Alright, it's time to write about something that I am very passionate about and that is the arts. By the arts, I mean all things artistic, wheter that be literature, film, theatre, music, photography, dance, Hell even a beautifully designed building is art. The thing I hate is how it appears that art is now looked upon as how much money something can make. At the end of the last millenium, we experienced one of the great explosions of great art. Music, film, books, theatre was all booming with great works that told amazing stories and were uncompromising with the integrity of the work. Most of these people that were creating these works didn't even care about the financial side of things, although they did make out well financially. I just shudder to think about how we might've missed out on some great works because some multimedia executive would ask the question, "how can we market this". Can you imagine in 2012, Quinten Tarentino going to film studios to get the backing for "Pulp Fiction"? He'd be laughed at, because the studios would try to ruin the art, to try and make it more "commercially acceptible". Let's face it, it's an amazing film, but it's not the most marketable film in the world, but the fact of the matter is Miramax Studios knew they had a great work and were willing to let the artist be the artist and let this project come out.
Another one that would be quite funny in today's world. Can you imagine a record company now, trying to release Nevermind by Nirvana? They wouldn't touch it now. They wouldn't know how to package it and maybe the record label would've missed out on the song that sparked a musical revolution in "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The song and video for it weren't released to get fame and fortune, in fact the it's anti that in it's production, but it just struck a nerve with disillusioned/disinfranchised youth. We were sick of what was being forced down our throat at the time and this was something different to what was rammed down our throats and a generation grabbed on and we never let go. The problem with the music is that after the great artists came out and found a following; every record company wanted to find success in the same way, so we got a watering down of greatness and a saturation of the market with inferior artists, whom appeared to be riding a wave of other's success towards a paycheck (anyone remember Candlebox).
This leads me to one of the greatest travesties of this millenium. You have some writers out there just making a paycheck off a trend or just flat out stealing from other people's work and trying to pass it off as something new. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, yes that is one thing I am going to talk about. Seriously, is nothing sacred in this country. You take one of our greatest Presidents and leaders of this country and go out and sully his name, by creating this fictious piece of bullshit just so you can make some money. Disgraceful. I haven't read it or seen the movie and ain't going to give these people any of my money, here's a spoiler for you, they try and pass off John Wilkes Booth as a vampire. Now, some history teachers are going to have to waste their time telling kids that that Abraham Lincoln is a fictional character and have to dumb down education even further. Oh yeah, let's make money off this vampire/zombie trend that's out there in TV and movies and books now. Joss Wheedon should get paid some serious bank for the Twilight books and movies. All you kids out there who love the Twilight movies, go watch some old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you'll see what I'm talking about. The Twilight/Vampire Diaries/True Blood make Buffy look like Shakepeare compared to this copycat storytelling. . Again, this is all about people making money and not trying to make anything artistic.
So, how do artist's get their work out to the public and avoid the potential backlash of just being in it for the money? First off, I'm not one of those assholes out there that believe an artist should be broke and living on the street in order to prove how great they are. They provide a service and should be monetarily rewarded for it. More so then the corporate executive who just put a package on it and gave the artist the vehicle to release the work. I believe, that if you are just putting something out to the public with the sole knowledge that you are going to make money and don't really care about the work than that is the definition of a sellout to me. People need to stop being naive about the art world, why shouldn't they get paid for their occupation. Also, as adults we have to make decisions in life and we all have to sell a part of our integrity in order to survive. The heart of the matter is finding out how much of the selling out that you can be comfortable with to move forward in life. No one does it on their own, and in the process of making deals with people, you have to lose a part of things you believe in, but that does not mean sacrificing everything you believe in to get something out there.
I've been trying for many years to get a film project out. I came to a crossroad about my choices and carefully examined what I need to do. I have a project that is near and dear to my heart and soul. I know that this is not a film that is going to make hundreds of millions of dollars and I am quite alright with that, but I also know it tells a great story and would probably speak to a lot of people who would have the privilage to see it. On the other hand, I have another project that I love equally, but is not so personal, but I love it just the same because it is a creation from my sometimes twisted mind. I know that out of the two, the latter has a better chance for financial success. In my dreams, I wanted my first picture to be the arty one, but as we grow older sometimes you have to change your plan. So, when the moment came, after a very chance and random meeting of a producer, I put the one that had the chance for success in her hands. Yes, this goes against a lot of my goals, but sometimes you got to get your feet in the door to get noticed and then gain the ability to do the projects you really want. Then again, this isn't commercial crap either, it's going to be an R-rated film, which in this day might as well be as bad as the X label in the '70's. I also, think that when you write a story about sex and the societal implications of it, that it is not totally mainstream and will offend some people, so maybe I am still making an artistic statement. I have a dichotomy as a writer, I can see the big picture (and potential mass appeal), which strains away from the desire to tell individual stories, but sometimes those ideas coincide and you are happy with the work you make.
I write, because it is the only thing in this world that I can do well. I can create stories and develop characters. This is a different out let for me. It's something I can do to get different thoughts out there and give me some piece of satisfaction of putting something out there for the one or two people who may read this. I do this as an extension of my personality. I still believe in the power of the written word. I still believe that the writer is the most important part of the creative process when it comes to film and theatre, without the written word there is no story to act or direct. You have to do it because it's in your blood though. To write going through the motions or just trying to make money is a disgrace to all of the great artists who cam before. You spit on Shakespeare's, Milton's, Hawthorne's, Hemingway's, Fitzgerald's, Salinger's, Vonnegut's and many more great writers who have passed on graves. I will not be one of those. I will stay true to telling great stories and pushing boundaries. I don't care about being politically correct or not trying to be offensive to people. Great art push the limits and dares to offend. At times, it screams to be offensive, but it should tkae place in the rooted framework of the story. Being offensive just to be offensive can be counterproductive to the goal of telling a good story, it has to be rooted somewhere in the heart of the story to really make an impact.
Anyway, I may have gotten off the subject with this one a little bit, but that's me. I'm not the most linear of people, but I get it to a point of climax eventually. There comes a point where your expectations meet your reality and in that moment you have to give it everything and not hold anything back, because that opportunity comes around once, and if you blow it, you may never get that second chance to prove yourself to the world. To all the artists, who may read this, remember stay true to what's in your heart and fuck the people who tell you, you can't do it.
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