The Oscars: My most ironic indulgence.
You may or may not know that I’m an aspiring filmmaker. Everything about filmmaking is fascinating to me. From writing to directing and even acting, I love it all.
I often tell people that The Academy Awards (Oscars) are my Superbowl. I like sports, and follow them as closely as I can, but what I mean by this statement is that as most people give a damn about which NFL teams are playing in the Superbowl, I give a damn about about which films are nominated for Best Picture.
The comparison doesn’t really hold water on all levels, though. Mostly because the two teams in the Superbowl typically are the best teams in the league that year. The Oscars, on the other hand, are much more political. Many of the best films, filmmakers and actors are overlooked because they didn’t have the resources or political clout needed to fit the bill.
Which is why I consider it somewhat ironic that I care so much about the Oscars. In some ways, they represent everything I hope for and dream about professionally. In others, they represent everything I hate about Hollywood.
Love/hate…yet I can’t look away.
So know that tonight, as I’m watching The Oscars, I’m both elated and tortured. Frustrated and fulfilled.
And a little hungry. I’m always hungry.
Movies That Made Me Cry
I was having a conversation with a friend at work about movies that make us cry, and I realized that though I emotionally connect with a lot of films, and have no trouble empathizing with characters, I don’t really cry so much anymore.
That being said, I’ll admit it. I’ve cried in movies. And here are a few that did it to me:
Where The Red Fern Grows
Little Ann starved herself to death because she lost Old Dan. They made me watch this emotional torture flick in second grade. Seriously?
Old Yeller
Just like Where The Red Fern Grows, except Travis shoots him in the face. Another great one for the kids.
E.T.
Four little words: “I’ll be right here.” Whoa…woop…yep, a little tear just slipped out.
Dead Poets Society
Yeah, I memorized O Captain! My Captain! after seeing that movie. Once I stopped bawling, that is.
Million Dollar Baby
In addition to crying, I also threw objects at the screen whenever Maggie’s family was around.
The Notebook
Admitting that I’ve even seen this is difficult, People. So try this on for size: I own it. And it’s the last movie I remember actually sobbing in. Their love is forever. It’s forever.
What about you? Any movies make you cry?
The Difference Between Running and Ultra Running
I haven’t earned the title “ultra runner” yet…though that will technically change on May 1. Either way, I do certainly know that I prefer really long distance running to shorter distances. And to explain why, I created a graph to illustrate some of the differences to what I’m dubbing “sub marathon runners” (anyone who tends to run races at the marathon distance or under), and “ultra runners”, anyone who runs distances longer than marathons.
Now, before you say anything, I know there is some crossover here and some parallels between the two. But I’ll bet my bottom dollar that if you identify more with the column on the right, you should probably be a long-distance runner.
Any other differences? Or am I wrong?
Running, Good. Injury, Bad.
Don’t you think it’s high time for a running update?
The holidays weren’t kind to me. Or rather, I wasn’t kind to myself during the holidays. I think my weekly mileage reduced to somewhere in the 0 – 3 range, and other fitness activities were even less frequent. I don’t feel guilty – just a little silly. I need to keep up my mileage. But the holidays and some injuries got the best of me.
However, I didn’t really fall behind. Just today, I ran my long run right on track with my 50K training program. Even though admittedly, today might have felt better had I been keeping up with my training over the last 8 weeks, it was a relief to fall right back in stride. Pardon the pun.
If you’ve been following my running or know me personally, you may know that over the last year or so, I’ve been suffering from some chronic injuries. Plantar Fasciitis, a pretty rare form of tendonitis called Peroneal Tendonitis (which won’t seem to go away), and most recently, a somewhat severe case of ITBS in both knees. Owee.
Traditional recommendation is to “rest, rest, rest”, and I’m gonna say right now: that’s my recommendation to you if you suffer from this stuff, or any injury, really. Rest is important and not resting can result in longer-term problems.
That being said, I’m not handling my injuries that way anymore. I wrote about this earlier, but I’m choosing to go against most advice and practice the “Tough It Out” method.
Now, before my other fitness and running buddies get up in arms, you should know that resting is part of my training regimen, and I’m stretching, performing as much PT as makes sense, etc. I’m not being stupid. But I’m also not staying off of my feet just because I’m having some issues with pain.
See, I’m stuck in a conundrum. I’m carrying a little more weight than I should be, and my muscles, though getting much better, are weaker than they should be, which forces my joints, tendons, and ligaments to bear more of the trauma than they should be. Yet to lose weight, improve form and muscle tone, and overall joint toughness, I gotta run.
Sure, I could swim or bike, and I’m doing those things. But I’m a runner. With some lofty running goals. I need to run.
Funny thing is, it’s working. I’ve been using regular short walking breaks during my long runs and keeping my runs during the week relatively short. As I said earlier, I’ve been taking stretching and other forms of exercise a lot more seriously. Though I’m still dealing with some pain some of the time, it’s not nearly as severe as it used to be and it seems to be getting better all the time.
If you’re injured, again, I HIGHLY recommend that you rest. See a medical professional. Pursue treatment programs. And read this Runner’s World Article: The Big Hurt. Though not really about toughing it out, it does provide a different perspective on what might be causing your injury and thus a different perspective on recovery.
Inhibitions…good or bad?
I’ve been thinking about inhibitions lately…especially as they relate to artists and other creatives. I’m mostly concerned with my own inhibitions and their effect on the quality of the things I create.
Many contend that limitations actually improve creativity, but limitations and inhibitions are different. A limitation might be that you have to record your entire song using only a guitar. An inhibition would be assuming that you can’t do so because you’re a terrible guitar player.
I’ve been studying art and artists of various types my entire life. Whether it’s painting, music, books or film, I believe that one thing actually dictates whether the art or artist is any good. And it’s not talent or skill, even though both of those things are also important. No, the thing that I believe makes an artist or his art successful isn’t something the artist has, but rather something she doesn’t have. That is the verything I’m writing about: inhibitions.
Of course, it’s fair to say that most of these artists probably have them. So maybe it’s the ability to ignore them.
A conservative may argue that inhibitions are important. That a truly uninhibited person is a hedonist or a Bohemian and a threat to the moral fabric of society. Perhaps. But I bet the stuff these people create is awesome.
Then again, I’m not talking about a person lacking inhibition in his or her own life. I’m talking specifically about the creation of art. Honest art, as I’ve put it so many times before. An extreme example of this would be a horror writer. This person is likely not psychotic nor condoning the type of behaviour he or she is writing about. Nevertheless, the horror wouldn’t be all that great if the writer didn’t set aside moral boundaries for the characters in the story.
As a writer, I write characters who behave differently than I do or even approve of…but I still write them. If I allow my own inhibitions to dictate the actions of these characters, they will be flat, uninteresting versions of some ideal I’ve projected onto them. They will essentially all be the same character, molded into different boring shapes.
Musicians do this with their music. Photographers with their pictures. All artists are subject to this pitfall. And I’m as guilty as the next. In fact, I’m probably more guilty of it than most.
Currently, I’m producing my first feature film. It’s an exhilerating and frightening process. Thankfully, I’ve already assembled a crack team of fellow producers to help bear the weight of it all.
The problem I’m facing is that I’m also the Writer and Director, making me the lead creative. And right now, I’m afraid that my own inhibitions are limiting the creative integrity of our project.
My hope, of course, is that I can identify and eliminate these inhibitions before they ruin the picture completely.
Mostly, I see these being related to my Christian upbringing and the cultural issues that raises. Many of my friends and family would view the insertion of profanity, drug use, or sex into a story as a sign of the complete breakdown of my morality. Also, the lack of political or religious messaging may be viewed as the watering down of my voice when projected from such a public platform.
The fact of the mater is, I just want to tell interesting stories with honest characters. I don’t have a religious or political agenda, and I don’t want to apply the same limits to my characters that I apply to myself. Yet I find myself doing that. My screenplay, which I love, by the way, is rife with my own inhibitions.
So my next rewrite, which will be done with collaborators who hopefully do not share my inhibitions, will be more raw. Less safe. And hopefully, more original and interesting as a result.
What do you think? Should an artist function inhibited? Or should we be allowed to created freely, without inhibition?