About Jealousy and Rambo

Post 330:

            Me and a friend were discussing a very clever film the other day, admiring the little nuances and cuts and edits and the out-and-out proficiency of the writing. I have to admit, it made me jealous and motivated.

            Because I was motivated, I pushed hard last week and got the ball moved down the field more than usual. Because I was jealous, I looked up the filmmaker’s other work to get a sense of their consistency.

            This happens a lot—the whole jealousy/motivation dichotomous reaction. I can’t really apprehend why my mind reacts the way it does… but it does.

            Turns out, this certain screenwriter has put out some real lumps of crap. Got to admit, it made me feel a little better.

            This is obviously pedantic, childish behavior. But I’m not going to feel too bad about it. Because I want to be good enough to occasionally get it right. This takes looking at exemplars and noting that they’re not always exemplary.

            Hope that makes sense. It’s a wilderness out here. You’ve got to use the few tools you have, the best you can. I like to think of Rambo. All he had was a knife and some weird emotions and motivations. Look what he accomplished.

            Bad example. But you know, use what you can and so forth. Maybe it won’t end in tears like Rambo did. Day’s end, that’s about the best we can hope for.

            See you after. Cheers.