I have not written my personal movie blog for a very, very long time. I have to say that I do not have any special hopes for my movie blog. I don't particularly care about being read. In fact, I write it only because I feel I should. I would do anything to prevent the hours spent in front of an electronic screen. But, such is the way about watching videos, reading, listening to music, communicating in myriad ways that I have no real substitute to the computer. Of course, I am very sure I would be able to live, perhaps even more fruitfully, without it. I remember the curiosity and hunger of my growing years where having an Internet connection was absolutely the second most important thing necessary to fulfill your dreams of fulfilling yourself, next to a college education in a city. I remember learning entries off the Britannica Encyclopedia on figures such as Jack Nicholson because that tiny paragraph and black and white photo was all the knowledge I could possibly get on the brilliant and captivating actor. Not that I have a particular taste for celebrity gossip. I do admit that my fondness for this industry that regularly churns out the most famous people in the world does make me at least glance over a tidbit of their personal lives. But, blame it on my moral and principled education at a Catholic school which conducted itself in a secular fashion, I soon begin to realize as I glance over page three that I am engaging in something that is mean, cheap and altogether unnecessary.
Do I love movies for the glamor they possess? Well, glamor, even fame, can be quite different from feeding on celebrity culture. There have always been people who are well off or who have access to the temptations of the moneyed. Not everyone giving in to those temptations are moneyed, but it is in the nature of those temptations to call for all. A culture of envy and ambition. A culture that suffers the most by questioning or turning its back on its temptations. Yes, there is no ennobling of the soul, no display of moral character, no adherence to principles of goodness in frugality and dismissing glamor. Glamor is not a modern product. There has never been a time when pleasure had been at arms length to every member of the civil society. Nor will such a time come. Yes, I know that feeding on the lives of actors that are stars is intrusive, voyeuristic and leaves you with an uncomfortably excess amount of knowledge about something that makes no real difference to you or to anybody else. Yes, there are inspiring lives lived in the show business. These lives can teach you about the world you live in, new qualities to inculcate and emulate and even things you hadn't realized yourself. But does that mean there is possibly something to derive if a celebrity couple had been seen holding hands and walk out of a posh new club? Does such a piece of 'news' actually warrant a space in a paper or a website? What does it say about the people who actually buy the paper or go to the website and read the piece of news with ardent interest? Should we be judging them? Have we not been one of them more than we would like to admit?
I often imagine myself in show business, possibly as a guest in a chat show. This tiny exercise, starting out as a fantastical realization of my ambitions, turn out to be revelations of how lofty and yet vulnerable the life of a celebrity can be. I have the power to actually take a walk down a busy street or a ride in an overcrowded train and hate it, yet there are so many who can, perhaps never again, walk down a road or feel the excitement that is always part of a train ride. Am I feeling sorry for rich, successful people who can afford to have accidents without medical insurance? No, I am not. But there is a price to be paid for having the means to pay the price. In the building of a wise, moral character and an understanding of the human condition, it must be understood that even as we exist in a culture that thrives on a continuous watch and analysis of a few people who have been successful in a visual medium, we are all in the same boat called life. Thrust into this planet earth and having had no say in the matter, it is up to each of us to make something of our own existence and presence. It is better to be self-obsessed than to be obsessed with someone else who does not approve of your obsession.
I started this blog to discuss my love for movies and try my hand at writing about movies. I know this often ventures into nit-picking, looking for flaws or even creating them and yet trying to be fair and pointing out the good points too. If that is what constructive and balanced criticism is, is criticism even necessary? Do I really want to spend my life nit-picking on things that may even have delighted me for two hours? Much more delight that perhaps even a seemingly flawless bag of chips can provide. Some prefer the two to go hand in hand, but eating is only a pleasurable accessory to me when it comes to watching movies. I watch movies only for the sake of watching movies. I love the blissful concentration, the passivity, the spontaneous exercise of the emotions and the feeling of satisfaction it gives me that nothing else can provide all at the same time. Movies are grand in their make and humble in their purpose. They entertain so as to make money. What moral objection can you find in that?
I have not written for such a long time because I was busy feeling other things. Writing criticisms of movies is not what I felt like doing, and I must admit it is not a feeling I get too often. I love to know and understand pop art, but I'd rather not have much to do with analyzing or predicting its social consequences. It does not interest me. All I know is that my passion for pop art has been complete, never conflicted and bound to last me a good long time. In the world of movies, I am the most valued entity- the loving movie viewer.
Do I love movies for the glamor they possess? Well, glamor, even fame, can be quite different from feeding on celebrity culture. There have always been people who are well off or who have access to the temptations of the moneyed. Not everyone giving in to those temptations are moneyed, but it is in the nature of those temptations to call for all. A culture of envy and ambition. A culture that suffers the most by questioning or turning its back on its temptations. Yes, there is no ennobling of the soul, no display of moral character, no adherence to principles of goodness in frugality and dismissing glamor. Glamor is not a modern product. There has never been a time when pleasure had been at arms length to every member of the civil society. Nor will such a time come. Yes, I know that feeding on the lives of actors that are stars is intrusive, voyeuristic and leaves you with an uncomfortably excess amount of knowledge about something that makes no real difference to you or to anybody else. Yes, there are inspiring lives lived in the show business. These lives can teach you about the world you live in, new qualities to inculcate and emulate and even things you hadn't realized yourself. But does that mean there is possibly something to derive if a celebrity couple had been seen holding hands and walk out of a posh new club? Does such a piece of 'news' actually warrant a space in a paper or a website? What does it say about the people who actually buy the paper or go to the website and read the piece of news with ardent interest? Should we be judging them? Have we not been one of them more than we would like to admit?
I often imagine myself in show business, possibly as a guest in a chat show. This tiny exercise, starting out as a fantastical realization of my ambitions, turn out to be revelations of how lofty and yet vulnerable the life of a celebrity can be. I have the power to actually take a walk down a busy street or a ride in an overcrowded train and hate it, yet there are so many who can, perhaps never again, walk down a road or feel the excitement that is always part of a train ride. Am I feeling sorry for rich, successful people who can afford to have accidents without medical insurance? No, I am not. But there is a price to be paid for having the means to pay the price. In the building of a wise, moral character and an understanding of the human condition, it must be understood that even as we exist in a culture that thrives on a continuous watch and analysis of a few people who have been successful in a visual medium, we are all in the same boat called life. Thrust into this planet earth and having had no say in the matter, it is up to each of us to make something of our own existence and presence. It is better to be self-obsessed than to be obsessed with someone else who does not approve of your obsession.
I started this blog to discuss my love for movies and try my hand at writing about movies. I know this often ventures into nit-picking, looking for flaws or even creating them and yet trying to be fair and pointing out the good points too. If that is what constructive and balanced criticism is, is criticism even necessary? Do I really want to spend my life nit-picking on things that may even have delighted me for two hours? Much more delight that perhaps even a seemingly flawless bag of chips can provide. Some prefer the two to go hand in hand, but eating is only a pleasurable accessory to me when it comes to watching movies. I watch movies only for the sake of watching movies. I love the blissful concentration, the passivity, the spontaneous exercise of the emotions and the feeling of satisfaction it gives me that nothing else can provide all at the same time. Movies are grand in their make and humble in their purpose. They entertain so as to make money. What moral objection can you find in that?
I have not written for such a long time because I was busy feeling other things. Writing criticisms of movies is not what I felt like doing, and I must admit it is not a feeling I get too often. I love to know and understand pop art, but I'd rather not have much to do with analyzing or predicting its social consequences. It does not interest me. All I know is that my passion for pop art has been complete, never conflicted and bound to last me a good long time. In the world of movies, I am the most valued entity- the loving movie viewer.
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