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August 27, 2008

My First Fall Rage

I know the awards season has begun because I find myself being enraged by a parade of people (some of whom I really like), institutions, and general (often intentional) absurdity.

Unlike some, I will never take out these moments of anger on the movies themselves or the people in them or who made them. For someone who loves the work, that would be an abomination.

But man, it gets to be like swimming in a tank of acid-tripping piranha sometimes. There are so many people in charge of the same things. So many layers of people who are “in charge.” So many good reasons for things that happen that are reduced to bad excuses because so many are afraid to just tell the truth. So many bad reasons for things to happen that occur just because no one really thinks, “What is the right thing to do?”

It’s outright embarrassing to allow oneself to think, even for a moment, that you are “the last honest player” in the pool. It’s ridiculous. Because “they” are all honest. “They” are all seeking to play out their goals as they feel inescapably compelled to play them out. I get that. And it’s unfair to be angry at people for it. Almost everyone has a boss to answer to… or a client.

But from this side of things, when you are in a position where you can fight these fights and cause trouble for people, even without printing a word, it sometimes feels like you are being asked to assert that authority just to get the little things done. It is, in many ways, an adversarial situation. But mostly, it is not. Most of us do play by the rules and do our work like professionals… and that is on the web and traditional media as well.

There is something beautiful and symmetrical about the old days, where everyone knew their place. But those days are over. Every newspaper is a website now… every trade a bunch of blogs and a gaping, desperate maw for link pick-ups. The majors are breaking the rules as fast or faster than web sites these days. Snark has won, for the moment, over substance. The self-delusion of breaking news in the movie business rages out of control as gossip becomes the standard of the day.

On the other hand, journalists are being called on to write what used to be left at the barstools in conversation with other journalists, where real insight occurs, but often cannot be proved. And so long as we all admit that we are theorizing and not pretending that insights – often very valuable insights – are news, I applaud this evolution.

But I digress from my rage…

I don’t like feeling like my two options are “muscle people” or “lay down for people.” And that is what this becomes. I have no interest in doing either. And maybe that makes me a naïve little whinny baby. Maybe I am supposed to be thrilled to push people around, to make life harder for the people who keep the trains running by demanding stuff from their bosses, to get what I want no matter what the cost and no matter how insignificant the “get” is in the end. Maybe I am just supposed to be happy with low hanging fruit and whatever falls off the tree.

Tensions get high. Money is on the line. Jobs are on the line. Egos are as vulnerable as egos get.

I understand all that.

But I seek to be able to act like a decent, moral, respectful human being, even under those circumstances. It is not that much to ask. We all fall off of our principles often enough that staying on that high horse when we can seems like an aspiration we should all seek to achieve, even when the pressure is at its highest. Isn’t that the measure of our humanity… even in show business?

Posted by dpoland at August 27, 2008 02:52 PM

Comments

Posted by: Kristopher Tapley at August 27, 2008 05:36 PM

Posted by: David Poland at August 27, 2008 05:47 PM

Posted by: Kristopher Tapley at August 27, 2008 08:12 PM

Posted by: Spacesheik at August 27, 2008 08:20 PM

Posted by: leahnz at August 27, 2008 09:40 PM

Posted by: scooterzz at August 27, 2008 11:14 PM

Posted by: yancyskancy at August 28, 2008 02:59 AM

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