The Grudge 2004 Netflix

[Karriem Drewery]

Amidall the Succession-mania this week, another quietly brilliant show may have slipped under your radar. Netflix series Beef is a tense exploration of modern frustrations explored through two strangers who find themselves locked in an escalating feud.

But after that, it will be page upon page of anti-grudge propaganda, articles like How to Stop Holding a Grudge and Move On, The Mental Health Effects of Holding a Grudge and Why We Hold Grudges, and How to Let Them Go.

When I first moved into an apartment building, I was excited by the idea of sharing a common space with strangers, believing it would be like living in an episode of Friends. But then the guy in the apartment across from me started putting his rubbish in my bin.

Rather than raise the issue and risk sounding insane, I chose a different tack. Aware he rose early for the gym most days and then parked his car in the same spot every morning, I began getting up early and nabbing that spot.

Rather than feeling stressed about everything, the grudge became an outlet for the ugly-but-unavoidable parts of human nature, a way of releasing my frustrations instead of letting them fester.

It all came to a head when I retaliated after another bin episode. My neighbour liked to leave his black Havaianas thongs outside his door each night; like anyone who grew up in the 2000s, I have an identical pair, except two sizes smaller.

Ultimately, they build a bizarre friendship that stems from a shared understanding that they\\u2019re not angry at the other person; they\\u2019re just angry. But they only arrive at that realisation after using each other as an outlet for their frustrations.

This is not a popular piece of advice and flies in the face of what we are taught about grudges (that you should never hold them). Google the word \\u201Cgrudge\\u201D, and you\\u2019ll see what I mean. Well, first you\\u2019ll see a bunch of results about the 2004 horror film starring that creepy girl with long hair.

Despite the fact there is much to be justifiably furious about (rising interest rates, the rental crisis, and the Dalai Lama tongue-sucking episode, to name a few), we\\u2019re not supposed to ever get angry.

Our obsession with doing the right thing means we never get to indulge that other urge: doing the wrong thing because it feels good. However, there\\u2019s something to be said for funnelling life\\u2019s frustrations into one petty-yet-satisfying outlet.

From that moment, a grudge was born. He often brought all the other neighbours\\u2019 washing in when it was raining, except mine. I regularly told the postman there was \\u201Cno one here by that name\\u201D when parcels arrived for him.

I\\u2019m not advocating that we all go full John Wick and declare a blood feud on the next person that annoys you, or that we should chuck a Taylor Swift and write a song about the scarf you never got back. But it\\u2019s unrealistic to be Zen all the time; sometimes, a little grudge can go a long way.

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