Input from the old folks
Jeff S. Miholer
ambition. I'm all for ambition, but many of these people want to do
things that are beyond them. They don't realize that there are 10,000
other kids out there with exactly the same idea and that they've really
got to work up to the big stuff.
Have kids always been this way or this the result of the "you can be
anything you want to be" bullshit?
Jeff S. Miholer
Joe Myers
Jeff S. Miholer <mih...@gladstone.uoregon.edu> wrote
[snip-a-dee-doo-dah]
> ... people want to do
> things that are beyond them. They don't realize that there are 10,000
>
> Have kids always been this way or this the result of the "you can be
> anything you want to be" bullshit?
People have always aspired to higher station. Mother Goose made a career
out of it.
Expanding fairy tale dreams into a personal philosophy became
institutionalized in religion, both to explain the inexplicable and to
encourage socially-acceptable behavior. It's especially helpful in keeping
the underclass under, "Pie in the Sky when you Die." The secular religion,
politics, turns it into public policy. Mass media and their spawn -- sports
and entertainment, for example -- proliferate these dreams.
You can be "discovered" by Hollywood by sitting in a malt shop on Sunset
Boulevard. (Although it helps if you're sitting on Veronica Lake's ass.)
Every kid who's ever been cut by his high school junior varsity basketball
coach is told "the same thing happened to Michael Jordan." (Although it
helps if you're six-foot-nine guard immune to the law of gravity.) A lurker
on mis-writing-screenplays gets wind that an unknown British antiquities
geek has finally, *finally*, gotten the Indiana Jones saga right.
(Although...well, nevermind.) You can do cocaine and booze and drill dozens
of dry holes smack dab in the middle of Texas oil country and find yourself
one Dick Cheney heartbeat away from the Presidency. (Although it helps if
daddy used to head the CIA.)
I once had an acting teacher tell me to approach every scene from the
perspective, "What does this person hope will happen?" Movies where the
geek gets the attention of the babe; where Robert Redford or Clit Eastwood
falls for the frump; where the Bad News Bears win the Breeders' Cup (or
whatever), are all David & Goliath stories.
Why don't they tell the story about the guys Goliath beat to make it to the
finals? About the little Dutch boy who drowned when they dike failed? The
478th GI to hit Omaha Beach and got shot through the eyes 4.7 seconds after
he got off the boat? It's a downer, for one thing.
Joe Myers
"Then again, sometimes it's, 'I coulda been a contender.'"
D C Harris
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In article <90bg00$8it$1...@pith.uoregon.edu>, "Jeff S. Miholer"
<mih...@gladstone.uoregon.edu> wrote:
> I have occasion to work bright kids with big ideas and lots of
> ambition. I'm all for ambition, but many of these people want to do
> things that are beyond them. They don't realize that there are 10,000
> other kids out there with exactly the same idea and that they've really
> got to work up to the big stuff.
>
> Have kids always been this way or this the result of the "you can be
> anything you want to be" bullshit?
It is lack of ambition in people I find frightening, rather than
the reverse. Most people haven't got the ambition to work out
how to operate a video recorder fully.
You can never judge ambition in the way you do - it is foolish
to do so.
pinknebulous
> Encourage them, I say. They'll fall short maybe but get farther if
> they aim high.
>
> I always wanted to be a cowgirl, a rock star, have a lot of animals,
> and travel, and I've sort of done those things. I'm just poor with a
> liberal arts degree. Still want to write screenplays and make movies.
> Maybe I will.
>
> Suzy (dream big but don't get caught nappin')
Or my personal favorite: "Think Big, Shrink To Fit."
slbarger
"Jeff S. Miholer" wrote:
> I have occasion to work with bright kids with big ideas and lots of
> ambition. I'm all for ambition, but many of these people want to do
> things that are beyond them. They don't realize that there are 10,000
> other kids out there with exactly the same idea and that they've really
> got to work up to the big stuff.
>
> Have kids always been this way or this the result of the "you can be
> anything you want to be" bullshit?
I don't know if the young turks have always been this way. In this day,
however, some of the ones I deal with see the end of the rainbow and
think they can fly to it. Few of them understand that they should should
learn a few basic principles of aerodynamics. "It's too boring. " they
say, "Get me to the big stuff." Some of them them make it to the big
stuff without learning any fundamentals, and maybe it's daddy's doing.
(I've heard that Jesse Dylan signed an Internet production deal.) Guess
what they produce? Frequently, they produce more of the same. Few of them
understand that Picasso drew still life sketches before ever dabbling in
cubism. Without foundation, sight of the varied possibilities is lost. I
think it has to do with the "fix it quick" society, Viagra, coke, and the
fact that most people think they deserve immediate gratification.
...joining the rant
Jeff S. Miholer
: I don't know if the young turks have always been this way. In this day,
: however, some of the ones I deal with see the end of the rainbow and
: think they can fly to it. Few of them understand that they should should
: learn a few basic principles of aerodynamics. "It's too boring. " they
: say, "Get me to the big stuff." Some of them them make it to the big
: stuff without learning any fundamentals, and maybe it's daddy's doing.
: (I've heard that Jesse Dylan signed an Internet production deal.) Guess
: what they produce? Frequently, they produce more of the same. Few of them
: understand that Picasso drew still life sketches before ever dabbling in
: cubism. Without foundation, sight of the varied possibilities is lost. I
: think it has to do with the "fix it quick" society, Viagra, coke, and the
: fact that most people think they deserve immediate gratification.
: ...joining the rant
Yeah, man. That's what I meant.
slbarger
their dues, and thinking they have a right to something. Have I paid my dues?
Apparently not. Also, "I ain't no Senator's son" either. So, Mr. M., what are
we going to do? In what direction should I send ,my next gift certificate for
that serious slap therapy that Sven Nykvist once handed me?
Jeff S. Miholer
: What really pisses me off, is when I see posts from people saying they've paid
: their dues, and thinking they have a right to something.
"Paying dues" and equipping oneself aren't necessarily the same theng.
Jeff S. Miholer
: What really pisses me off, is when I see posts from people saying they've paid
: their dues, and thinking they have a right to something.
"Paying dues" and equipping oneself aren't necessarily the same thing.
slbarger
"Jeff S. Miholer" wrote:
Please specify. I'm interested. Can a person do one and not the other? Is one
better than the other? Does one need both to succeed? I'm not sure what in the hell
I've been doing, paying my dues, equipping myself, neither, or both. Maybe I should
take stock...
Jeff S. Miholer
:> "Paying dues" and equipping oneself aren't necessarily the same thing.
: Please specify. I'm interested. Can a person do one and not the other? Is one
: better than the other? Does one need both to succeed? I'm not sure what in the hell
: I've been doing, paying my dues, equipping myself, neither, or both. Maybe I should
: take stock...
Paying Dues: Putting in time. Working hard. Doing what's supposed to be
done.
Equipping Oneself: Learning. Improving.
Certainly interrelated. But one can put in time without learning a lot
and some can learn without putting in a lot of time.
I'm done with this thread. Thanks to all who responded.