Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Live.


This is my first post of the new year. Happy 2009, everybody!

Dude. Last night I saw a movie that I absolutely LOVED. "Revolutionary Road". It's not yet playing all across the U.S. - just 'select cities'. I've wanted to see it since I saw the first preview because it sounded like it brought up a lot of ideas that I deeply espouse. Plus it was a chance to see the onscreen magic between Kate & Leo once again. They did not disappoint. The acting was BRILLIANT. Some of the moments gave me goosebumps. I went with a good friend of mine and we found ourselves discussing the movie well into the night. Go see it if you get the chance. If I had to categorize it, I would describe it as a finely-acted, wonderfully-directed art house film with a lot of layers and concepts that EVERYONE can recognize and relate to on some level. My friend and I had very different takes on the same action. That's usually the mark of a good film for me - good work doesn't tell you WHAT to think, it only ensures that you will.

I am not going to give the movie away, but one of the big themes (that is shown in the trailer) is the fact that this married couple finds themselves living the life we are all told that we should want: white house, picket fence, two children, good, stable job, etc. Only they realize they don't want it.

This is an issue/ situation near and dear to my heart because I live it everyday. They other day my mother made a comment about the fact that none of my friends (nor I) have steady jobs and we never know where our next dime is coming from. With only a couple of exceptions, it's true, but this is Los Angeles! This is where people come to make magic happen, right? And magic, by its very nature, defies convention. Yes, I would L-O-V-E to know that I would always have money in the bank. Right now, all I know is that I probably won't starve or become homeless until sometime in March (early March), then things get iffy. So I'm working at getting work. I have my blinders on because there are casualties to the left and to the right, and the statistics say that this life isn't possible; that we need to just fall in line behind everyone else who once thought they were 'special' but then 'grew up' or became 'responsible' and got real jobs. Real mortgages. Started 'real' families. I can't listen to that because I want to define what's 'real' for myself. If I come to the same conclusions, at least I proved them for myself.

Do whatever makes you happy as long as you aren't causing injury to anyone. And I'm not talking about hurt feelings because your dad wanted you to be chief widget-maker just like he was for 95 years - that's his issue, not yours. There are certain rules to this thing: Yes, you have to feed your children, no you can't beat your wife, no it's not a good idea to swindle somebody because you need headshot money. Don't hurt anybody whle you craft the type of life you would like to live. But craft it. Whatever your vision is for your life - make it happen. What other choice is there?

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." --Henry David Thoreau

--Nicole

(As always, I encourage you to come and check out my blog posts at "Unscripted" - Backstage's blog site!)

2 comments:

  1. I just finished watching Revolutionary Road. This movie is AMAZING! Wow! I could so totally relate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Isn't it?? I wish I could convince everyone I know to go see it. That might actually start a revolution...

    ReplyDelete

Thank you - your comment will appear as soon as it is approved by the moderator!