The Baddest Man Alive

The Baddest Man Alive is an investigation of the contemporary warrior of postmodern society. The subject origins from my fascination of the cynicism of postmodernity and the Japanese TV-series Samurai Champloo (2004), directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, as it visualises a universe in which individual strength and courage is essential for survival.  

Shinichirō Watanabe’s captivating and harsh samurai-universe has long constituted a source of inspiration for me. The series tells the story of two samurai-warriors: Mugen, a vagrant, rebellious and formerly convicted pirate, and Jin, a skilled and tradition-oriented samurai-warrior. Together they escape a prison sentence and join the mysterious woman Fuu, who is searching for a samurai that smells of sunflowers. The trio undertakes a lengthy journey, in which they must all utilise their individual strengths, courage and fighting skills in order to reach their goal: finding the samurai that smells of sunflowers.

The adventure of our three protagonists narrates how they overcome tremendous odds using self-belief and an unyielding will. Therefore, I will in this project examine the individual existence in the postmodern society, by working with the words: being super-weak and super-strong. The project will have a personal approach to the term cynicism, where it can be seen as a state of mind among other things, the feeling doubting themselves will occur.

The term cynicism will be played up against being super-strong. I believe that we as an individual have a particular strength, which enables us to become strong again if you meet resistance. In my universe, I imagine, that we have our own warriors. Warriors that do not give up but continues to fight until one has triumphed. It’s an inner warrior who believes that the way out of the cynicism heyday is by stop picking each other down and start dreaming again.