Students, Tuition Fees, And Our History

On November 11th, I wrote "During a week when a large percentage of the population are wearing red poppies, I found it quite upsetting that with our freedom, we turn to violence. Whilst some would say "it was only a very small minority" there was a much larger, silent minority, that were cheering them on and supporting them."

I was talking about student protesters, and how I found what they were doing strangely linked to how I was feeling about Remembrance Day. And it seems even more relevant now, here in the UK - where students have been protesting the hikes in tuition fees that were voted on yesterday. 

I'm currently reading Martin Luther King's autobiography (it's a collection of essays he wrote throughout his life). It's inspiring to read; to see what he achieved - and he did it through nonviolent non-cooperation. And he did that against laws and practices that were evil. The students here are protesting not against evil, but a curtailing of privilege. The rights on wrongs of both sides of the debate are being crowded out by the students and protesters who are setting fire to things, and swinging from war memorials and pissing on Winston Churchill statues. How can we have sympathy for this? 

Is there any excuse for these two images?

Conflicts happen when people clash, due to difference in ideology. That is at the heart of all of this. But one side of it is governing. If the other side has a point to make, it's that they're not governing responsibly. Setting fire to things is not going to send the message. 

"Our generation doesn't do that enough. We sit on Facebook, we write on our blogs and we send our text messages; but we don't have a great deal of awareness about what people have gone through in order for us to have those privileges."

I know that it is a minority of students who are doing the outrageous things. But take a closer look at that Churchill picture. There are a lot of bystanders. A lot of people accepting what is going on. When people are together for a cause; they become a group. They all need to be responsible for themselves and each other. 

The reality is, perhaps, that these people have not had a lot to complain about. In the United Kingdom; we have healthcare and welfare and all sorts of programmes which, having had them for so long, we see as our right. But they're not human rights, they're privileges. They're things that have to be paid for. And we are a lot better off than a lot of countries in the world. Should we feel guilty about it? No. Should we defend the things we want to keep, that we believe in? Sure. But starting fires and urinating on a Churchill statue shows a complete lack of awareness of our history, of our world, and of peaceful protest. I have no sympathy right now. Maybe the guy who's urinating could sell his Nike trainers and buy some school textbooks or something. 

It's entirely possible that our government are wrong, or making huge errors. But then, so are the young people out in the streets. And if we want our (somewhat) elected officials to do their jobs, we should really do our own. 

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Movies I've Seen This Week

MONSTERS - 6/10 - watchable, although I felt kind of detached, like I didn't really care that much.

EASIER WITH PRACTICE - 6/10 - prototypical indie flick, slightly offbeat and weird. Mostly survived just one notch above boredom but the ending made up for it by being absolutely fascinating and beautifully acted.

CHICO & RITA - 8/10 - Beautiful movie. I had an hour between meetings yesterday so I watched the first hour of it. Loved it. Today I had an hour free again and by pure serendipitous luck the film was an hour in-- the girl at the cinema thought I was a bit weird for buying a ticket for a film have way through. A touching, old fashioned film; yet something surprisingly fresh and new.

DUE DATE - 7/10 - Fun! Beautifully shot, well directed and great acting by the Downey. A great way to spend a couple of hours.

THE AMERICAN - 5/10 - Clooney plays a slightly detached expert whose life is at risk in weird surroundings. He phones it in. Watchable but nothing more.

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The Essence Of The Past: Writing What's Important

Saying "Nobody likes good movies anymore" is spoken from the point of view of the powerless. If you are involved in making films and long for the days when they made good movies, then that position isn't good enough. You need to Gandhi up and "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

We've all had conversations where with sit around bemoaning the lack of good stories in modern movies; in fact, most of the film blogosphere is a response to that very thing. We blog about old movies because we miss them. They speak to us in a way modern, predictable studio pictures don't. We've all had these conversations countless times, both offline and online. We may be a minority but it's not as small as you think. If you write a good script, people will make it. If you make a good film, people will watch it. The problem is that we work too hard, too early in our careers, trying to write for studios and execs and the lowest common denominator. That's YOUR choice, it's not reality.

The reality is that there are enough people watching Jimmy Stewart films and spending their evenings with Ginger Rogers. Your audience is there: your job is to not be too shy to bring out the things you respond to. What's the point in being excited by John Wayne and brought to tears by Katharine Hepburn, only to waste all that energy writing a sci-fi film that hardly has any trace of you in it?

If you miss the innocence of Chaplin or the optimism of Jimmy Stewart; that means it resonates with you, that means it's truthful - and it means the world needs it. It's a part of YOU that gets hidden externally and internally. For example, with me: I long for the spirit of Chaplin to be in cinema today. It's hidden externally because: The world values crude humor, obvious jokes and rehashed routines. It's hidden internally because often I tell myself it's not relevant, it's in the past, etc.

But it's not in the past! The ideal of 'Chaplin' lives on in my life every day. The film world and the world at large seems somewhat dysfunctional for not having enough Chaplin-like energy, humor, amusement and sillyness in it. That's what I respond to and that's what I need to get into my work a lot more than I do.

What is it for you? What thing do you respond to that the world barely recognises? When is a time the world was more attuned to it? How is it missing in your work? How are you going to take the essence of what you love and apply it to your work?

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SERENDIPITY

"Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, its a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan."

Sure, there are people who say this film is terrible, or that it's bullshit. But have you seen how boring their partner's are? Have you seen how unimaginative their conversation is? 'SERENDIPITY' is about faith. It's about believing life means something. It's about not just feeling a connection with someone but taking the risk in acting on it. It's about believing that when you make a choice, or stumble upon something; that it's meaningful. It's about people. It's about your friends. It's about the people you meet in the street and the people you ignore in Starbucks. 

We're all connected, we're all a moment away from a missing love, or a needed friend, or an inspiring opportunity. 'SERENDIPITY' is here to remind us to give a shit. To believe in life. To know it's worth it.

But it takes work. They're not sitting around like people who just watched 'The Secret' and expecting a Ferrari. These characters looked and searched and suffered and gave up and tried and hoped and lived. And sure, maybe love isn't real and maybe there's no God and maybe we all die and sink in the mud but what fun is there in that? I'd rather believe in the synchronicity of New Yorkian Serendipity. The fact that two years ago I wrote little blogs, mumbling to myself; and now YOU are HERE and reading and talking and sharing; that's amazing! You were meant to be here, I was meant to know you! 

"Nowadays more and more people, especially those who live in large cities, suffer from terrible emptiness and boredom, as if they are waiting for something that never arrives. Movies and television, spectator sports, and political excitements may divert them for a while, but again and again, exhausted and disenchanted, they have to return to the wasteland of their own lives."

-Carl Jung

We've all experienced it. Probably a few years before we got so cynical and hardened. We bumped into someone in the middle of 5th Avenue, or Trafalgar Square, or an elevator in Tokyo. In the movie, they believed in it, and they kept pushing for it. In reality, we stutter and mumble and walk away; or we believe in that critical voice that says to ignore it or get back to work. But what if we didn't? Who knows. What if I'd stuck around talking to that pretty Counting Crows fan in HMV nine years ago? What if I'd not said "I've got to get back to work?" to that woman in that little coffee shop somewhere near Holborn Station back in 2007?

We live life as we choose. You think Serendipity is not believable? You think it's cheesy? Great. Let's sit at home and fill in our tax forms, let's settle for the partner's who moan at us for forgetting to bring the milk home, let's sit and watch the world and say to each other "things never used to be this bad" and "things are too difficult right now."

Or we can go to New York City, or any city -- and we can open our eyes and look and see all of the amazing human beings that stumble into view from all around us. Who are they? What could they mean to me? How could knowing them make life a little more interesting? 

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed."

Carl Jung

"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves."

Carl Jung

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A Shocking Discovery!!

Someone recently told me that 'some very important people in Hollywood read your blog.' I was flattered, but then I desperately felt the urge to find out who. So, I hired a private detective. After being convinced for months that nobody important in Hollywood is reading the Kid In The Front Row film blog; he came back with this picture, which I can now exclusively reveal.

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