HOW HARD IS IT TO LAUGH (WHEN THE WORLD HAS BECOME A BAD MOVIE?)
I just watched the “faux feature trailer*”that was screened at theNorth Korea/Singapore Summit. It was a blatant and sobering reminder that we live in a post-truth world, citizens of a global society piss-drunk on fear and emotional rationalization. It was made by Destiny Pictures*, if you believe the titles — and yes, there really is a respected production company by that name, but would you believe that they did not actually make this? On top of that, would you believe that Coke** “the brown water of imperialism” (as we used to joke) has released a commemorative can design and ad campaign featuring silhouettes of Trump & Kim Jong-Un — a celebration of their historical triumph?The Truman Showwas not a clever warning about our possible future. It is just a depressing reminder that humanity is profoundly capable of willful ignorance.
The thing is, I really don’t want to split hairs about politics in these think pieces — and I definitely don’t want to swim in a cesspool of hatred for this administration. It is far too easy to place blame, deftlyplay the victim card and imagine you have accomplished something. We did this. All of us. This administration, that administration, that other country’s wheeling and dealing — our own country’s wheeling and dealing, the giant wheel of shit turns, the language is different but the story remains the same for decades. Dress it up with a conservative bow, cover it with cheap liberal perfume to mask the smell, drape it in a confederate flag or gold lamé– the country has been backsliding from a so-called “free” society into a soulless corporation for longer than most of us have been alive.
What gave me hope as a young filmmaker was that somehow, art was made during all of this insanity. People picked up guitars and paintbrushes. They crammed theaters with ready and willing hearts. They hacked away at the imperfect truth as they saw it, and let it all hang out, glorious, messy, controversial, damning, liberating, howling at the streetlights. Do you remember “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore?” Do you remember films like Altman’s Nashville? But now, I see so no difference between a pathetic propaganda film shown at a summit, compared to an alternative-demographic show on Netflix, or a pharmaceutical commercial, or a DIY web series, or a pop song. They are all toeing the same line, coloring so far inside those lines, regurgitating the same hoaxes, those fairy tales of opportunity and prosperity, of fame and fortune, that every flavor of good guys can win, and you’re damn right — WE are the good guys and girls (and thems and wes and uses). In reality, these are all just forms of tone-deaf advertising, tailor-made for their niche market, palatable meals for the weakest regions of our hungry minds, a vanilla reflection of their agenda, be it nuclear war, notoriety, a cure for toe-nail fungus or some random definition of feminism.
So, how do we laugh when the world has become a bad movie?
I play with our three-year-old. Honestly, everyone should play with kids, every single day. If you don’t have them, find someone else’s to be around. They don’t really care about the truth, or the lie. They care about finding their red crayon. They care about having some more cookies. They care about going as high as possible on a swing. They sing songs that have no key, and they sing them LOUD. Their laughter is an invitation. They want you to dance with them, to turn in circles in the kitchen if it is raining outside. They want to take naps, and play hide and seek. Half an hour with a child, and you will get a brutal reminder of what life is really about.
I honestly think we need to laugh at the candy-coated pablum we are being fed, and please by all means chime in if you feel the same.Just because a new show on a new platform has a trans character, that doesn’t mean the storytelling is on point. We need to laugh at these pathetic attempts to garner praise by tossing cultural softballs. We need to understand that nearly everything we see is branded advertising– a can of soda, a news report, a sit-com, a political event, an indie short, all the same damn thing. Why am I so angry about this? Because there is only so much work out there in the big wild world that swims outside of this tried-and true cesspool, surviving on nothing but fumes and luck. We need to help the nonconformists be more visible. We need to make an effort to support trulyindependent work, not because of WHO is making it, or who/what it is ABOUT, but simply because it wrestles with the truth without an agenda. Because, if you think about it — that trailer shown at the summit was nothing more than a lie with an agenda.“A lie with an agenda” — hmmm, what else do you see that falls under that umbrella? Damn-near everything. Likeability, target group analytics, demographics — this is not just how you swing an election, it is how you create a viable tv show, or a platinum album. I say, laugh at all that and play instead, take a risk and make something honest and real, funny, sad, heartbreaking, brutal, tender, delicious — and do it right fucking now.
I want to invite you to join me in a conversation/movement/initiative called AUDACIOUS REDEMPTION. Sign up for the newsletter, visit my brand spanking new website and let me know what you think. I am on a mission to help the struggling mid-career artist in a hell of a lot of ways. www.audaciousredemption.com
*Destiny Picture’s condemnation of the use of their name: http://designtaxi.com/news/400102/Studio-Left-Clueless-On-Its-Credit-For-Trump-s-Movie-Trailer-For-Kim-Jong-Un/?utm_source=DT_Newsletter&utm_medium=DT_Newsletter&utm_campaign=DT_Newsletter_14062018&utm_term=DT_Newsletter_14062018&utm_content=DT_Newsletter_14062018
