
The discussion around the song was triggered by two speeches by Saman Wickramaarchchi and Deepthi Kumara Gunarathne. Featuring Indika Upamali and Chitral Somapala, the cinematography and art direction of the song in the music video are by Channa Deshapriya and Upul Chamila Bandara.
‘Mama Donkarayayi’ has been written and directed by Asoka Handagama. In his speech Saman Wickramaarchchi said Face book addicts in the modern world depict narcissistic indulgence of people in contemporary society.
He talked of pros and cons of using Face book and shed light on the dangers it poses to individuals who get excessively involved with it.
“Posting Selfies of oneself constantly on face book to attract attention of people portrays Narcissistic nature of individuals. People who roam in Face book and social media become self centric and the world is rapidly moving towards producing Narcissuses”, he said.
Wickramaarchchi said the concept of Asoka Handagama to bring Narcissus’s story to fore being a constructive move will serve a social purpose in the country at this juncture.
The music video is made with a soothing manner and performances of Chitral Somapala and Indika Upamali in it are super.
Pictures by Sarath Peries
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