Lately, I’ve stumbled upon interesting stuff. Dunno how to describe them really – as much as I want to categorize them with the dignity they deserve, they always end up being “showbiz-related.”
They’re interesting nonetheless, and I learned and [more importantly] “realized” a few things.
“Visit blog”
“View post”
“View complete article”
“Listen to my songs”
First off is Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino’s blog (I would’ve used his other films, but considering how society seems to have uber short-term memory nowadays, might as well stick with the most popular as of the moment).
It is not (yet?) confirmed to be his weblog. I think it is – not cuz I know him or anything. Simply because the answers seem genuine. Even if it wasn’t him, the advice given there still have their own merit.
“He makes sense,” I guess – is the thing I’m trying to say
I particularly liked his answer to this post:
I’m sick of bullshit where parents blame the videogames, then admit they let their kids play them 12 fucking hours a day. Get a grip and pay for your own faults — stop blaming filmmakers.
Hit the nail right on the head. I swear, I don’t know if parents nowadays are on the path of brady-bunchedness (wherein anything remotely non-peachy can endanger human life as we know it), or if Americans are just plain idiots.
That whole pointing-the-finger mantra is similar to the issue of blaming restaurants for making people fat. Are the people today that stupid!? If you’re eating in a fastfood, don’t expect to get healthy food! Expect good service, a full stomach and a declicious meal… but never a healthy meal!
There’s also this article I’ve stumbled upon, supposedly written by Stephen King.
He addresses what you need to be successful in writing, but it really could apply to any profession if you think about it.
Can’t say I agreed with the last line of this statement though:
If you haven’t marked up your manuscript a lot, you did a lazy job. Only God gets things right the first time. Don’t be a slob.
If God gets things right the first time, there would be NO MEN, only Women living this world. Alternately (for the alpha-males out there) – males would be perfect, hence no need for women. Either way you look at it, God definitely fucked up somewhere.
As comedian George Carlin would say: “If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.”
Kidding aside, the second interesting point in the article was:
WRITE TO ENTERTAIN: Does this mean you can’t write “serious fiction”? It does not. Somewhere along the line pernicious critics have invested the American reading and writing public with the idea that entertaining fiction and serious ideas do not overlap. This would have surprised Charles Dickens, not to mention Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Bernard Malamud, and hundreds of others. But your serious ideas must always serve your story, not the other way around. I repeat: if you want to preach, get a soapbox.
I can’t help but apply this to music. As I observe how society changes, I can’t help but think that “purists” are beginning to get pretty annoying to listen to.
Self-proclaimed “old-school” people that diss any artist/band for fusing other disciplines of music into their “primary” genre really piss me off. What happened when Linkin Park first came out? All the so called “rockers” wanted carnage. But what was their reason? Nothing really. They said Linkin Park sounded like they sold-out the spirit of rock to electronica or something. I never heard those “old-school” people complain about RAP being infused to rock by Rage Against the Machine, what’s the difference? Nothing!
They are all excellent bands, and true to their music. Since when did you have to appreciate only a certain genre for it to merit authenticity? Music is music – any way you fuckin’ slice it.
With regards to Stephen King’s comment – I guess that pretty much crystallizes the balance between what people consider as “selling out,” or “being true to yourself.”
Fact is, no man is an island. Artists usually hide behind the comfort of being “pure” to their craft. The “I don’t care what the world thinks, I will do what I want” bullshit has always been a nice cop-out escape for those who can’t admit that their shit simply ain’t working! NOTE: having said that, you’d have to figure out on your own why Prove Something was written the way it was hehehe
Theater performers, singers, writers, bands, any artist in general have the purpose of entertaining. There is a balance to be fulfilled. As much as your individuality has to be exemplified in your works, you still have to voice it out in a way that can communicate with others, else you’ll just be considered as the spoiled brat who made lousy stuff.
I guess this “realization,” is sticking recently cuz of how I see people diss this and that without valid reason. I do not like April Boy’s songs, but can I really diss him? He’s making a killing from his supposed “baduy” songs. He is communicating to his market, in that respect, he is no different from any other successful superstar.
It’s understandable to not like a person, or their work. But to diss them? What gives us authority to do so? “Old-school” people condemn the newer “experimental” groups simply because the former refuse to have open, receptive minds.
There’s really no solution to this I guess. I’m just rambling. I just wish everyone would just get along and share their art with each other, and not have to worry about anything except improving their craft.